UMT continues it social innovation efforts to develop the community with the establishment of the Translational Research Project of the Sea Horse and Horsehoes Crab Preservation Program for the Setiu community. The launch of the translational research project was officiated by Dato ‘Seri Idris Jusoh, Minister of Higher Education Malaysia at the Gong Batu Jetty Complex, Setiu Wetlands, Setiu, Terengganu. The main purpose is to reintroduce the habitat in Setiu Wetlands and the findings in the lab are translated for the benefit of the community. It also serves as a catalyst to help local communities generate side income. This is a knowledge transfer program in equipped the local community towards develop nation in line with TN50’s planning.
HORSESHOE CRAB TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH PROGRAMMES
The Horseshoe Crab (HSC) Translational Research Programme is an initiative carried out by ‘Horseshoe Crab Research Group’ (HCRG), IMB. The purpose of the programme is to rejuvenate and increase seahorse population in Tanah Bencah Setiu that once was the habitat of the creature. In addition, since the blood extracted from this unique animal is used commercially to detect the presence of endotoxin, it gives a good opportunity for the local fishermen to increase their income in supplying horseshoe crabs to interested parties. Here, HCRG will be responsible in collecting the blood from horseshoe crabs without harming them and subsequently releasing them back to the wild to ensure their sustainability. HCRG also continuously offers advise and awareness to the local communities and students on the importance of conservation efforts on this pre-historic animal.
SEAHORSE TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH PROGRAMMES
eahorse Translational Research Programme is launched to increase seahorse population by providing training to local communities in breeding seahorses as well as to carry out conservation-oriented research on seahorses. Therefore, in the long term, this programme will increase an income of local communities as a result of supplying seahorses to interested parties. More importantly, in order to conserve and increase the seahorse population in the wild, half of the total number of seahorses bred by the local communities will be released to the wild. Thus, this programme will also benefit the local edu-tourism based industries. In addition, this programme also provides training to undergraduate students in relevant areas under ‘Internship Program’ as part of their softskill development programmes.
