This initiative aims to increase environmental awareness among the local communities in Kampung Mangkuk, as well as to create new and sustainable income opportunities for the locals, particularly the women, who play a major role in the area's sustainable development. For this reason, they are offered training on basic entrepreurial skills for their cottage industries and eco-tourism.
The preservation of the Setiu Wetlands in the East Coast of Malaysia is important for it is rich in natural resources, acts as a natural filter of polluants and provides flood control. The Setiu Wetlands are vital for the fishing sector and are also home to Malaysia's largest breeding population of the critically endangered Painted terrapins and River terrapins.
In 2006, Nestlé Malaysia partnered with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to conduct a survey of the socio-economic needs and existing conditions of communities in surrounding Setiu villages to identify their capacity building needs, and particularly those of women. Local women are income earners for their families and have been identified as a source of growth for their villages, helping boost their livelihoods. Nestlé Malaysia and WWF coordinate workshops for approx. 70 local women on how they can sustain a local snack business. They were taught basic elements such as packaging, hygiene, marketing, environmental awareness, communication skills as well as to be able to train other women for the project to sustain itself.
The resulting environmental awareness leads the villagers to feel increasingly compelled to conserve their natural environment. This boosts income yields as the locals are dependent on the Wetlands' resources, local industry involving the processing and selling of fisheries products such as salted fish, dried anchovies, shrimp paste and fish fillets among other products. Furthermore, this will help ensure the safety of the villages through the Wetlands' role in flood control.
The ultimate objective of the initiative is to turn Kampung Mangkuk into a model of sustainable development – to be emulated by other villages. The Setiu villagers have actively worked on the conservation of their own environment, which has also enabled them to achieve economic progress.