Condet Community Attempt to Make Ciliwung River Green Again
May 12, 2015
A little forest occupies 7,000-square-meter land on Ciliwung River bank, Condet, East Jakarta. Looking greener than other parts around it, the little forest consisting of salak, duku, mango trees among other trees and clusters of bamboo trees.
The little forest is made by Ciliwung-Condet Community who work to maintain ecosytems around Ciliwung river. Abdul Kodir, the chief of the community also built a small gazebo to be used as gathering and discussion place.
Discussions on the small gazebo had given birth to Ciliwung Condet Community between 2004 and 2006. Kodir have never remembered when exactly was the community first established just like he have never recorded names and number of peope who had joined. Kodir lets anyone join in or out of the community because he realizes that the community won’t give them any financial income.
“We can’t give them anything,” said Kodir.
The community initially focused its activities in Condet as a conservation area for fruits based on Governor decree issued in 1975. But the scope of their activities continues to widen. Now they also spread information concerning river’s ecosystem to people who visit their base camp. They also built Ciliwung Nature School where children can learn about their environment.
“To the school children who come here, we tell them about the danger of throwing trashes inappropraitely. We take and show them the process from picking the trash to burning it,” said Syahril Sidiq, a graphic designer who joined the community four years ago.
Every Saturday and Sunday, the community go down the river to take data on ecosystem. From this trip, they often spotted some valuable finding such as the Vila Nova on Pasar Rebo, East Jakarta, which is a remain of Dutch colonial era. The villa was built in 1700s and is now abandoned. The community is hoping that the Jakarta administration would revitalize the building.
