Ciliwung ecosystem restored by local people

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 04/25/2006 10:47 AM  |  Life

Bambang Parlupi, Contributor, Jakarta

The ecosystem of the Ciliwung River across Jakarta has become increasingly critical, with floods inundating riverbank settlements and filling catchment areas with muddy waste in the rainy season, reducing the main stream shallow and impeding the flow of water.

""Besides the dumping of garbage, landslides at several locations have also worsened the Ciliwung's ecosystem. This is noticeable at Condet, East Jakarta,"" said Abdul Kodir Muhamed, 35, an activist of the Condet Environment Community Forum (WKLH).

The river's ecosystem, he maintains, should therefore be restored through remedial work both up- and downstream.

A number of environmental activists in Jakarta, says Kodir, are attempting to restore the river's flow through Condet. With an area of 18,228 hectares, Condet has three sub-districts: Balekambang, Batuampar and Kampungtengah.

The Jakarta administration decided in 1974 decided to make Condet a cultural heritage conservation zone, based on a decree of then governor Ali Sadikin.

In 1979, Condet was officially declared a conservation zone to protect its indigenous Betawi art and culture as well as wildlife and vegetation, like monkeys and some fruit, notably salak (Zalacca edulis) and duku(Lansium domesticum).

In 1986, the area's green belt status was reaffirmed in the light of even more uncontrolled development of housing complexes and business centers.

Pressure from development projects and population growth in Condet has caused damage to the Ciliwung catchment in this area. ""In fact, in the early 1990s the river was still in fairly good condition, with a lot of wild animals roaming around, including long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascucilaris),"" noted Kodir, an 1997 agricultural engineering graduate of Borobudur University, Jakarta.

The present situation, however, gives cause for deep concern as earth is sliding in various locations and household rubbish piling up along riverbanks.

The habitat of some wildlife species is also threatened, forcing lizards to scavenge through trash cans, and pythons to enter backyards in search of prey. Likewise, salak and duku, symbols of Condet's heritage, are also under threat.

""Betawi farmers' fruit plantations now rarely provide good harvests. Environmental changes have renderedsalak and duku unproductive,"" Kodir said. Coupled with the lack of support given by relevant authorities to traditional growers, the land formerly used for plantations has been converted into houses or business places for rent.

To overcome this, Kodir and over a dozen environmental activists have, since 1996, been engaged in restoration by conserving some of Condet's characteristic plants in the Ciliwung Conservation Area in Kebon Pucung, Balekambang. The river catchment is also being rehabilitated by growing trees in phases in landslide-prone parts of the river valley.

These activities are sustained by deriving plant seedlings from surrounding areas according to soil conditions. Kapok, coconut and banyan trees or hard-stemmed fruit trees are known to resist landslide. The second corridor is grown with productive plants like banana or salak, with duku filling the gaps.

The initial phase currently involves the Ciliwung Conservation Area, Kebon Pucung, covering one hectare. The next stage is targeted to include 10 hectares in Condet. ""The main obstacle is obtaining the permission of landowners. In several landslide-prone areas people have often refused to allow replanting,"" said Kodir, hoping that the regional administration would clear critical land for the rescue of Condet's fauna and flora.

Haji Muhamad Amin, 80, from Balekambang, said the fruit plantations along Ciliwung riverbanks had to be maintained. In Kebon Pucung, he said, lizards and beavers could still be found. ""Some people frequently come to hunt lizards and snakes,"" he said. Monkeys have not been seen on river banks for five years, as they are hidden in Batuampar's salak plantations.

Other species observed in the river conservation area are pythons, green snakes (Dryophis prasinus), small lizards and squirrels, and a variety of birds and insects like dragonflies and butterflies.

Sadly, the hunting of lizards and snakes continues alongside streams in the forests to catch them dead or alive for their meat.

Ministry of Forestry Director of Social Forestry Affairs Bili Indra said local residents' replanting efforts were, in effect, a form of support given to the environment and government. In his message on World Forestry Day in the Ciliwung Conservation Area on March 19, he acknowledged that the government could not afford to undertake restoration.

""The rate of environmental destruction in Indonesia is very high compared with the very slow rehabilitation,"" he added. The rescue of Ciliwung's woodlands as urban forests should therefore continue.