Kamis, 15 Januari 2009

Restoration of Ciliwung floodplain imperative

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 05/08/2007 7:00 AM  |  Life

Bambang Parlupi, Jakarta

Various problems have arisen in the wake of the big floods that hit Jakarta in February. The ceaseless downpours early that month and massive influx of water from the upstream reaches of the Ciliwung river were seen as the causes of the inundations that affected almost 70 percent of the capital, leaving waste and mud covering the riverbanks as far as the downstream shoals of Jakarta Bay.

The area along the riverbank in East Jakarta's Condet region, for instance, has been badly affected by the floods. This location is home to a nature reserve that is promoted by environmentalists. The conservation zone is located in Balekambang subdistrict, Kramat Jati district, East Jakarta.

""The hundreds of trees planted to make a park along the river two years ago are now gone,"" said environmental activist Abdul Kodir Mohammed.

Abdul, who is the chairman of the Condet Environment Community Forum (WKLH) revealed that thousands of other plants had also been destroyed by the floods. The deluges even damaged to the fruit trees typical of Condet -- salak (Salacca edulis) and duku/lanson (Lansium domesticum) -- which are mostly found on the riverbanks.

""Mud and inorganic waste like plastic and cans will hamper the growth of plants, lower the quality of the fruit and even rot the vegetation,"" explained Abdul, who is an agricultural engineer.

The February floods were the biggest in Jakarta for the last 20 years. ""The flood waters reached more than three meters above the normal level of the river, submerging houses and plantations,"" said Ahmad Yani, a Condet resident living on Gang Pucung, Balekambang. ""Rubbish and plastic bags are still hanging from the remaining trees.""

A riverbank landslide also hit Jalan Munggang in Balekambang, leaving only half of the road passable. The part of the road that collapsed was built on a old rubbish dump. So far, the authorities have just put up a notice to keep vehicles out.

For the restoration of the Ciliwung's post-disaster ecosystem, its critical floodplain should be replanted with fast-growing protective plants with strong roots. It is hoped that support for this will be provided by the government, environmentalists and the private sector.

""I do hope some institutions or individuals will help us replant the river's floodplain,"" said Abdul, adding that he and his group had compiled data on several critical areas and made ready hundreds of seedlings.

Apart from that, the existence of salak and duku in the area is under serious threat because, according to Abdul, the land available to fruit growers is shrinking due to economic pressure and rapid development. Both species have been associated with Condet since colonial days and come in a wide range of varieties. Condet's famous salak, for example, comes in 15 varieties that can be distinguished by their tastes, skin colors and stem shapes.

As a fruit grower himself, Abdul hoped that some assistance would be forthcoming for the effort to save the fruit trees. ""One way would be to provide proper compensation to farmers planning to sell or build houses on land that is planted with salak and dukuh,"" he said. In so doing, if an agency was interested to adopting their high-yielding trees for further planting, they would be able to move the fruit trees to a protected area, he said.

Abdul and his group have attempted to conserve local plants by growing salakduku and seedlings of various other plants by generative planting. The fact that intensive plant maintenance is required, and the long time before fruit is produced, are the two main weaknesses of this method. Yet, the group has initiated the planting of over a dozen fruit trees along critical sections of the Ciliwung floodplain, including not onlysalak and duku trees, but also rambutan, jackfruit and guava, to save the river's ecosystem and conserve indigenous species.

Abdul also said that Condet durian (Durio zibethinus Murr) has been difficult to find for the last seven years. Most of the durian trees in Condet have been killed by lightning or felled by owners for the building of houses without any efforts made to grow seedlings.

The Condet administrative region is a nature protection and Betawi cultural preservation zone. With a total area of 18,228 hectares, it comprises the subdistricts of Batuampar, Kampung Tengah and Balekambang. Former Jakarta Governor Ali Sadikin declared Condet a fruit plantation region, with the concept being announced by his successor on Dec. 18, 1975

Tidak ada komentar:

Posting Komentar