Jakartans begin regreening<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
As the city's green areas continue to be asphalted under, many
\nJakartans are realizing the importance of planting trees and
\ncreating mini-green areas at home.<\/p>\n
This new trend was evident from the hundreds of Jakartans
\nvisiting the flora and fauna exhibition at the Lapangan Banteng
\nPark in Central Jakarta. The exhibition is open from Aug. 8 to
\nAug. 15, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.<\/p>\n
Many visitors left the exhibition loaded down with fruit trees
\nand flowering trees, which they intended to plant in their yards.<\/p>\n
They said the trees would provide shade and a little bit of
\ngreen around their houses, offering relief from the heat and
\npollution of the city.<\/p>\n
"I don't know why, but I feel like it's getting hotter in the
\ncity," said Jumali, a resident of Kampung Bali in Central
\nJakarta, who bought a guava tree.<\/p>\n
Deden Sumantri, who sells a variety of fruit trees, including
\ndurian, guava and orange, said he had sold 20 trees on Saturday
\nby 3 p.m.<\/p>\n
"We expect to sell about 30 trees a day. Saturday and Sunday
\nare the best days because there are more visitors," Deden, a
\nresident of Ragunan, South Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post on
\nSaturday.<\/p>\n
But not all visitors were there to buy, with many people
\ndropping in on the exhibition simply to enjoy the flowers, trees
\nand animals on display.<\/p>\n
The head of the City Park Agency, Mauritz Napitupulu, said
\nmore than 281 private vendors were taking part in the exhibition,
\nmore than half selling fruit trees and flowering trees.<\/p>\n
"We encourage people to plant trees and flowers at their
\nhomes. If each house planted trees, it would be a significant
\ncontribution to regreening Jakarta," Mauritz said on Friday.<\/p>\n
Less than 10 percent of the total area of the city is now
\nclassified as green areas.<\/p>\n
The administration hopes to increase the green areas to 13.94
\npercent by 2010, but there are few signs that any steps are being
\ntaken to realize this goal. Even if the goal were to be
\naccomplished, it would still be far from the ideal of 30 percent
\nof the total area of the city being green.<\/p>\n
It is not difficult to find green areas across the city that
\nare being taken over by new office and retail buildings.<\/p>\n
Many other green areas like parks and riverbanks have been
\noccupied by houses, kiosks and other structures.<\/p>\n
A lack of green areas can lead to worsening air pollution and
\nhigher temperatures, among other negative impacts.<\/p>",
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