City, IPB to regreen Jakarta

JAKARTA: The city administration and the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) will team up on various projects to beautify and regreen the capital for the next five years.

"The IPB will help the city administration in maintaining city parks and forests," IPB rector Ahmad Ansori Mattjik said after meeting Governor Sutiyoso on Wednesday.

Ahmad said that the institute would assist with the planting of tree seedlings and flowers at Monas (the National Monument park), Central Jakarta.

"Governor Sutiyoso wants the park to be home to a variety of birds. Unfortunately, there are no trees there that produce seeds that they eat; that's why we plan to grow such trees."

The institute will also help the Jakarta Agriculture and Forestry Agency to regreen the devastated mangrove forest in Muara Angke, North Jakarta.

Agency head Peni Susanti also stated that her office would carry out a feasibility study to transform protected mangrove forest in Muara Angke into a tourism site in cooperation with Singapore National Park. -- JP