Sutiyoso fronts idea for mangrove eco-tourism

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Governor Sutiyoso on Friday hinted that his administration was mulling over a plan to turn a section of the coastal mangrove forest in Muara Angke, North Jakarta, into an ecotourism site.

"There are hundreds of monkeys there in the forest ... now they are in poor condition. As we want to restore the ecosystem, we plan to, at the same time, convert the area into an ecotourism site, just like they've done in Singapore," he announced to the public.

He had just returned from a helicopter tour to check on the location along with head of the City Agriculture and Forestry Agency, Peni Susanti.

Sutiyoso said that he wanted the planned tourist destination to be similar to the one in Sangeh, Bali, where visitors could interact with monkeys that live freely in the recreational site.

"In the near future, we will first build access to the area and restore the surrounding area. I don't think it will cost us much money," he said, adding that the funding for such a project could be taken from the city budget.

The mangrove forest is also near the site of a large city reclamation project, which will convert the coastal swamp/mangrove area into a residential and commercial area.

Peni claimed that the development of an ecotourism site inside the Muara Angke mangrove forest was part of efforts to regreen the capital.

"We plan to increase the green areas in the city to 13.9 percent of Jakarta's area by 2010, from the current 9 percent," said Peni.

Jakarta has a total area of 63,744 hectares.

Government Regulation No. 63/2002 on city forest stipulates each city should have at least 10 percent green areas.

The forest acts, among other things, as the city's lungs, water catchment area and maintaining the balance of the ecosystem.

Peni revealed that the city administration had reclaimed five green areas last year, and planned to issue another gubernatorial decree on protected green areas to claim four more city forests.

The first five are the urban forests in Srengseng and in the campus of the University of Indonesia, both in Depok, south of Jakarta, Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, the Halim Perdanakusumah airbase and Sunter dam.

Four forests could also be declared protected areas, such as in Manggala Wanabakti building compound in Senayan, South Jakarta, also forests in Cibubur, Rawa Dongkal and the compound of the Army Special Forces (Kopassus) in Cijantung, all in East Jakarta.

"The gubernatorial decrees would ensure that the urban forests could not be used for other purposes," Peni said.

Environmental activists have blasted the city administration for its failure to protect green areas, such as parks, wooded median strips and urban forests across the capital from being occupied by more than 350 commercial buildings, including 350 fuel stations.

The activists say Jakarta should comprise 30 percent of green space, including forests, to keep the capital in ecological balance.

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Existing City Forests

Locations

Srengseng, South Jakarta 15 hectares University of Indonesia campus, Depok 55.4 hectares National Military Headquarters, Cilangkap, East Jakarta 15 hectares Kemayoran, Central Jakarta 4.6 hectares Manggala Wanabakti, Central Jakarta 4 hectares Arboretum Cibubur, East Jakarta 25 hectares Pluit dam in North Jakarta 6 hectares Rawa Dongkal small lake 4 hectares Babakan small lake, South Jakarta 5 hectares Mangga Bolong small lake 2.3 hectares Special Army Forces, Cijantung, East Jakarta 10 hectares Srengseng, West Jakarta 15 hectares PT Jakarta Industrial Estate, East Jakarta 11.5 hectares Ragunan Zoo, South Jakarta 10 hectares Sunter dam, North Jakarta 8.5 hectares Pondok Indah, South Jakarta 5 hectares Gedung Pemuda Cibubur, East Jakarta 10 hectares Blok P, South Jakarta 1 hectares

Total area 195.8 hectares

Source: City Agriculture and Forestry Agency