The Beauty of Rawa Malang City Forest in North Jakarta, but Road Access is Difficult

In the Cilincing area of North Jakarta, there is a city forest spanning approximately 5.7 hectares. The area is the Rawa Malang City Forest, which has been gradually cleared and planted with trees since 2012. Although it has a large area, the city forest is still relatively quiet with visitors due to inadequate road access to the location. Not only that, medium-sized rocks are also present on the access road, so drivers passing through need to reduce their vehicle speed. The Rawa Malang City Forest is located at the end of that damaged road. Upon entering the city forest area, a fresh and cool atmosphere immediately greets visitors. Dense trees with close spacing make the heat and dust of the Cilincing area unnoticeable. In addition to the trees, the Rawa Malang City Forest also has a small lake at the back of the area. Saddam, one of the security officers at the Rawa Malang City Forest, explained that the 5.7-hectare area has several available facilities. “In the front for the tree plantings, at the back there’s also a lake. For the facilities currently, there’s a field at the back, and in the front there’s a children’s playground for kids to play,” said Saddam when met by Kompas.com on Wednesday. “Meanwhile, the access is still a bit lacking in support,” he added. Meanwhile, the Coordinator of Internal Security (Pamdal) for City Forests in Cilincing Subdistrict, Heriyana, explained that tree planting in the area has been done gradually since 2012. “In 2012, we built and planted step by step; at that time Mr Jokowi (Joko Widodo) was governor and once planted in this city forest,” she said. She assessed that the potential of the area is actually quite large to be utilised by the community as green open space.