Inviting Community to preserve Ciliwung: A Service Action of IPB Students for the Village
Ciliwung River is one of the rivers which existence is popular among Indonesian people. This river controls flood that often occurs in DKI Jakarta, with the construction of flood observation posts or a number of sluice gates. In addition, the Ciliwung River is considered to have the worst damage compared to other rivers that flow in Jakarta. The problem that occurs in the Ciliwung River is the existence of siltation which causes susceptibility to flooding around the Ciliwung Watershed. According to the monitoring results of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia (KLHK RI) in 2016, a total of 73.24 percent of the water from the Ciliwung River had heavy pollution quality status.
Meanwhile, the community needs towards the Ciliwung River are very diverse. Some people consider the Ciliwung River as a source of primary needs for bathing, washing and latrines, while the others also need it as a means of recreation to fulfill their secondary needs. However, the condition of the Ciliwung River increasingly requires more attention to recover as it should.
The surrounding community has a big responsibility in efforts to preserve the sustainability of the Ciliwung River. The Student Association of Aquatic Resources Management of the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences of IPB University (Himasper FPIK IPB) realized this and then carried out community service action in the area around the Ciliwung River, which was called as Ciliwung Care Day.
Ciliwung Care Day became a forum for IPB students to implement their knowledge obtained at class directly in the field in order to solve problems that exist in society. Ciliwung Care Day invited seven student organizations (ormawa) at IPB, namely the Student Executive Board (BEM KM) of IPB, FPIK IPB BEM, Aquatic Product Technology Student Association (Himasilkan), Fisheries Resource Utilization Student Association (Himafarin), Civil and Environmental Engineering Student Association (Himatesil), Landscape Architecture Student Association (Himaskap), and the Resource and Environmental Economics Student Association (Reesa).
Febri Ria Safitri, Head of the Division of Environmental and Social of Himasper IPB as well as Chief Executive of Ciliwung Care Day said that this event was held to commemorate World Water Day which falls on 22 March. The Ciliwung Care Day activity began with a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) activity held at the Discussion Room of the Department of MSP FPIK IPB (23/02). The discussion was attended by several students and the Community of Caring Ciliwung (KPC).
“This Ciliwung Care Day activity consisted of a variety of programs, namely mutual cooperation in cleaning the Ciliwung watershed, planting trees, environmental games for children, educating in plastic waste processing and making compost, directing and cooperating in structuring the Ciliwung watershed, and reviewing quality of the water and biodiversity on the Ciliwung River. Ciliwung Care Day was held by involving local people ranging from children, youth groups, to local women living near the Ciliwung watershed area, Kedung Badak, Bogor, on 24 March,” she said.
This activity was also conducted with a collaboration with SEAMEO BIOTROP, the Executive Board of the Alumni Association (DPP HA) of IPB, KPC, the Environment Office of the Bogor City, and the Management Center for Citarum Ciliwung Watershed and Protected Forest (BPDASHL). “Alhamdulillah, there were 275 participants involved. The students and KPC welcomed the initiation of this activity positively,” said Chairman of Himasper FPIK IPB, Rafialwan Athariq Subing. (AD/Zul/ZSP)
