Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung, visited Srengseng City Forest in Kembangan, West Jakarta, Monday (6/23).

This is what must be cared for

In his visit, he instructed the Head of Jakarta Parks and Urban Forest Agency (Distamhut) to soon renovate the amphitheater facilities in Srengseng City Forest.

He hoped that a cultural event would be held at that location someday.

"Earlier, I told the Distamhut to renovate the amphitheater," he expressed.

He also emphasized the importance of keeping the island area within the forest closed to the public. The results of a study by the USFS (United States Forest Service) in collaboration with IPB show that Srengseng City Forest can absorb about 313 tons of CO2 annually and produce 227.8 tons of oxygen per year.

"And this is what must be cared for," he explained.

He even expressed his admiration for the existence of a 15-hectare city forest that has been built since the era of Governor Soerjadi Soedirja in 1995. This city forest also has a 1.7-kilometer jogging track.

Thereby, Pramono expressed his commitment to preserving this city forest. Despite there was a proposal to open access as widely as possible, he chose to maintain an affordable entrance fee, which is Rp 3,000 for individuals and motorcycles, and Rp 6,000 for cars.

This policy aims to ensure that the forest is well-maintained, while residents who regularly engage in activities like jogging can still use the existing facilities.

"Those who actually need it for daily jogging and such can do it here. And the average residents living here are allowed free entry," he explained.

As information, Srengseng City Forest has various facilities that support visitors' comfort, such as a plaza, management office, hall, prayer room, guard post, toilets, tree nursery area, gazebo, parking area, food corner, children's playground, wall climbing, lake, amphitheater, and water gate.

He added, there would be no additional facilities in this city forest to maintain its function as Jakarta's lungs. This is because too many public facilities would reduce the forest's primary function as a CO2 absorber.

Nevertheless, its presence could not fix the air pollution in Jakarta overall. The main sources of pollution in Jakarta are power plants and industries that use coal, as well as high-sulfur fuels.

As information, Srengseng City Forest now has a very good ecological condition. This is indicated by the high diversity of plant species and complete canopy structure. There are about 87 tree species with a total of around 1,211 trees, including mahogany, gmelina, and flamboyant trees.