10%

Reviving the vibrance of Ciliwung River

By IW:LEARN

February 21^st, 2025

From the hills and mountains of Bogor Regency, the Ciliwung River flows downstream, stretching 118.25 kilometers to the Java Sea. It crosses the region of Bogor Regency, the cities of Bogor, Depok, and Jakarta, and drains into the Java Sea through Jakarta Bay in Indonesia. With a total area of 421.47 square kilometers, the Ciliwung River Basin plays a key role in supporting livelihood, agricultural activities, trade, transportation and local tourism in the three major cities of Bogor, Depok, and Jakarta. The Ciliwung Dam in the upstream Bogor, which was built in 1911, provides irrigation to 333 hectares of rice lands. Known also for its fertile lands for world-class tea plantations, Bogor Regency has greatly benefited from the nutrients and water services of the river basin.

The Ciliwung Dam is located in the upstream part of the river in Bogor Regency. It was constructed by the Dutch in 1911 and has since helped rice and cassava farmers in the lowland irrigate their farms. Credit: PEMSEA/John Castillo

Over the years, the condition of the river deteriorated due to land developments and unsustainable human practices including improper waste disposal both from domestic and industrial sectors. Every day, approximately 7,000 tons of solid waste is being generated in the areas of the Ciliwung River Basin and the Jakarta Coastal Region. The available waste processing centers in the area have reached their full capacity, and this leaves the solid waste collection and disposal a huge challenge for the government.

Old clothes, plastic bags, and even house furniture can be seen trapped along the riverbanks of Ciliwung in Depok City. Credit: PEMSEA/John Castillo

According to Dr. Abdul Rahman, Head of the Environment Agency of Depok City, the 19-kilometer stretch of Ciliwung River within the jurisdiction of Depok City provides several ecosystem services to the community including fishing and recreation. However, he also reaffirmed that improper waste disposal is among the major issues in Ciliwung River.

Depok City is one of the three major cities where the Ciliwung River traverses. The development in the city has significantly impacted the state of the river basin. Credit: PEMSEA/John Castillo

“There are about 2.1 million people living in Depok City and we generate 100.3 tons of waste per day. We have relevant programs to address the solid waste management problem like installing a biodigester that can make composts out of biodegradable waste. But there are other sources of pollution like the small-scale businesses and the wastes coming from the upstream area,”

said Dr. Rahman.

Identified as hotspot locations in the upstream area of the river basin, consultations and field visits were done in Depok and Bogor cities to discuss the state of the river and actions to address the same. Based on existing documents, the implementation of the master plans for solid waste and sewage management in the two cities was limited due to insufficient resources to ensure a more integrated community engagement and to establish a centralized investment facility. A similar issue is also prevalent downstream, i.e., illegal dumping of domestic waste and untreated wastewater from small-scale industries.

As industries and growing populations continue to pressure water usage, land subsidence has also become a significant issue in the Ciliwung River Basin. Further, changes to the landscape along the riverbanks have adversely impacted not only water quality but also biodiversity, as the cover of mangrove forests has decreased over the years. In response to these challenges, a group of community volunteers are passionately driving the efforts to revive the Ciliwung River.

A small tofu factory is located along the Ciliwung River in Depok City, whose construction of a filter pond and wastewater treatment area has yet to be finished . According to the owner, the wastewater coming from its tofu operations is not harmful to the environment since most of the materials used are plant-based.

Across the three major cities including Bogor, Depok, and Jakarta, the Sahabat Sungai Indonesia mobilized river rangers to regularly collect wastes and lead community river clean-ups in 37 communities in Ciliwung River Basin. In Depok City, a group of river rangers is composed of 15 volunteers, where 30 per cent are women. Their age varies from 15 to 45 years old. Aside from regular cleanups, they conduct community awareness activities to sensitize the importance of preserving the integrity of the river. River rangers do not receive salary or any incentives aside from the transportation allowance when they need to travel and attend meetings.

Aside from river clean-ups and education drives, the river rangers are also guiding tourists who are doing river rafting in Ciliwung River. Credit: PEMSEA/John Castillo

The river rangers also co-manage the river rafting activity in Ciliwung River, which aims to promote river conservation and local sustainable tourism in Depok City. Tourists can enjoy a 45-minute river adventure in an inflatable raft. Along the route, tourists can enjoy bird watching and some wildlife sightings.

Bakri, a volunteer river ranger and rafting guide, was briefing the IRBM Project team during the field visit in Depok City. Credit: PEMSEA/John Castillo

Voices on the ground

A telltale of a river ranger

Bakri, a river ranger volunteer in Depok City. Credit: PEMSEA/John Castillo

“I love the river because I was born here. I want to take care of it even in small ways.”

These were the words from Bakri, a river ranger volunteer in Depok City. He is 43 years old, married, has three children, and owns a small store along the riverbank. Bakri is a freelance worker—sometimes an online seller of toothpaste, perfume, and other personal effects. Their home is located on the borders of Depok and Bogor cities.

Bakri’s recollection had gone as far back as the early 1990s when the river started to become polluted. In 2006, volunteers were mobilized to do clean-ups until in 2017, their group was formally established. He recalled when the dam in Bogor Regency that was part of the Ciliwung River was opened, they were flooded in Depok. But it was not the flood that shocked him. It was the waste that came from upstream. A once clean-up day would recover 150 to 200 kilograms, mostly plastic bags.

He has been doing this volunteer work for over 15 years. When asked if he gets tired,

“Yes but my dream is for Ciliwung (river) to become a tourist destination.”

While there are different groups of river rangers covering different segments of the Ciliwung River in Bogor, Depok, and Jakarta, there is no existing body that coordinates them or their efforts at the river basin level. Credit: PEMSEA/John Castillo

The interagency coordinating mechanism for the development and management of river basins in Indonesia is being led by the Directorate General for Water Resources, Ministry of Public Works. It covers the environmental and resource management issues in the river basin and coastal areas in the region. While there is an existing mechanism in place, the Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) Project aims to contribute to strengthening the governance capacity and ensure a sustainable, innovative, and more inclusive management of the Ciliwung River Basin. This also includes more engagement from the communities especially women and the minority groups.

The IRBM Project is also conducting a baseline study to assess the different factors that affect the biophysical aspects of the river basin, including climate-induced and anthropogenic threats.

The IRBM project envisions implementing complementary programs that protect water quality through integrated wastewater and solid waste management to arrest the further degradation of water quality and biodiversity loss along the corridors of the Ciliwung River.

Depok City’s waste bank

Ruma Harum is a community-managed waste bank that started in 2013 in Depok City. It consolidates recyclables—from plastics to metals to papers—and sells them to its partner recycling companies.

Locals visit the waste bank to deposit their recyclable wastes and receive equivalent money depending on the volume and buying price in the market. They also collect in residential areas to increase their waste recovery. In a week, they can recover an average of three tons of plastic waste.

With the IRBM Project’s vision and outstanding community volunteerism in Depok City to revive the health of the river, Bakri’s hope of passing on a cleaned Ciliwung River to the next generation is not an impossibility.

River rafting on the Ciliwung River in Depok City, Indonesia. Credit: PEMSEA/John Castillo

About the project

Supported by the Global Environment Facility, the Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) Project aims to set-up functional management mechanisms in priority river basins of six ASEAN countries to reduce pollution and sustain freshwater environmental flows as well as adapt to climate change vulnerabilities. The Project is being implemented by the United Nations Development Programme, and executed by Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of Seas Asia, in collaboration with ASEAN.