Ciliwung River Adventure, an Educational Tourism Initiative Inviting Local Residents to Care More About the Environment

Exploring the Ciliwung River is no longer just a recreational activity, but has grown into a deeply meaningful learning experience. Through the Ciliwung River Adventure program, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government invites the public to understand the river's history up close, while nurturing environmental care in an enjoyable way.

This Ciliwung River Adventure held at the BNI City segment of Ciliwung River, Central Jakarta, forms part of the event series for Jakarta City's 499th Anniversary celebration.

The program is the result of collaboration between the DKI Jakarta Water Resources Agency (SDA), Environment Agency, Parks and Urban Forestry Agency, Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), Health Agency, Khatulistiwa Rescue Team, and Sobat Air Jakarta.

From the start of the activity, participants are guided to recognize that a river is not just a stream of water cutting through the city, but also a vital part of Jakarta's development history. Before accessing the river, participants are split into groups to attend a briefing covering the historical journey of Ciliwung River across different eras.

Nugraharyadi, Secretary of the DKI Jakarta Water Resources Agency, explained that the core objective of this activity is to build public awareness to care more about river cleanliness.

"This is part of Jakarta's 499th Anniversary event series. The primary goal is public education, to stop people from discarding waste into the river," Nugraharyadi stated on Saturday.

After completing the history briefing, participants receive safety training from the DKI Jakarta BPBD team before boarding inflatable boats to begin their journey along the Ciliwung River.

Notably, all participants are invited to take active part in collecting floating trash from the river using nets. All collected waste is brought back to the dock then sorted according to its type.

This waste sorting process concludes the entire activity sequence. With guidance from the DKI Jakarta Environment Agency, participants learn to identify different waste categories while understanding the importance of building consistent home waste sorting habits.

"This might seem like a small action, but it is a habit we must cultivate within the community," Nugraharyadi remarked.

Members of the public interested in joining this experience may register via the link shared on the official @sobatair.jkt Instagram account. All activities are fully free of charge, with sessions only held once per month.

For 2026, Ciliwung River Adventure is scheduled to run for six consecutive months, from May until October. This timeline was selected for safety reasons, as Ciliwung River water discharge typically rises significantly towards the end of each calendar year.

"For 2026 specifically, we will run this program across May, June, July, August, September and October, total six months. If we held sessions in November or December, the river flow would be far too high and extremely dangerous," he concluded.

Source: Antara