Ambon Now Has Music Forests, So New Choices For Residents To Enjoy Nada And Nature Harmoni

Music Forests In Ambon (ANTARA/Penina F Mayaut)

AMBON - Ambon which has the title of a music city in Indonesia now has a music forest. Located in Nusaniwe District, Ambon City, this forest combines harmony of the beauty of tone and nature.

The Silooy family's sustainable forest area has now been transformed into an beautiful music forest and is a place to relax enjoying nature, accompanied by music to relax itself.

Launching ANTARA, September 10, the Sound of Green Music Forest (SoG) was the idea of Ambon Music Office (AMO) Director Ronny Loppies with activists for the Boyratan Studio in Amahusu Country (Village). The area was transformed into a new choice for residents of Ambon City to enjoy music, while preserving nature for sustainability.

AMO is a music-based creative city manager in Ambon which was formed based on the Decree of the Mayor of Ambon No. 45 of 2019. The institution is an extension of the Ambon City Government in charge of carrying out strategic programs, namely continuing to realize the status of Ambon City as a world music city.

To carry out his duties, AMO has carried out various activities, including studies and visits to other countries for comparative studies on music. After the visit of the AMO team and representatives of Ambon City musicians to Jinju City in South Korea. In 2022, the idea to create a music forest was sparked, followed by finding the right location to develop sound of green that combines music with environmental conservation efforts.

Amahusu Country, Nusaniwe District, is the location of the music forest because the area is a leading tourist destination, especially related to music in Ambon City, because there is the Amboina Ukulele music community and the Boyratan art studio.

In addition, Amahusu Country is also known to have given birth to legendary Maluku singer Zeth Lekatompessy, who captured her potential for Maluku only by singing.

The idea was then followed up with the development of a music forest by land owner Jonas Silooy by providing a five-hectare land for the construction of supporting facilities in the music forest.

The area is in a hamlet belonging to his ancestral family. So far, the location has only been planted with trees to meet the needs of families, such as clove trees, nutmegs, walnuts and lingua trees.

The Ambon City Government's Tourism and Culture Office provides full support for the development of the Sound Of Green music Forest in Amahusu Country because it has been felt its impact on community development, especially in the fields of the creative, social and environmental economy. One of these supports is to form an Ambon Music Office (AMO).

Entering the fifth year of Ambon being named the City of Music by UNESCO, the Ambon City Government and AMO continue to maintain their characteristics by providing space for the music community to develop creativity.

The government continues to open space for communities, both songwriters and musicians, to create new works at all times, as well as efforts to produce new products resulting from innovation and creativity, through music training, music discussions with communities, as well as recording processes in AMO music studios.

In addition to music, in the SOG Music Forest, local governments through AMO are now also preparing facilities for creative economy actors who will sell Maluku cuisine, including special crafts, such as miniature musical instruments and others.

What surfaced in Ambon shows that the development of the creative economy ecosystem is not only carried out by the government, but also with the collaboration of pentahelix, namely the government, academics, communities, business people, and the media.

All the efforts made are aimed at creating community independence as evidence that Ambon City's youth are increasingly advanced in terms of creativity and innovation.

The existence of the SoG music forest indirectly has an impact on sustainable development or Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which reduces the impact of climate change, including reducing the impact of landslides with more trees being planted. The trees also contribute to the increase in oxygen levels, so as to reduce carbon emissions.

The SoG Music Forest became an icon of Ambon as a music city, not only a musical tourist destination, but also equipped with a natural MSME exhibition room.

The existence of music forests is in line with the development of Ambon City tourism towards music tourism in the world music city. The impact is to improve the welfare of the community, which is focused on 10 leading tourist destinations in five sub-districts in Ambon City.

The 10 flagship objects of music tourism include bamboo music in Tuni Hamlet, the Boyratan art studio which is a music-based natural school under the name "Amahusu Amboina Ukulele Kids Community", a cultural arts institution based on Tifa musical instruments in Soya Country, and other communities.