Celebrating World Forest Day, Nino RAN Holds Discussion In Situ Gunung Tourism Forest

Nino RAN

JAKARTA - World Forest Day is celebrated every March 21. The trio of producers and songwriters for Laleilmanino, namely Anindyo Baskoro (vocalist for RAN), as well as Arya Aditya Ramadhya and Ilman Ibrahim (guitarist and keyboardist for Maliq & D'Essentials) visited the Situ Gunung Tourism Forest to commemorate the event.

The forest is one of the entrances to Mount Gede-Pangrango National Park tourism, West Java. The forest presents a natural atmosphere that is completely different from the atmosphere of a big city which is transformed into a concrete forest.

One of the main attractions of this tourist forest area is the 250 meter long suspension bridge, the longest in Southeast Asia. Built at a height of 150 meters above river level, crossing this bridge is an exciting experience for Laleilmanino.

“Incidentally, the team that took the trip was a bit big. So, the bridge sways quite hard," said Nino RAN, Anindyo's nickname, quoted from ANTARA, Monday, March 21.

Tian explained, this suspension bridge is the center of point Situ Gunung. This bridge he saw was very different from the concrete pedestrian bridge he usually found in the city. In addition, Situ Gunung also has various interesting spots, including waterfalls and caves.

Forest tourism activities like this make city people feel relevant and connected to the forest. According to Tian, education about the importance of forests for the preservation of nature and human life is necessary.

“But, what is no less important is the effort to increase our love for the forest. Because of that, HII often holds various creative activities that connect us to the forest, such as music concerts with nature themes, fun runs while adopting trees, eating events for non-timber forest products.”

Being in a place where the atmosphere is different from everyday life made Laleilmanino realize that humans actually need to re-examine how life should work.

“Everything we see in the city has been heavily touched by human intervention. Meanwhile, if we go to the forest, everything still feels natural,” said Nino, who used to be invited to climb mountains by his father, who is a nature lover.

He also felt, because he had been used to living in the noise of the city, in the forest he could feel very relaxed. Thus, it is very easy for him to find inspiration.

Before going to the forest, Lale, Ilman and Nino chatted with Verena Puspawardani (Program Director of Coaction Indonesia) and Christian Natalie (Manager of the Indonesian Forest Program), in more detail about the issue of climate change.

Ve told about his experience documenting the impacts of climate change in Indonesia. The majority of the areas he studied were areas that became Indonesia's strengths, namely land and forests, as well as coasts and seas.

“In the past we studied the rainy season and dry season. Now local wisdom based on past seasons can no longer be valid, because the seasons have shifted. Forest communities who depend on gardens or agriculture must innovate to think about types of seeds or more productive gardening or farming practices. Or, coastal communities must look for alternatives, when they cannot go to sea during high waves.”

Another example that Ve mentions is the tidal flood and the shifting of the coastline, for example in northern Java or north of Jakarta. The mosque which was originally on the mainland is now almost in the middle of the sea.

“Hearing stories like this, we seem to be reminded again that the issue of climate change is indeed very scary, yes. So, if we don't act from now on, we will be the ones who will suffer the losses later," said Nino.

When Laleilmanino asked further about the cause of the incident, Tian explained, the cause was human activities that had an impact on climate change. He then added about the destruction of forests, which made young people need to be reminded again that forests have extraordinary wealth, and will only continue to be enjoyed if the forests are well maintained.

The discussion continued on the sidelines of the outing. Nino asked whether nature could improve itself if it was not humans who acted.

Ve and Tian replied, nature can repair itself. However, if humans are not aggressively part of the improvement effort, global warming could occur to above 1.5 degrees Celsius. This makes the impacts of climate change even more severe.

"For example, the current heat wave occurs every 10 years. It could occur four times as often, when the average temperature of the earth becomes 1.5 degrees Celsius. Or, in drought-prone areas, dry seasons are twice as likely and can make The world's 200-250 million people face severe water shortages. Moreover, drought can also cause forest fires."

Realizing that the act of restoring nature is an urgent matter, they want to invite the public to start taking action to protect the forest. Protecting forests is important because with their ability to absorb carbon dioxide, forests are one of the solutions in overcoming climate change.

"Never been to the forest can still protect the forest, really. We can both start from simple things. For example, reducing activities that risk increasing greenhouse gases, such as not littering and using motorized vehicles appropriately. You see, if not us, who else?” Nino said.

Nino also had the opportunity to voice a global campaign video entitled Forest Shield.

“Hopefully the voice that I donate through this video will be a reminder for us to continue to protect the forest. Nature, humans and other creatures should be able to be in a proper sanctuary. Therefore, we must always maintain the balance of nature. If we take care of the forest and its contents, surely the forest and its contents will also take care of us,” said Nino.