Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, is suffering with overpopulation as well as the effects of land sinking. To relieve pressure on the region, the country is moving its capital city to Nusantara.
Officially, the name of the city is Ibu Kota Nusantara, or IKN – in English it is being called Nusantara Capital City or just Nusantara.
The government is intending for the city to be environmentally friendly, stating that 75% of the city will be green, and no resident will be more than 10 minutes from a green space.
To promote the city, and encourage tourists, the city has introduced Nusantara Eco Traveler, a walking tour that is meant to introduce Indonesians and visitors to explore the city by foot.
Through the programme, the community can explore various areas that are divided into three interesting routes, the Nusantara Harmony Route, the Sustainable Archipelago Route, and the Nusantara Step Route.
The walking tours are interspersed with educational information about sustainable development and environmental conservation efforts in the IKN area.
“We’re testing the market. The interest of the people turned out to be very high. In the future it will be upgraded and expanded. It’s also good to increase the level of socialisation at the weekend,” said IKN’s Deputy of Environment and Natural Resources, Myrna A. Safitri.
Initially, the walking tours were intended to take place once every two weeks. However, seeing the high enthusiasm from the community, the IKN Authority is considering increasing the frequency of implementation. When the walks began, there were about 30 participants, most of whom were people aged 50 years and over.
However, at the most recent walking tour, the number of participants reached hundreds of people, and the tour on July 5 was oversubscribed as there were not enough tour guides.
One of the participants, Muhammad Zainurrohman, said: “I thought IKN is only about palaces and big buildings, but through this Eco Traveler I now know many other sides of the archipelago that are green, neat, and full of information about the environment. Take a walk while studying, it’s a fun experience and opens up insights.”
At the most recent walk, there was also a food festival to not only highlight local food, but also show a modern market can also be environmentally friendly.
“We want to educate traders to reduce plastic packaging materials, at least reducing it. Slowly we will improve awareness until there is zero plastic,” Safitri said.
