The Environmental Status (SLH) of the Ibu Kota Negara (IKN) is being prepared by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in collaboration with the IKN Authority. The SLH document contains the condition or hue of the IKN environment which represents environmental conditions both in the dry season and in the rainy season.

According to Prof Hefni Effendi, IPB University Expert from the Department of Aquatic Resources Management (MSP), Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science (FPIK), the SLH IKN should describe all aspects of the environment, both biological and non-biological, both terrestrial and aquatic, both geo-physical-chemical-biological conditions and socio-economic-cultural-health conditions.

“These environmental conditions should be visualized spatially based on the Geographic Information System (GIS), making it easier for users to see trends based on space,” said one of Prof Hefni Effendi’s suggestions, who acted as a discussant at the Forest City Workshop to Ensure Sustainable Environmental Status Towards Golden Indonesia.

This workshop was held in collaboration with the MSP Department of IPB University and the IKN Authority. In this workshop, the meaning of the Smart Forest City concept was explained in detail by Dr. Onesimus Patiung, Director of Environment and Disaster Management of the IKN Authority. Furthermore, the SLH draft in detail was presented by Atep Hermawan, MSi, who represented ADB as the compiler of the SLH document.

In addition to Prof Hefni as discussant 1, a group of students from IPB University’s Master of Natural Resources and Environmental Management (PSL) Study Program who attended a course taught by Prof Hefni, namely Environmental Management Instruments, also participated as discussant 2. These students were divided into 6 groups and dissected all environmental aspects listed in the draft SLH document.

“These students, well examine the contents of the document in terms of completeness as a SLH document which is the starting point (benchmarking) of environmental conditions before it will be transformed into a smart forest city metropolitan city,” said Prof Hefni.

In addition to examining the completeness as a benchmark document, students also examined the shortcomings, and at the same time provided constructive suggestions to enrich and give color to the SLH document from the perspective of generation Z who have dreams of the future trend of the future city of IKN.

At the end of the presentation, Dr Onesimus and Atep greatly appreciated the insightful input submitted by young people representing gen Z who care about the environment. The workshop, which was an event to gather input from a number of stakeholders, was moderated by Prof Yusli Wardiatno, Professor of the MSP Department at IPB University.

Furthermore, both the IKN Authority and the MSP Department of IPB University are interested in continuing this collaboration.

“Thus, academics will be able to continue to contribute their role to the future of IKN from the perspective of environmental sustainability, which is always expected, so that terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem services available in IKN and its surroundings can be well maintained, as well as sustainable and sustainable,” hoped Prof Hefni.