By: Merry Cristin Natalia Simaremare (Fundraiser WWF-Indonesia)

Jakarta, as the capital and center of business growth and modernization, is packed with towering buildings and millions of people with high mobility. But in the midst of the roar of urbanism, there is a 120-hectare "green oasis" that holds natural beauty. The oasis is called Sangga Buana Urban Forest, located in South Jakarta. The chirping of birds can be heard among the gurgling river, occasionally accompanied by the sound of young bamboo stalks rubbing together. The smell of leaves and wet soil wafts through the air. The path cuts through the grass and rows of trees. It was a stark contrast to the traffic jams caused by the heavy traffic in the capital city. "I'm rich again not in Jakarta, huh!" said a friend of WWF-Indonesia's fundraiser when visiting the Sangga Buana Urban Forest last Monday (23/01).

I immediately wondered to myself, what kind of person could maintain a 120-hectare green area in the midst of rapid urbanism, where the price of a patch of land in a megapolitan is very high? I imagined he must be someone with a high title or position and a bourgeois appearance. But when I had the opportunity to join WWF-Indonesia's F2F Fundraiser team at the location, I had to endure the embarrassment of misjudging someone by their appearance. When I bumped into a man dressed shabbily and barefoot, I thoughtlessly asked, "Are you the gardener here?". How surprised I was when he turned out to be the initiator of this Urban Forest. I was reminded of a quote from Alan Turing in the movie "The Imitation Game": "Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine."

H. Chaerudin, also known as Babe Idin, is a Betawi native with a simple and slightly eccentric appearance who has been invited countless times to various events, both interviewed on National TV shows and as a speaker at various forums. He often wears the same clothes - a T-shirt, traditional Betawi pants, a belt with a purse and a cap - even at important events. "This is who I am. I am Muslim, but I am not Arab. I am not American. I am Muslim Nusantara," he concluded. Babe Idin wants to instill the philosophy that we are proud to be ourselves as indigenous citizens of the archipelago, not to resemble other people or countries.

Babe Idin admitted that he "only" tasted education up to the equivalent of grade 4 of elementary school (formerly called Sekolah Rakyat). However, Babe Idin admits that he does not regret it because he can learn from nature and social life directly. "The most powerful campus is actually nature and society. Humans can learn from the flow of the river, or the green of the leaves. That's what I call natural wisdom management. The daily things we see, feel, and taste, that's the real campus that never has academic boundaries. That's what I learn from," he said.

Departing from his annoyance, H. Chaerudin aka Babe Idin, founded Pesanggrahan Urban Forest. In 1992, Babe Idin traveled from Mount Pangrango to Muara Village. Babe Idin was annoyed because along the way, he did not see any trees. Instead, he saw piles of garbage that filled the riverbanks and houses with their backs to the river. Armed with recklessness and strong will, Babe Idin initiated a Farmer Group called Sangga Buana. Sangga Buana contains a deep philosophy about saving nature. The meaning of "Sangga" is a pole that functions to support or sustain and support something that is on it. While "Buana" symbolizes the Earth or the world in which there is air, plants, water, humans, animals, and others that must be maintained and cared for and preserved.

The Environmental Farmer Group "Sangga Buana" has succeeded in "transforming" a sea of garbage into a green area based on education-conservation and watershed (Watershed) which contains the values of life and civilization. They carried out tree planting, bamboo conservation, surveys and research so that they succeeded in purifying the highly polluted Pesanggrahan River water by making a kind of reservoir and filtering the water by utilizing bamboo which has high lead absorption and residue reduction power or toxic. Even now the river is used as a fishing area and can meet the needs of groundwater for local residents.

Babe Idin did build an urban forest to be enjoyed and utilized wisely by the surrounding community. Babe provides several hectares of land for agroforestry where people can plant plantation crops interspersed with forestry crops. Not necessarily anti-development and civilization, Babe Idin works with developers to build resorts in the middle of the forest as long as the construction process and waste disposal are in accordance with AMDAL and based on sustainable development. He calls it "Wisdom Management."

Waste is also a concern for Babe Idin. He created a waste management machine that is able to burn various kinds of garbage without producing smoke waste, leaving only residue or ash that can even be used as raw material for building bricks that are heat and fire resistant. In addition, Babe Idin also explored the human side of the younger generation by forming the Alam Theater activity. Babe Idin believes that art is also an interpretation of human harmonization efforts with the Creator and His creation: between fellow humans and nature, including the flora and fauna therein. In the philosophy promoted by the Nature Theater, humans are actually actors or lead actors who play on the stage of their respective lives, who are faced with choices every day, whether we will play good or bad.

Babe Idin always conveyed many messages and philosophies, especially for the younger generation. Babe Idin has high hopes for young Indonesians to have the same aspirations as him, namely to build the country. "That is the mentality of the Jawara," he concluded by telling the fundraisers WWF-Indonesia.