By: Natalia Trita Agnika

"What are those bird sounds?" asked a middle-aged man dressed as a Betawi champion. The elementary school children sitting in front of him simultaneously looked up to find the source of the sound. Proudly, the man named Haji Chaeruddin or familiarly called Babe Idin then explained that in the Sangga Buana Forest, the location where they were at that time, there were several types of birds, such as kutilang, tekukur, angsrit, and kentet. Babe Idin also explained that in Sangga Buana Forest there are many trees that were once often found on riverbanks in the Jakarta area. Call it kecapi, jamblang, buni, and gowok trees.

Babe Idin is the owner of the Sangga Buana Forest land in Cinere, Depok, and is an environmental champion who has contributed a lot in changing the environment around Pesanggrahan River to be more beautiful and environmentally friendly. His warm welcome made 60 students of SDN Sawangan 02 Depok more enthusiastic in participating in the "Volunteering Day" activity organized by Panda Mobile WWF-Indonesia and HSBC on (27/02). The activity involved 20 HSBC and Bank Ekonomi staff who joined as volunteers. In her speech, besides delivering a message to the students, Babe Idin also advised the volunteers to preserve nature. One of them is by not throwing garbage around the riverbanks.

After listening to speeches, the activity was divided into several groups. The elementary school students listened to a story about orangutans told by Kak Ryan. During the storytelling, HSBC and Bank Ekonomi volunteers were trained in woodcarving creativity with the Green Transformation community and bag making from used t-shirts with Panda Mobile volunteers. The bag making received a positive response. They were very happy to realize that their used t-shirts can be used for other things and not become garbage.

The atmosphere of Sangga Buana Forest, which is shady because of the many trees, makes the students move freely. After listening to storytelling they were invited to play a waste sorting game. Within a certain period of time, they were invited to collect all the garbage around the forest. Once collected, they were asked to sort by type (organic or inorganic). Panda Mobile volunteers then explained the time it takes for each type of waste to decompose. Through this game, the students realized that littering can contribute to environmental degradation.

At the end of the activity, the volunteers from HSBC and Bank Ekonomi gained new insights through a discussion about the environment with WWF-Indonesia staff. The light and relaxed discussion discussed about waste management in Sangga Buana Forest, clean water issues, and green lifestyle. Lydia, one of the volunteers from Bank Ekonomi who participated in this activity for the first time, was happy because she gained a lot of new knowledge. "I'm happy to know how to make bags from used t-shirts. The activity is also good because I can know about the environment and of course share it with others," she said.

The same thing was also expressed by Hj. Nurjanah, 3rd grade teacher of SDN Sawangan 02 Depok who accompanied the students. "I'm really happy. This is the first time for our children to visit the forest. Around the school, a lot of land has been converted into housing. This way, the children can experience firsthand and get to know the environment," she said.