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AKARTA: Jakarta, along with at least 7,000 cities from 153 countries, will join the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) global Earth Hour program on March 23 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

CEO and co-founder of the program Andy Ridley said in a press release made available to The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that Earth Hour was the program that encouraged individuals to turn off their electricity for one hour at the same time.

The program was first launched in Sydney, Australia, in 2007.

“Earth Hour now becomes not only a “switch-off lights” campaign but also a long-term environmental movement,” he said.

The Jakarta Earth Hour committee said follow-up programs would include tree planting along the Ciliwung riverbank and mangrove planting in coastal areas.

The committee recorded that 30 cities in Indonesia had signed up to join in next month’s campaign.

Jakarta became the only Indonesian city to join the program in 2009. Not only individuals, but also companies, governmental offices and building owners joined the campaign in the capital city.

Cities in Indonesia saved about 526 megawatts of electricity or Rp 800 million (US$82,400) from last year’s campaign.