Teaching children how to be ecofriendly can be difficult when it is only done in the classroom. Luckily, for schools in the Greater Jakarta area the Godongijo Conservation and Education Park in Depok gives children and teachers alike the ability to get up close and personal with nature.

The park, located on Jl. Cinangka Raya, opened in 2003 and is free to enter. It provides an oasis away from the hustle and bustle of the city as visitors can enjoy its lush greenery park, as the park is home to all sorts of flora and fauna, most of which are endemic to Indonesia.

The animals in the park include a reticulated python, a monitor lizard and a pair of flying foxes, all of which call the archipelago home.

While walking around the park, one can also see more than 1,000 trees in the botanical garden that they might find in rainforests throughout the country. The animals and plant life are used to help educate those who visit.

“Our goal is to teach people how humans can sustainably balance flora and fauna,” said general manager Jane Nadeak. “We also want people to learn why some humans do not pay any attention to conservation.”

Jane explained that the privately run park gets about 500 visitors per day on weekdays and up to 1,000 on weekends. There are 100 employees at Godongijo who are assigned to five different features of the park. Staff members either handle plants, animals, horse riding, the café, or the “ecotainment” programs that the park offers.

There are also several educational programs for students, including one called “Young Greeners”, a program that teaches about ecosystems, habitat, global warming, modern farming and reptile anatomy. The fee of this program is Rp 65,000 (US$4.50) for young children and Rp 185,000 for junior and high school students.

Another program is called “Fun with Clay”, which gives students the opportunity to create sculptures with child-friendly clay. It is taught by a professional sculptor. The cost of the program ranges from Rp 125,000 to Rp 175,000 depending on age group.

There are many more programs that Godongijo visitors can participate in, such as batik painting, handicrafts using akar wangi (aromatic roots), angklung (a traditional bamboo instrument) classes and a robotics course.

“We’ve taken our elementary students to Godongijo for five years now,” said Ellia Feeber, the curriculum coordinator at the Epata School in Depok.

“We like it because it’s a place where the students can interact with the park’s ecosystem,” she added.

Along with edutourism, the park also offers other facilities, like a restaurant and a fishing pond. In the fishing pond, which has been open since 2009, visitors can either catch and release their fish or buy their catch from the park. Four hours of catch-and-release fishing costs Rp 100,000. The cost to bring your catch home depends on how much the fish weighs. The pond brings in visitors from all around the area.

“My hobby is fishing,” said Ari Bayu Yudistira, a civil servant from Tangerang.

“What is unique about Godongijo’s fishing pond is that it is one of the four fishing locations in the Greater Jakarta area that I’m aware of that contain carnivorous fish. I also like how it is the biggest of the four, with a capacity for more than 100 people around the pond.”

Ari said he visits the park twice a month and has been fishing there for six years.

The park is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. On the weekend, it is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (bry)

— Intern Teddy Hans contributed to the story.

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