After three years in the wilderness, a movement to map out green spaces in Jakarta is back in style, riding the global trend towards an environmentally conscious lifestyle.

“The campaigning stage is over, people are aware of the ‘green’ lifestyle now. Let’s focus on green maps’ effectiveness, power to change, availability and design,” Marco Kusumawijaya, a founder of the “green map” movement said Saturday.

The green map project involves communities, big and small, mapping out their neighborhoods.  Currently, sixteen cities across the country are being green-mapped.

The mapmaking process is a creative one. People from all walks of life can contribute. Even children, guided by adults, can make their own green maps of their locales.

“Green maps can be used even before they are complete. Through green mapmaking, people meet and exchange information about the neighborhood,” said Elanto Wijoyono, coordinator of Indonesia Green Map.

He added the maps could contain as many details and interesting facts as the contributors wanted.

The first green map in Jakarta was of Kemang, South Jakarta, made in 2001 by a group of residents, architects and media workers. The second map, in 2002, was of Kebayoran Baru, also in South Jakarta.

The main aim of the green map movement is to promote healthy and sustainable cities by pointing out features not necessarily marked out on other maps, such as green areas, open spaces, heritage buildings, rare trees, bird-viewing sites and other places of interest.

The 2003 Menteng green map, for instance, points out the home of a traditional healer renowned for his medicinal herbs.

The last Jakarta green map was that of the Old Town in West and North Jakarta, made in 2005.

For the latest maps, they aim to include the ctiy’s heritage buildings as well as its flora and fauna. With a increase in the number of companies in Jakarta going green, the green map could also include locations of composting avenues and also plant vendors. In this way, companies would know where to go when there is a need for them to recycle their wastes.

A commendable project indeed. If you would like to take a look at their progress so far, you can visit here. To know more about Green Maps itself, you can visit the site here. Try looking up for your own country’s green map.

Via - Jakarta Post