UGM continues to prove its role as a campus with water tower concept that always spreads kindness, happiness, and benefits for society. Over the concerns of the lack of attention to rivers, the Civil Engineering UGM lecturer, Dr. Ir. Agus Maryono, has earned awards from the Minister of Environment and Forestry as Pioneer of River Restoration in 2015.
Supported by his colleagues, Agus made the initiative in setting up the concept of river restoration to return the essence of the river. His team was able to disseminate the restored rivers that include Code, Winongo, Tambak Bayan, Sungai Kuning, and Gajah Wong rivers.
“Rivers are visibly full of waste nowadays, especially in urban areas. If there is management done on them, the ecosytem is not taken care of, either. People no longer pay attention to rivers and abandon the rivers while in fact the rivers are Nature that is beneficial to human," said Agus on Friday. (4/12).
According to Agus, the role of rivers is vital so it is important to bring people awareness back to the conservation of rivers. The advantages given by rivers to human beings are, however, not followed by people awareness in giving back. This is why the Restored Rivers project is born to change the mindset of the people that rivers are now threatened and polluted.
This project, said Agus, offered five concepts to increase the essence of rivers, among these are restoration of hydrology, restoration of ecology, restoration of morphology, restoration of socio-economy, and restoration of institutional and regulations. Agus explained the goal of this project was to return the river to its entity that is water and sediment which is clean, healthy, productive, sustained and beneficial for all living things. He hoped this restoration can work well so that the rivers in Yogyakarta can return to their natural condition and become free of waste.
“I hope this project can be sustainable so the rivers can be free of waste, back to their morphology, while people become aware and the rivers become places of tourism. I hope this project can spread to other regions in Indonesia," he said.