Three students of the School of Life Sciences and Technology (SITH) ITB successfully won the grand prize. They are Irham Muhammad Dhafien (bachelor in Forestry Engineering), Muhamad Fikri Fadhilah (master in Bio Management), and Natalia Christiani (master in Bio Management). With another member from Indonesia University of Education (UPI), they were in the ITUP Team.

The ITUP Team's participation in this competition started from the information provided by Dr. Ir. Yayat Hidayat, S.Hut., M.Sc., IPM as the supervisor. This team then competed with 132 other participants and was selected into the top 10 to present the design results in front of the jury. The team was finally announced as the first winner on Wednesday (18/8/21).

MoEF chose the mining area in Rumpin, Bogor, as the design location object. Due to mining activities, the location has steep cliffs with a height of about 20 meters. The topsoil that has almost been wholly dredged leaves clay soil dominated by andesite rock. This leads to groundwater decline.

Intensive agricultural cultivation also pollutes the rivers around. Whereas the river flows directly into one of the main rivers, the Cisadane river, reducing clean water sources for the community.

The ITUP team offered a land restoration design solution under the "Agroeduwisata" theme, which combines agroforestry, education, and tourism. They divided this area into four zones: agro-educational, agroforestry, buffer, and artificial wetland zones.

"We want this land restoration to improve the welfare of Rumpin's people. Agroedutourism is considered suitable because it includes three aspects: protecting the environment, improving the economy, and empowering the community," said Fikri.

Their clearness in turning a damaged mining area into a healthy and productive green area received tremendous appreciation from the jury. An elegant and futuristic design they designed while maintaining the existing landscape gives them plus points. They also displayed supporting facilities' details: the greenhouse, the Minapadi area, the canteen, and the prayer room.

It turns out that Dhafien, Fikri, and Natal already have been used to design an area. Urban Forest Engineering Course has prepared SITH ITB students for this. However, they once felt pessimistic because they needed to combine several other disciplines. Moreover, their rivals commonly came from Architecture major, which is closely related to landscape design. Nevertheless, they still tried to highlight the parts understood by team members.

"Do not be afraid to try. Expand collaboration with cross-disciplinary colleagues because it makes us learn a lot. Do not forget to know our potential and maximize it. Also, ask for support from parents and lecturers. We got a lot of direction and inspiration from Dr. Yayat," said Fikri.

Reporter: Ristania Putri Wahyudi (Mathematics, 2019)
Translator: Zahra Annisa Fitri (Urban and Regional Planning, 2019)