Ecoton.or.id – Dozens of women in the areas of Tulungagung, Kediri, Jombang, Mojokerto, Gresik and Surabaya who were members of the Brantas Action were trained to guard the Brantas River. There were 50 women who participated in the training. They are tasked with monitoring rivers, analyzing and making recommendations to the government.
Ecoton Executive Director, Prigi Arisandi said, currently the Brantas River is sick and pollution continues. For this reason, the women’s community of Aksi Brantas takes a role in monitoring river pollution.
I am very impressed with the determination of the women who live on the banks of the Brantas River, they have the care and knowledge to be involved in maintaining the sustainability of the Brantas River, he said, Sunday (5/6/2022).
Meanwhile, Dr. Schuyler Houser Ph.D from Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Water Resources, Faculty of Civil Engineering at Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands said he was very happy to meet a community that already has many solutions.
“Women who live on the banks of the Brantas River are very surprised. Ibu Dewi, for example, can manage an environmentally friendly business. The same goes for Nur Hamidah, who carried out riverbank protection and campaigns for single-use diapers, and Ibu Endang who campaigned for nature lovers so that on every hike she brought her trash back,” she said.
In relation to this training, the Head of the Ecoton Laboratory, Eka Chlara Budiarti, stated that the activities carried out in this training identified and looked at the pollution in the Surabaya River.
Participants were invited to see the microplastic in the river. Microplastics are plastics that are less than 5 mm in size due to environmental factors. There are two types of primary and secondary microplastics. The primary ones are microplastics that are intentionally manufactured in micro size, usually in the form of microbeads/granules. While the secondary is the result of the degradation of large plastics,” he said.
He added that from 2018 to 2020 his foundation carried out research on human feces, in 102 samples that had been identified. “Of all the samples, all of them contained microplastics. This is an early warning for us that microplastics have entered the human body,” he added.
Through this training, he continued, he hoped that the participants would already know the big problems in the river. After participating in the training activity, participants made a declaration to save the Brantas River.
Ecoton (Ecological Observation and Wetlands Conservation) is a foundation focused on the conservation of river ecosystems and wetlands in Indonesia. We conduct scientific research, environmental education, and awareness campaigns to improve water quality and protect biodiversity.
