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Kupang Going Green With City Forest
November 14, 2011

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Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara. The Kupang administration has set aside 26 hectares of land for a city forest within the provincial capital, an official said on Sunday.

The park will preserve the ecosystem in and around Kupang and give residents a green destination in the heart of the city, said Nicky Ulli, head of the Kupang Spatial Planning and Housing Office.

“We cleared the land in response to demands from local residents for a forest area inside Kupang, which has never had a city forest like this,” he said. “Residents want this to become the city’s lungs.”

The park, in Kelurahan Naioni, will also have a zoo that will be filled with indigenous animals from the province, Ulli said.

The location was chosen because it has among the largest natural water storage areas in Kupang, he said.

“We are preparing a mayoral decree to guarantee that the area will not be converted to some other function in the future,” said Ulli. He added that the project was expected to start next year.

In addition to help preserve the ecosystem, the forest will protect the aquifer, Ulli said.

“One day, underground water will become the main source of water for residents in this rocky city,” he said.

Many of the green areas in Kupang, originally set aside by Dutch colonial rulers, have been damaged by logging or built over by houses and businesses.

“The green areas in Kupang have been changed into residential areas, plantations and a manganese mining site,” Ulli said.

 

Antara