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Wouldn’t it be cool if you could have a handy, quick reference that revealed all the leafy parks and green spaces around you? Well, you’re in luck, at least if you live around the South Jakarta suburb of Pondok Indah.

Resident Ricky Lestari, along with a handful of other green-minded citizens, started Komunitas Hijau Pondok Indah (Green Community of Pondok Indah) in July, intent on providing a reference filled with places to go and enjoy nature in South Jakarta.

This eco-friendly group believes that having a green map is a perfect way to make the entire neighborhood aware of the surprising amount natural beauty around them.

But drawing and accurately labeling a 40 by 70 centimeter full-color map filled with over 50 green spaces inside a 650-hectare area isn’t a five-minute job.

“It took us eight months to make it,” said Karina Sigar, one of the six founding members of the group, at the community’s official launch of the map last week at Pondok Indah Mall.

With little in the way of map-making expertise, Karina said they decided to reach out and get some help from a well-established group.

“Green Map Jakarta was very generous and helped us create this green map project from scratch,” she said.

Karina said the first step in mapping out the parks and green areas was getting a hold of a reliable base map of the Pondok Indah area. With that in hand, the volunteers set out to check and recheck the neighborhood’s green spaces.

And although Pondok Indah was originally developed by the city government in 1973 as a residential area for expatriates, the number of outdoor places and activities still proved eye-opening.

“We were surprised to find out that we actually have 51 parks in this area,” Ricky said. Along with the relatively large number of parks, the team also found a handful of bird-watching sites packed with olive-backed sunbirds.

“Who would have ever thought that you could actually watch birds and listen to them singing in Pondok Indah?” Karina said.

The community has produced 500 copies of the map, which sell for Rp 15,000 ($1.60) and are available at the Green Community office or by contacting Ricky via e-mail.

Green Map is an international movement that was first conceived in New York City in 1992. Green Apple Map was designed to help tourists and newcomers find natural sites and culturally significant places in the city.

As of today the movement has spread to hundreds of cities, towns and villages in 55 countries. More than 600 green map projects have been completed throughout the world.

According to Green Map Indonesia’s Web site, the movement has now reached 13 cities in the country, including Jakarta, Surabaya, Bukittinggi and Solo. Each green map project runs independently, but is orchestrated in part by Green Map Yogyakarta, which has been coordinating the movement since 2006.

Elanto Wijoyono, the coordinator of Green Map Indonesia, pointed out that this was one of the first community-based projects conducted by residents.

“Most green maps in Indonesia were initiated by institutions or universities,” she said. “The only right method of making a green map is residential participation, that’s why the green map Pondok Indah is a very good example that other places in Indonesia should copy.”

Mugirto, an RW, or local neighborhood leader, who was at the launch supported the initiative.

“Creative ideas and active actions from the residents are needed in order to save the environment in Pondok Indah,” he said. “The government doesn’t pay any attention. They only step in when they need something.”

He added that he liked the idea of having the green map of Pondok Indah as something that could be passed on to the next generation.

Ricky said that because the neighborhood was prone to flooding, it was important to identify and preserve the areas parks and green spaces.

“We now have runoff at some places during the big rain, something that never happened in the past,” she said.

She pointed out that commercial and residential development had encroached on certain areas and that air and noise pollution were now a problem.

“Several houses have been transformed for commercial and other purposes,” she said. “And it’s a sad truth that we see some of the green parks in this area have also been converted into something else.”

While the community was proud of the efforts it had made, Elanto said the map was an ever-evolving process, and that it was the next generation’s responsibility to carry on the community’s initiative by fine tuning and regularly updating the map.

“The future of our environment is on their shoulders, we have to make them environmentally active by joining our community,” she said.

The group has also established other programs like the Zero Runoff program in collaboration with other communities and organizations.

Zero Runoff, which is supported by Green Design, an Indonesian community of architects that spread the importance of environmentally friendly architecture, teaches families how to create biopores in the land around their houses. Biopores are small holes that act as organic waste catchments, increasing the absorption of groundwater.

“We knew we had to do something to change the condition,” Karina said.

The community also conducts workshops to teach people how to differentiate types of trash and dispose of it properly.

So far, the area’s residents have been positive in their support of what the group hopes to see as a new awareness of the environment around them.

“The response from the residents has been so great. They never knew that being friendly to the environment was actually easy,” Ricky said.