As the best university in Indonesia according to UI GreenMetric 2022, Universitas Indonesia (UI) is committed to continuing to maintain the quality of the campus environment, including preserving the biodiversity that lives in UI lakes. In the Depok campus area, UI has six artificial lakes, namely Kenanga Lake, Aghatis Lake, Mahogany Lake, Puspa Lake, Ulin Lake, and Salam Lake, that are often abbreviated as KAMPUS. These six lakes play a role in preserving biodiversity and providing a clean water supply for animals that live on the UI campus area.
Not only does it function as a habitat for various biota, UI’s artificial lakes also function as a water catchment which is not only beneficial for UI, but also for the Depok area. The existence of lakes in the UI area supports the environmental carrying capacity of the Depok area, which can reduce the impact of flooding during the rainy season and provide water supplies during drought. Apart from that, UI lakes also contribute to regulating microclimatic conditions in Depok City in relation to the hydrological cycle.
However, to maintain the stability of the UI lakes function, there are several problems that must be faced. Some of these are lake water pollution, shallowing of the lake due to mud deposits resulting from segmentation originating from the surrounding environment, growth of aquatic weeds, growth of algae due to waste pollution, as well as the entry of invasive biota which affects biodiversity habitats.
In order to find a solution to this problem, the UI Technical Implementation Unit (UPT) Occupational Health, Safety, and Environment (K3L) held the activity “Monitoring Evaluation of Freshwater Ecosystem Conservation in the UI Campus Environment”, on Thursday (19/10), in the Auditorium Room, ILRC UI Building. This activity presented two lecturers from the Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA) UI, namely Drs. Erwin Nurdin, M.Si., and Drs. Vishnu Wardhana, M.Si.
According to Erwin, water pollution is one of the factors that influences the health of aquatic ecosystems. Pollution in the waters of UI lakes is caused by human activities outside the UI environment, such as waste disposal from workshops or the release of pesticides from agriculture and other chemicals that enter the lake. This causes damage to the ecosystem in the lake which impacts the various biota that live in it.
In fact, according to Vishnu, there are 31 types of fish that live in UI lakes. If this condition of pollution continues, there are concerns that there will be a decline in the population of several types of fauna, such as golden snails and shellfish, which have now disappeared. “Currently, the suckermouth catfish is a type of fauna that dominates the waters of Lake UI,” said Vishnu.
To maintain and preserve freshwater ecosystems, Vishnu revealed that UI has now made various efforts. First, preventing the release of fish species. Second, limit the spread and isolate invasive fish by prioritizing the maintenance of native fish. Third, restore waters that have been contaminated or damaged, and prohibit the keeping of invasive fish in the UI environment.
This freshwater ecosystem conservation activity is UI’s effort to maintain the sustainability of the ecosystem. This is closely related to the points in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The focus on conservation activities in point 15 of Life on Land turns out to have an influence on other SDGs points, namely point 6 Clean Water and Sanitation, point 13 Climate Action, and point 14 Life Below Water. It is hoped that the conservation steps that have been taken can increase and become a priority in developing UI’s environmental policy in the future.
