The boys playing in the river gathered in front of the camera and happily posed

I crossed the bridge where several bajajs had been parked and went along the river again. The river that runs through the town was well protected. It seems that Jakarta is still not managing the river like a multi-natural river development process. According to Japan's National Institute for Environmental Studies, "multi-natural river development" refers to "preserving and creating the natural habitat and diverse landscape of a river, and managing the river in a way that balances flood control/water utilization functions with environmental functions."

Both banks of this river were firmly protected with concrete, and the width of the river is constant and the flow of the river is constant, too. The river was managed with more emphasis on flood control and water utilization than on the environment. Under these conditions, there are few places for the water to stagnate, making it difficult for the creatures that live in the river to live. Although it is convenient for humans, it is not a good way to manage rivers from the perspective of the natural environment. For this reason, the multi-natural river development process is supposed to be carried out in such a way as to restore a good natural environment by preserving the diverse natural environment as much as possible and minimizing any changes to it, while ensuring the safety of the river's flood control. In other words, we should take the environment into consideration when managing our rivers.

While there are noble principles behind river management, such trivialities are not the concern of the local children playing in the river. When the children found my camera, they stopped playing in the river and gathered around. They posed happily for me. And the placement of these boys in the viewfinder looked somewhat like the album cover of Queen's "Queen II".