This piece is narrated by Prigi Arisandi (Founder and Director for Science, Art and Communication at ECOTON)
The Brantas River in East Java, upstream of the city of Surabaya, is in a severely polluted state, as indicated by the high rate of extinction of freshwater fish. In 1991, 61 freshwater fish species were identified, but now only around 41 species remain. This extinction is caused by uncontrolled pollution from industrial waste and the massive conversion of riverbank conservation areas into residential zones. A similar fate befalls the Surabaya River, a tributary of the Brantas River, where since the 1990s the recycled paper industry has been dumping untreated waste and poisoning the raw water source for Surabaya's drinking water supply. Approximately 98% of the raw water for Surabaya’s municipal water company (PDAM) comes from the Surabaya River. The waste dumping is an example of a clear injustice perpetuated by the industries and protected by the government. The government, which should be responsible for preserving the environment and ensuring river water quality, has instead tended to allow destructive practices to continue unchecked. Pollution of the Brantas River has resulted in 25% of fish in the downstream area experiencing intersex conditions due to pollution by Endocrine Disruption Chemicals (EDCs). Indicators of pollution are also evident from mass fish deaths in the Brantas River during the dry season (May to October). During this period, pollution in the Brantas River typically increases due to reduced water discharge combined with the influx of liquid waste from sugar factories, which operate in May.
The main challenge along both the Brantas and Surabaya Rivers lies in the lack of firm authority to enforce legal action against polluters. Weak law enforcement enables industries to discharge untreated waste into the river. Moreover, the rivers are not considered a government priority, and public involvement in managing and controlling pollution remains minimal.

Fig. 3: “Stop Eating Plastic!” Activism by ECOTON. (Photo courtesy of ECOTON, 2025)
ECOTON was founded in 1996 as a wetland conservation studies group at the Airlangga University Biology Program. We were incorporated as an NGO in 2000 and in 2017 we also became a legally registered Foundation. Our mission is to preserve the sustainability of rivers across Indonesia. ECOTON engages in environmental advocacy through a combination of litigation (filing lawsuits in court against the Government), river ecosystem conservation measures, and community-based efforts, including strengthening community and youth capacity by forming grassroots organizations among affected communities using citizen science approaches.
In an example of our litigation efforts, ECOTON recently won a lawsuit in the Supreme Court, which was filed to protest the negligence of the Minister of Public Works, the Minister of Environment, and the Governor of East Java in their failure to control pollution, which has led to frequent mass fish deaths in the Brantas River.
An example of our river ecosystem conservation measures are the fish sanctuaries, which were legally established through a regulation by the Governor of East Java in 2013. This effort has helped to increase freshwater fish biodiversity in the Brantas River, a source of drinking water for five million people in East Java.

Fig. 4: “Refuse to be Extinct!” Activism by ECOTON. (Photo courtesy of ECOTON, 2025)
Our community-based activities use citizen science as a tool to involve communities in protecting and monitoring rivers and the environment. We focus on empowering women, children, and youth, as these groups are the most vulnerable to environmental pollution. We also help to establish communities (formal or informal) to serve as spaces or platforms for capacity building and collective action. One of the initiatives for empowerment is the Aksi Brantas (“Brantas Action”) program. The first step is to build trust and confidence among women and youth through citizen science, where we conduct collaborative research to uncover facts about ongoing environmental damage. We conduct participatory monitoring of river water quality using macroinvertebrates as bioindicators.The use of these bioindicators is easy, inexpensive, scalable, and serves as a tool for river pollution mitigation. In 2015, 1000 students along 300 km of the Brantas River were involved in conducting joint biomonitoring. The second step is to encourage communities to speak up and advocate for their rights to a healthy environment. Another initiative is the internship program for "scientist activists,” where we involve university students to conduct participatory research with communities along the Brantas River. Students are guided to publish their research findings in journals and in online media as part of shaping public opinion and building awareness.
Finally, we also believe in the importance of campaigns to raise public awareness and mobilize citizens. In 2022-2023 ECOTON conducted the Indonesian River Expedition, which involved traveling by motorcycle for 12 months and forming over 25 river communities across the country. This initiative is currently advocating for the establishment of microplastic quality standards for rivers and industrial paper recycling wastewater. Its main approach is to publicize the threat of microplastics to ecosystems and human health through art, such as documentaries and art installations. The Indonesian River Expedition activity is one of the ways ECOTON disseminates its achievements and increases stakeholder participation in maintaining the Brantas River.
Other campaigns use art-science as a tool to raise public awareness about environmental issues. This includes the “plastic bottle tunnel,” which is an installation of 12 meters long and two meters high consisting of over 4444 plastic bottles collected from the Brantas River. This installation highlights the low waste management services (serving less than 50% of the population) that lead people to dispose of trash in rivers.
Source : https://www.iias.asia/the-newsletter/article/global-challenges-local-struggles-activist-responses-waterway-crises
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