The Bunus Fun Walk for River (BFW4R) is an annual community celebration held at the Sungai Bunus retention pond to raise funds to restore degraded spaces in and around Sungai Bunus. In alliance with the Local Agenda 21 KL Chapter and DBKL (under the Sungai Bunus Action Group), the community event is held annually in conjunction with World Rivers Day celebration.

Sungai Bunus is well known to be the only river in the city of Kuala Lumpur that starts and ends within the vicinity of the city. It starts at Setapak and runs through Wangsa Maju, Setiawangsa, Kampung Baru and finally the heart of Kuala Lumpur near the Jamek Mosque before it conjoins with the Klang River.  The river also goes in and around landmarks such as the National Heart Institute, National Library, National Art Gallery, Istana Budaya, Taman Titiwangsa, Chow Kit Market and Kolej Tuanku Abdul Rahman.

Due to global warming and hydrological changes, Sungai Bunus has become smaller and narrower than it used to be. During the dry season, the river is the only place where sewage ends up flowing. Even during the rainy season, water ends up not seeping into the soil or flowing into the river which in turn leads to flooding.

The BFW4R event finds a way to incorporate a positive environmental message of river conservation with fun activities to get people of all ages to be involved. By hosting hands-on activities around the Sungai Bunus Retention pond that participants are required to complete, we raise their awareness about the importance of their rivers in a memorable and engaging way.

Along the track, we also provide participants with a few actionable lifestyle choices and practices they can utilize in their daily lives, further contributing to the health of our riverine systems. Our previous fun walks included activities like tree planting and DIY gardening.

If you would like to know more about this annual program, kindly contact our Head of RRC, Mr. Emirul at emirul@ecoknights.org.my