Indonesia will plant 2 billion trees in 2007
Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com
May 7, 2007
Indonesia plans to rehabilitate 59.2 million hectares (146 million acres) of damaged forest throughout Indonesia, according to Malam Sambat Kaban, Indonesia’s Forestry Minister.
The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) reports that the country has set aside $445 million for 2007 to finance the planting of 2 billion seedlings on 2 million hectares of land along 318 rivers in all provinces in the country.
The minister said that the plan would help revitalize the country’s most degraded forests, which have been heavily logged and are increasingly cleared for agriculture, especially oil palm plantations. Should the ambitious plant prove successful, it would sequester large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Indonesia did not specify whether the seedlings would be native tree species.
Between 2000 and 2005, Indonesia has the world’s highest rate of forest loss.
