VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A screenshot of director general of social forestry and environmental partnerships at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Bambang Supriyanto (middle), addressing a press conference in Jakarta on Saturday (November 27, 2021). (ANTARA/Prisca Triferna/KT) - 

The Ministry of Environment and Forestry is aiming to encourage greater youth participation in environmental recovery and protection efforts through the Indonesian Environment Recovery Youth Program, an official has said.

"One of the groups that is very potentially involved is young people. Therefore, the ministry has involved Green Leadership Indonesia and (asked) all youth to take a role in the youth program to restore Indonesia's environment," director general of social forestry and environmental partnerships at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Bambang Supriyanto, said at a virtual press conference on Saturday.

The purpose of the youth program is to provide a space for sharing innovations and creativity for the rescue and preservation of the environment, Supriyanto explained.

In addition, he said, the program is seeking to push the youth into action for encouraging the spirit of restoring the environment among the public, so that they can become a role model for society.

The Forestry Ministry, through the program, is also seeking to open opportunities for the young people to form a network of environmental rescue fighters spread throughout the archipelago, he added.

"The last activity is to open a space for dialogue between young people and environmental and forestry policymakers," he explained.

Such a dialogue between the youth and policymakers in the environment and forestry sector will be a first for the ministry, Supriyanto added.

One of the program's real goals is a series of seven activities that will be held in December 2021, one of which is a dialogue among the younger generation, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya, and other ministry officials during the official program launching, he said.

Earlier, Deputy Minister of Environment and Forestry, Alue Dohong, also said that nature and culture conservation should become a lifestyle for the younger generation.

"This aligns with the lesson that the COVID-19 pandemic has given, where people will go back to nature," Dohong remarked at the 2021 National Nature Conservation Day, here on November 24, 2021//ANT