VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Every January 10, the world community, including Indonesia, commemorates ‘One-Million Tree Day. In Indonesia, the government, private sector and various organizations take part in commemorating this important day. On the day, a large number of trees are planted simultaneously.

The commemoration of the one-million tree day by planting trees is very important, considering the number of trees in the world including in Indonesia has decreased dramatically. Minister of Environment and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya affirmed that based on the results of a survey in 2013, around 24.3 million hectares of forest and land in Indonesia were in critical condition. The condition of the critical forests is caused by many factors, such as forest fires, illegal logging, the paper industry, new land clearing and other factors.

The Indonesian government through the Ministry of Environment and Forestry has made various efforts to improve the condition of the forest. Take for examples, there are construction of multipurpose forests, urban forests, mangrove rehabilitation, and the implementation of the 25-tree-planting movement that was launched by President Joko Widodo on August 2, 2017, involving students,, scouts, personnel of Indonesian Armed Forces -TNI, National Police -Polri, and other mass organizations.

The tree planting from 2014 to 2016, according to Minister Siti Nurbaya, has been realized by reaching an area of 4.20 million hectares. Tree planting activities from 2014 to 2016 will address critical land reaching 24 million hectares.

The question is whether the planted trees live and grow until now (?)

President Joko Widodo at the commemoration of the Indonesian Tree Planting Day in Ponjong Sub-district, Gunungkidul, 9 December 2017 expressed his concern about tree planting activities in the commemoration of the one-million tree day as a ceremonial activity. His concern is very appropriate, because so far, many trees have been planted but there is no follow-up. The tree planting activities have spent a lot of budget, but the results are not worth the costs incurred.

Thus, the commemoration of the One-Million Tree Day this year is a momentum to raise awareness that the planting plant is not enough; there must be a follow-up by caring for the planted trees and ensuring that the tree can grow well.