Jakarta - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday asked the people in the country to persistently plant and protect trees, as a part of efforts to secure the forest.
The president reminded that the move could reduce the threats of flood and landslide, which have regularly hit the country and claimed hundreds of lives, due to the lack of soil capability to hold excessive waters when rain come.
"Let us safe our forest. Continue planting and look after trees," President Susilo said in front of environmental campaigners at the State Palace.
Last year, the president and his wife Yudhoyono led a move of planting over 80 million trees nationwide.
"When last year we planted about 70 and 10 million trees. Now let‘s plant and care for trees persistently," he said.
Indonesia is among the countries which have the fastest forest destruction due to illegal logging and forest fire.
Lack of forest-covered-areas has been blamed for the frequent landslides and floods in the country.
"By planting trees, God willing, floods will not continuously obsess us, landslides will not persistently haunt us," said Susilo.
Besides, the president said that tree avoid the people from lack of waters or drought.
The trees "can uphold the source of water," he said.
Drought is a common hurdle for most of Indonesian farmers. Majority of Indonesian 240 millions population live in agriculture sector.
According to a World Bank report, the archipelago-country Indonesia is now also the world‘s third biggest greenhouse gas emitter, mainly due to deforestation, land clearing and forest fires.
Source: news.xinhuanet.com (June 5, 2008)