Initiative by Yayasan Tanam Pohon Indonesia (www.onemilliontrees.org)
Yayasan Tanam Pohon Indonesia with SMKN 2 Subang and the government of Kabupaten Subang successfully planted 100.000 trees on Saturday, 19 Januari 2008. This planting event is a pilot project for the one million trees planting event that will be held in Kabupaten Subang on October 2008 in an effort to reduce the effect of global warming.
“The threat of global warming is real! Starting from the annual floods, landslide, the rising of sea water that exceed normal level, to season change that can’t be predicted anymore” said Andy Hartono, the PIC for One Million Tree project. Andy explained, the effect of global warming is most felt by our farmers, who depend solely on farming activities.
In this event, Nangka (Artocarpus heterophyllus) and Asam Jawa (Tamarindus indica) were the chosen tree species that were planted with the hope that the fruits from these tree will benefit the local community.
“In the past, Subang had a lot of forest, very green. But take a look at Subang now. The mountain looks beautiful from one side, but if you look at it from the other side, it’s bald from logging” said Eep Hidayat, Bupati Subang, voicing his concern regarding Subang’s present environmental condition.
An MOU has been signed between Yayasan Tanam Pohon Indonesia, SMKN 2 Subang, and the office of Bupati Subang emphasizing that the trees planted during this event will be taken care of and will not be cut until at least the next 40 years.
This is indeed an extraordinary committment from the state government of Subang, and a step forward in preserving our beloved earth. Further, Bupati Subang explained that during his term, no logging permit was released from his office. “Don’t ever come to my office asking for a logging permit. I will never allow it!” said Eep Hidayat.
