President Adopts Tree In Mount Gede-Pangrango

Cianjur, W Java, Jan 9 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono have adopted two species of trees, Rasamala (Altingia excelsa Noronha) and Ki Hujan (Albizia saman), in Mount Gede-Pangrango National Park. The head of state and the first lady, accompanied by a group of officials, walked 2 kilometres of footpath to the location of the plants in Sarongge village, Cianjur, West Java, Tuesday. Since 2008, the village has been developed as a centre of the government`s tree adoption program, under which reforestation efforts in the forest of Mount Gede-Pangrango are carried out with the help of the local community. The President held a meet-and-greet event in the village and stated that 23,000 trees had been planted in the damaged forest of Mount Gede-Pangrango. "According to the Forestry Ministry, almost half of the deforested area has been reforested," President Yudhoyono noted. "This is a positive development in the forest recovery program, particularly because the farming families who planted vegetables in the deforested parts in the past have not been inconvenienced in the process," he pointed out. Through the tree adoption program, 51 out of the 155 farming families in the area have succeeded in getting a new job with good income. The farmers of these families were hired as caretakers of the forest. They also received subsidies for goat and rabbit farming outside the national park. The residents of the village told the President that Sarongge village produces 1,000 baby rabbits every year, and the number of goats has multiplied from 40 to 200. Meanwhile, the forest recovery program officer has been trying to educate the rest of 104 farmers, who are still opposed to the reforestation efforts, under another program. The tree adoption program in Mount Gede-Pangrango forest succeeded in restoring 38 hectares of farmland to its original habitat. "The program also helped resolve tenurial conflicts in the forest area," the President noted.