Riverside Area Management Center (BPDAS) Produces Tree Seedlings

Bengkulu, May 13 (Antara) - The Riverside Area Management Center (BPDAS) of Bengkulu said it starts producing hundreds of thousands of tree seedlings this year for re-vegetation. The BPDAS has a permanent nursery in Ketahun area in the regency of Kaur, Head of the Ketahun BPDAS Sumarsono said on Monday. Sumarsono said this year it has grown a number of tree species including sengon and jambon trees in the nursery. The seedlings will be distributed among villages in riverside areas to be planted in production forest lands, he said. The nursery will be under the management of the BPDAS for the next three years and after that it would be handed over to district administration to be managed commercially as a source of district income. "We will keep the management until it has run well before the Kaur district administration will take over," Sumarsono said. Head of the program division of the BPDAS Kuliah Hadi said the seeds have been supplied from South Sumatra and Lampung. The BPDAS will also supply hundreds of seedlings of house yard plants such as as mango, durian, rambutan, guava and clove, he said.