BENGKULU TO GET ONE MILLION RAIN TREES

Bengkulu, Sumatra Island, Jan. 16 (ANTARA) - Bengkulu province will get one million rain trees (Samanea saman) in 2010 from the central government, according to a forestry official.

The one million rain trees would be distributed to 10 districts/cities in Bengkulu, said Indriastuti, the forestry ministry's director general of land and social forests rehabilitation (RLKS), at Curup, Rejang Lebong district on Saturday.

In 2009, the government launched a 'one man, one tree' program, and in 2010 the government's program is to plant one million trees, especially rain trees.

Of the 230 million target, some 258 million trees were planted last year, she said.

In Bengkulu Province alone, some 1.8 million trees were planted out of the 1.7 million target, according to Dodi, Bengkulu's River Basin Management head.

In Palangkaraya (Central Kalimantan), last December 2009, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on local authorities to plant millions of rain trees (Samanea saman) to help absorb carbon dioxide (CO2).

"I will help governors to plant at least 100 million trees annually. Of the total number, 10 million should be rain trees," he said when opening the All-Indonesia Provincial Administrations Association (APPSI) meeting being attended by governors from the country's 33 provinces late last year.

He described rain trees as beautiful trees which could effectively absorb carbon dioxide (CO2).

A rain tree having a 30-m wide canopy could absorb 28 tons of CO2 annually, he said. Other advantages of the rain trees were they could reach an ages of hundreds of years and their roots were not destructive, he said.

The President said he would send at least 400,000 rain tree seedlings to each province.

"Every province should send officers to Cikeas (the president's residence) to join a brief course on plant nursery management in early January 2010," he said.

A rain tree (Samanea saman) is easily recognized by its characteristic umbrella-shaped canopy. When grown in the open, the tree usually reaches a height of 15 to 25 meters.