Indonesia to recover its forests in 15 years: minister

Antara 7 Jul 08;

Karanganyar, Central Java (ANTARA News) - Indonesia is expected to recover its damaged forests in the next 10 to 15 years if the current reforestation programs continue to be implemented, Forestry Minister MS Kaban said.

The minister made the remarks during the inauguration of The Colomadu Koran Reading and Interpretation Assembly here on Sunday.

He said that many people nowadays had forgotten the importance of nature while in maintaining it there were many laws that had to be abide by.

"The Indonesia`s territorial land that stretches from Papua in the east to Aceh in the west constitutes a green belt or tropical forests. I hope that all members of this assembly which are living in all parts of the country would also take part in preserving the country`s nature," he said.

He said that one of the problems being faced today was how to preserve the country`s tropical forests. The number of trees being cut down was still bigger than that being planted.

"We should now plant trees more than we fell as we have set in the programs now being carried out throughout the country," the minister said.

The minister said that if the reforestation programs were carried out without constraints it was expected that in the next 10 to 15 years Indonesia would recover its normal nature conditions. (*)