Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 1 Jun 10;
The government target to plant one billion trees this year should put priority on the use of local seedlings to ward off the loss of endemic trees spreading in country’s forests, an expert said.
Senior adviser of environmental science at United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Kuswata Kartawinata said that planting one billion trees should be used to conserve original species in Indonesia.
“The use of imported seedlings to support tree planting could lead to the loss of endemic species in forests,” Kuswata told a dialog on biodiversity issues on Tuesday.
The dialog was jointly organized by the Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation (Kehati) and the Environment Ministry.
Kuswata made the remarks on the government’s program to plant about 85 million trembesi seedlings (Samanea Saman) to support the one billion tree planting this year.
Originally from South American countries such as Brazil, Peru, Venezuela and Mexico, the wide-canopied rain trees may grow to almost 25 meters high with a diameter of 40 meters in its tropical rainforest habitat.
“Trembesi is not a local tree and could not be grown in all type of soil,” he said.
