Minister launches national bamboo movement to restore critical land

Bogor Regency, W. Java (ANTARA) - Environment Minister Moh. Jumhur Hidayat launched a national bamboo planting movement on Sunday, to accelerate the rehabilitation of 12.4 million hectares of critical land across Indonesia.

The restoration initiative is integrated into the government's ongoing "national ecological repentance" program, which aims to recover degraded natural ecosystems.

"This environmental movement is not just a government movement; it is ultimately a community movement," Minister Jumhur stated during a bamboo planting event with the Indonesian Bamboo Foundation in Cibinong, Bogor Regency, West Java.

While Sunday's launch in West Java saw the planting of roughly 5,000 bamboo trees, the minister revealed that the government is aiming for a massive logistical scale-up.

"Eventually, millions, even tens of millions, of bamboo trees could be planted from Sabang to Merauke," Jumhur said.

To achieve this target, he continued, multi-stakeholder collaboration between state authorities and environmental groups is essential to meet the massive seedling demand required for national landscape restoration.

"We need a lot of bamboo seedlings and many people who understand bamboo issues. This is a big job," he explained.

In addition to terrestrial reforestation, Jumhur emphasized that the ministry remains focused on restoring coastal areas, noting that roughly 700,000 hectares of the country's total 3.4 million hectares of mangroves are currently damaged.

Like bamboo, mangroves are highly prioritized for their climate mitigation properties, possessing the ability to absorb up to four times more carbon dioxide than standard terrestrial vegetation while serving as economic lifelines for coastal fishing communities.

On the same occasion, the minister expressed appreciation for the Bogor Regency Government's green mandate, which requires each sub-district to develop a minimum of one hectare of urban forest.

He confirmed that the central government stands ready to support regional administrations with seedling distribution.

"I respect the Regent's enthusiasm. If possible, two or five hectares would certainly be better, but we still value a minimum of one hectare," Jumhur said.

The bamboo and mangrove rehabilitation programs form part of the government’s long-term environmental recovery target to plant two billion trees nationwide to elevate national ecosystem quality.

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Translator: M. Fikri Setiawan, Yashinta Difa

Editor: Azis Kurmala

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