People should not doubt (the government's commitment to preserving the environment)
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Various fruit tree seedlings will be grown at the Mentawir Nursery apart from Borneo-endemic timber-producing trees to revive wildlife ecosystems around Indonesia’s future capital (IKN), Nusantara, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated.

"Later, more fruit tree (seedlings) will be grown, (such as) durian -- everyone likes it (durian), right? -- and the myrtle family, to draw animals to return (to live in the forests around IKN)," he remarked.

While giving a tour of the nursery to the invited reporters in North Penajam Paser District, East Kalimantan Province, on Thursday, the president noted that the Mentawir Nursery had been developed in the past two years to realize the green city concept for IKN development.

Jokowi noted that the nursery is targeted to produce 20 million tree seedlings annually to support reforestation around the IKN area and throughout Kalimantan Island, as the government's commitment to maintaining environmental sustainability.

"People should not doubt (the government's commitment to preserving the environment). There will be 20 million seedlings here (at the Mentawir Nursery),” he stated.

Hence, the government is also building a retention basin to supply water for plants in the nursery, Jokowi stated.

He noted that several tree seedlings endemic to Kalimantan prepared at the nursery belonged to the Dipterocarpaceae family.

Those included meranti (Shorea sp.), Borneo camphor (Dryobalanops aromatica), balangeran (Shorea balangeran), and sungkai (Peronema canescens), he added.

Jokowi was grateful that the seedlings of sungkai can be produced at the Mentawir Nursery since it was one of the materials for making furniture, albeit difficult to find presently.

"This is sungkai, which will be planted (in areas around IKN), and probably later, it will be planted in peat areas," the president, who was once a furniture entrepreneur in Solo City, Central Java Province, stated.

Furthermore, he explained that sungkai timber can only be harvested within 30 to 40 years.

Jokowi expected that by producing diverse tree seedlings at the Mentawir Nursery, the IKN area, which was earlier a monoculture area for eucalyptus, will later be reforested by various types of trees, including fruit and wood-producing trees.

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Translator: Rangga Jingga, Uyu Liman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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