"Trees generally provide the oxygen we need every day. Since a person needs about 0.5 kg of oxygen daily and a tree can produce around 1.2 kg per day, one person requires roughly one to two trees," he said in a statement confirmed on Monday.
He also drew special attention to Indonesia’s shrinking mangrove ecosystem, emphasizing that rehabilitation through tree planting is becoming increasingly critical.
"Our mangrove areas have been steadily shrinking, dropping from 4.4 million hectares to around 3.4 million hectares today. So, this is a very good step to remind us all to plant trees," he said during the Green Movement event in Jakarta on Sunday (July 26).
These efforts to plant more trees and mangroves are becoming increasingly urgent given the threat of extreme weather from the El Niño climate phenomenon.
"It has not even been four years, and El Niño is already setting in again. It will likely intensify through November or December, meaning PM2.5 concentrations will rise and the Air Quality Index (AQI) will naturally climb because of the phenomenon," Diaz said.
To address this, he underscored the importance of movements like the Green Movement to remind the public to safeguard air quality—especially since clean air is a fundamental human need.
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Translator: Prisca Triferna, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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