"We choose Srunen hamlet as a location for planting trees because this region suffered severe damage due to the eruption of Mount Merapi in 2010," the managing director of PT Deltomed Laboratories, Mulyo Raharjo, said here Thursday.
According to Mulyo, Deltomed as a national herbal medicine manufacturer realized the importance of maintaining the continuity of natural resources and the environment.
To celebrate its 35th anniversary, Deltomed had decided to plant 5,000 tree seedlings on the slopes of Mount Merapi, Mulyo added.
"The tree planting activity is to help accelerate the natural regeneration and re-greening of the damaged environment. The program is expected to help the recovery of environmental conditions and the local economy," Mulyo explained.
He said, Deltomed together with the Faculty of Biotechnology University of Atma Jaya Yogyakarta provided 5,000 tree seedlings consisting of 1,000 stems of trembesi (Albizia saman) tree seedlings and 4,000 of sengon (Albazia falcataria) seedlings.
"The elections to the two types of the tree following the feedback and requests of the local people that assess in addition of fast growing plants, they also have economic values," Mulyo noted.
Meanwhile, the Dean of Biotechnology Faculty, University of Atma Jaya said, in addition to involving the students in this tree-planting movement, the faculty will also perform a routine maintenance and an inspection in order that the planted trees can actually grow as expected.
"After the planting, then every Saturday and Sunday, together with the students we will control and maintain the trees planted in order to live and grow as expected," he added.
He said, the faculty also coordinated with the local village head to keep the trees planted.
"These trees will grow faster if the local people participate to keeping them, so that the tree planting can be as expected, do not let the tree planting in vain and no results," he said.
The tree planting activities was also involved hundreds of students from University of Gadjah Mada (UGM), University of National Yogyakarta (UNY), Sanata Dharma and University of Islamic Indonesia (UII).
(T.KR-LWA/HAJM/A014)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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