"According to observers, Indonesia will need 165 years to become green again if the treatment is just normal. But with the whole community taking part in greening activity, God willing, it will only take about 30 years," he said when inaugurating a nursery school at SMP Negeri I Mojotengah, Wonosobo district, Central Java province.
Also present at the function were Wonosobo District Chief Abdul Kholiq Arif and the Chief of the Diponegoro Military Command, Major General Mulhim Asyrof.
The minister invited all members of the community to develop a sense of love for the environment which meant not allowing land to go to waste.
"God gave the Indonesian people land that is so fertile, there is year-round sunshine hence do not let land go to miserable waste. If let the land go to waste God will be angry, floods will occur in the rainy season and drought in the dry season," the minister said.
He said every inch of fallow land must be planted with trees or vegetables depending on the conditions of the land.
Meanwhile, Wonosobo District Chief Kholiq Arif said Wonosobo district was a water catchment area buffering approximately 13 districts/cities in Central Java, namely Semarang, Kendal, Batang, Pekalongan, Wonosobo, Banjarnegara, Purbalingga, Banyumas, Cilacap, Temanggung, Kebumen, and Purworejo.
"If the water availability in Wonosobo is good then the same condition will apply in the other regions but if Wonosobo is damaged floods will occur and water supply in some districts/cities will be threatened," Kholiq Arif said.
He said most people still lacked a proper understanding of the importance of environmental sustainability . This was characterized by the function transfer of forests which are not well-patterned, as well as the agricultural patterns that are not in favor of nature conservation. As a result, a various kinds of environmental damage occur such as critical land, habitat loss and a decrease in water discharge.
Kholiq Arif said the school nursery group programs (KBS) or the go green scouting movement and the army-environmental units are aligned with one of the pillars in saving the environment of Dieng (Central Java) areas.
(T.KR-LWA/HAJM/S012)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
