Bali will spend nearly IDR 400 million to plant the seeds of 1.35 million trees next year, as part of the central government’s plan to further “green up” the island.
The seeds, including chestnut and mahogany, will be planted inside and outside forests all across Bali, said Dewa Dharma Putra, head of the environmental division of the province’s Regional Development Planning Agency.
The program, which is part of the Gerhan (forests and field rehabilitation movement) initiative launched by the government in 2004, actually began in Bali in 2006; it has simply been renamed the “Green Bali” program.
The aim of the program is to plant local trees and reduce deforested areas in Bali by a minimum of 9,000 hectares every year.
Putu Subagiartha, head of the Bali Regional Development Planning Agency, hoped the re-planting program could increase the island’s attractiveness to tourists.
“We have to prove that we can conserve our environment as well as develop our tourism industry at the same time,” he said.
