Our Forests

Indonesia has some of the richest forrest in the world. The total area of forested land is approximately 120 million hectares.

These forests have existed for million of years and they have munch to offer us. They are important for their products, such as timber, rattan, resin, etc. They are also important for keeping the soil fertile. The leaves of the forest trees fall to the ground and become humus is fertilizerfor the soil. The roots  of the trees prevent the soil from being washed away by the rain.

Some year a go the forest in Indonesia looked from the air like unbroken carpet of green. Today they are a lot of bare patches where trees  have been cut down and cleared for farms and mines and settlements. In some areas the destruction is continuing at a very rapid rate. If we do not stop this, our forest will be gone by the end of this century.

Our government realize this and has taken some steps to prevent the destruction. Some regulations have been issued to protect the forest. In addition, reforestasion project are being carried out.the projects are as important as other big development projects. It is our duty as good citizens to help the government carry out these programmes successfully.