Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia During the Launching of Mangrove Rehabilitation Program and World Mangrove Center at Rumpin Nursery Center in Bogor Regency, West Java Province, June 10, 2022

Good morning.
Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

Honorable Ambassadors of Friendly Countries;
Honorable Ministers, Vice Governors;
Ladies and Gentlemen, all company leaders and environmental activists;
Distinguished Guests.

We want to reinforce our commitment on climate change, to restore our damaged environment through concrete and visible actions. Therefore, three years ago, I ordered the construction of nursery center as many as possible and our target in the next three years is to build 30 nursery centers similar to the one in Rumpin. If one nursery center can produce 10 to 12 million seeds, the 30 nursery centers can generate approximately 360 million seeds.

If we have the seeds, we must sow the seeds. So, it is not how many hectares we will work on, but how many seeds we can produce. After, where will we sow the seeds; in critical lands, in regencies and provinces that are prone to landslides, in watersheds especially in the upstream. We have started this. It is a concrete step and we have started this, including the one in Ciliwung river. This was conveyed earlier, it  has been sent to several regencies and cities with critical lands. This is our process of rehabilitating our environment, improving our environment with concrete and measurable actions.

I would like to express my gratitude to the World Bank, to the German Government, to major companies in our country. As we can see, this is a collaboration between Ministry of Forestry, Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing and the April Group. We can see the result, a nursery that is well managed and the seeds are ready to be distributed to the regions that needed. Once again, there will be 30 nurseries similar to this one. This year, we estimate about eight more. Next year, there will be more. It means the steps toward restoring the environment are concrete and visible.

Second, on mangrove rehabilitation, I have ordered that by the end of 2024, at least 600,000 hectares of mangrove areas must have been rehabilitated, just as what we have done for peatlands. We have it in the provinces of Riau, North Sumatra, North Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, and Bali. It means that it is started from the nursery, this kind of nursery. So it is clear and concrete on which direction we need to go to make improvements. Because we believe that mangrove forests can reduce and absorb carbon four times more effective than typical forests, typical tropical forests.

And, today we commemorate World Environment Day. Yesterday, I also ordered Minister of Forestry to take concrete, solid, and calculated actions.

Therefore, by saying bismillahirrahmanirrahim, today, I hereby inaugurate Rumpin Nursery in Bogor regency, West Java province and launch Mangrove Rehabilitation Program and World Mangrove Center in East Kalimantan province.

I thank you.
Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

(FI/MMB)