S. Koreans re-green Bogor forests

Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor

The South Korean ambassador Lee Sun Jin observed his country's Tree Planting Day in Bogor last week, accompanied by members of the Korean community and students from the Korea International School.

The group planted some 2,000 seedlings in the 186-hectare Hambang Forest Park in Bogor regency, which is managed by the state plantation company Perhutani.

Lee said his country often suffered from floods and landslides caused by deforestation.

"This forest park is a symbol of our livelihood ... we have to work to make it a deep jungle. We want to hold events like this every year," he said.

The national day, which falls on April 5, is observed to commemorate a 1955 reforestation project to replace forests destroyed in the Korean war of the early 1950s.

Lee said Korean forests were protected by strict conservation laws.

"Before, in the 1980s, each hectare of productive forest produced only 10 cubic meters of timber. But now (one hectare) can produce up to 80 cubic meters.

"Only four million out of a total 10 million hectares of Korean forest is productive while the remaining area is pristine. We have no illegal logging problems. But we are afraid of forest fires," he added.

Also at the event was Forestry Minister MS Kaban, who said the tree-planting project showed the South Korean government's concern with protecting Indonesia's forests.

In 2006, both countries established a research and seedling center in Bogor and developed productive forests in Indonesia.

"To accommodate the community, we expect the forest park's management to provide a bigger area than the current 1.5 hectares set aside for tree planting," Kaban said.