How important planting trees for our future

By Kharisma

Himba Raya Indonesia is an environmental conservation organization which has the distinctive slogan “Conserve, Connect, Restore”. On Monday, 06 May 2023, HIRAI planted trees on peat land that had been burned several years ago. The planting aims to return the peatlands to the way they were before in KHDTK Tumbang Nusa, Pulang Pisau Regency. KHDTK Tumbang Nusa is an agency under the auspices of BPSI LHK Banjarbaru. This activity was attended by the HRAI Team, Volunteers, and giveaway winners.

Before heading to the planting location, the participants took tree seedlings that had been ordered from local residents, which is about 38 km from the city of Palangka Raya. After taking the seeds, the participants went to the Tumbang Nusa KHDTK office to receive prior instructions from the KHDTK Team regarding the area of peat land, the current state of the land, the types of trees to be planted and how to plant them. After picking up the seeds, the participants then headed to the planting location which is about 2 km away by foot. However, even though the weather was quite hot on foot, this did not dampen our enthusiasm to go to the planting location. Arriving at the planting site, we prepared to plant the trees, which were directly guided by the KHDTK Team. In the planting process we were divided into 3 groups, with three planting paths that were spaced out. The condition of the land when planting was quite watery which required extra effort in planting, but that didn’t reduce our enthusiasm for the planting process by helping each other until the planting was complete. The number of trees that we planted was around 600 tree seeds with the hope that the trees would grow well so that the land could be filled again as before. After the planting was over, the rain started to wet the peat land, which made us participants have to take shelter in the nearest hut. When the rain stopped, we returned to the Tumbang Nusa KHDTK office to rest and take a look at the conservation forest behind the office. After that around 14.00 we finally returned to the city of Palangka Raya.

Every human being has an important role in protecting nature for the continuation of our lives, while preserving our source of oxygen, namely the forest. After participating in this activity, I am increasingly aware of the importance of preserving nature by starting to pay attention to nature, for example by planting trees from now on. Planting these trees is a small first step for us to play an active role in protecting and restoring peatlands where they used to be. But it’s not only us who are active in this matter, we must also embrace the community in protecting and caring for nature in the long term. We can start inviting friends, relatives, or people closest to us to start the activity. Because every little thing, can have a big impact on our surroundings.