The Forest of Life Project

Due to the rapid loss of tropical rainforests worldwide, the percentage of the Earth's surface covered by rainforest has shrunk from 15 percent in 1951 to 6 percent today. The island of Kalimantan in Indonesia was particularly hard hit by a massive forest fire that burned down as much as 5.7 million hectares of rainforest in 1997-98. The fire posed a serious threat to orangutans, an endangered species, and also resulted in massive emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) as the forest burned.

The Asian Green Forest Network, a non-profit organization in Japan, has decided to take this situation seriously, and has been pursuing relevant activities through its Forest of Life Project and soliciting donations from supporters. With each donation of 5,000 yen (about U.S. $47), two seedlings are planted in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

One of the two seedlings is a native fruit tree or another native tropical species to be planted on the premises of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF*) for saving orangutans. The other seedling is Golden Bio Teak, planted to produce wood for sustainable timber harvest to improve the quality of life of local residents and prevent logging of natural wood.

These two trees can absorb a total of 192 kilograms of CO2 over ten years, equivalent to the amount that one person exhales in seven months. This reforestation project aims to offset CO2 emissions while promoting sustainable timber production. The organization is seeking to expand the project to Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, and other Asian countries.

*The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) has been involved in sheltering about 700 orangutans and returning them to the wild since 1991.



Posted: 2004/03/24 09:00:38 AM
Japanese version