Category: Activities

Trees4Trees Planting Festival, Celebrating 16th Reforestation Journey

This year, Trees4Trees commemorates its 16th year reforestation journey, marking a significant milestone in its environmental preservation efforts. Celebrating this occasion, Trees4Trees organized the Planting Festival throughout June, which took place in three distinct locations within its operation areas. They included the industrial area of GIIC Bekasi, the coastal area of Mangunharjo Semarang, and Tunjungseto Village in Kebumen.

Bringing together diverse communities, company partners, government representatives, and students as tree-planting volunteers, this event also aimed at celebrating World Environmental Day and World Ocean Day that fell close to Trees4Trees anniversary on June 11th.

“By involving various communities and our green partners, this initiative seeks to enhance the integration of our tree-planting efforts with Trees4Trees’ stakeholders,” said Pandu Budi Wahono, Trees4Trees Program Manager. Additionally, he stated that the festival was conducted in various landscapes, focusing on improving urban, rural, and coastal areas.

Creating Urban Forest within GIIC Industrial Area

Starting the Planting Festival series, Trees4Trees collaborated with the GIIC Industrial Area to plant 1,000 trees, coinciding with the World Environment Day, June 5th. Around 80 participants from various companies and government representatives joined the event to help create urban forest amidst the bustling Jakarta buffer zone and expect benefits of carbon sequestration from industrial activities.

“Previously, we planted 25,000 trees here with support from some companies as our green partners. Today, Trees4Trees is contributing an additional 1,000 trees to further green this area,” said Pandu.

Dani Ramdan, the Regent of Bekasi Regency was also attended the event. He thanked Trees4Trees and the companies committed to environmental preservation by joining this initiative. He said, the effort goes beyond improving the industrial area; it helps the planet globally. “The trees we plant here have a global impact. The effects of global warming are real, and we experience extreme weather ourselves. Hopefully, this tree planting will help address these issues,” he said.

Helping Coastal Area Restoration in Mangunharjo Semarang

On June 11th, the festival continued by planting 2,000 mangroves and 100 Australian pines to help restore the coastal area of Mangunharjo in Semarang. Around 100 participants came together as tree-planting volunteers. “We invited our green partners to experience tree planting firsthand. We also engaged fifteen communities from twelve universities in Semarang. We’re grateful for their willingness to join us for the future of our planet,” said Erni Setyaningrum, Trees4Trees Office Manager.

Collaborating with Mangunharjo Mangrove Lestari farmer group, the event aimed to help local communities combat coastal erosion, tidal flood, and to protect local fishponds. “We see that many areas here are losing their mangrove ecological habitats and functions. We intentionally aim to green this coastal area by planting mangroves and Australian pine together. It is part of our contribution for coastal ecosystem restoration,” Adi Gani, Trees4Trees Project Manager revealed.

Sururi, the farmer group leader and a recipient of the prestigious Kalpataru Award from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry for his dedication to coastal ecosystem improvement, thanked Trees4Trees for helping them in greening the coastal area. “We hope this effort will continue by planting more trees. Also in other places as well,” he said. Sururi believes that this way, other coastal communities in Central Java can experience the benefits.

Soil and Water Conservation for Tunjungseto Village’s Tourist Destinations

Tunjungseto Village in Kebumen is one of the areas where Trees4Trees focuses its reforestation efforts. The village is currently developing two promising tourist destinations: Bukit Kedoya and Tratag waterfall, a main source of local irrigation. As part of the festival series, Trees4Trees supported the village by planting 1,000 trees on June 15th.

“This initiative supports these potential tourist destinations development and promotes environmental preservation, especially soil and water conservation,” said Pandu.

The tree-planting event involved the local environment community of Tunjungseto, 30 elementary school students, three youth communities from different universities, company partners, and government representatives. “We planted 200 fruit trees, including avocado, durian, nutmeg, and mangosteen in Bukit Kedoya to provide shade. The next day, we planted 800 sugar palm trees around Tratag waterfall to enhance water sources,” said Mar’atun Chasanah, Trees4Trees Kebumen Unit Manager.

Mar’atun explained that sugar palms are highly effective for water conservation due to the root system which holds a great amount of water. She also emphasized that involving youth and local communities expects to raise awareness among younger generations about the importance of planting trees.

As we celebrate 16 years of our reforestation journey, we extend our heartfelt thanks to all the volunteers involved. Our gratitude goes to youth communities, companies, governments, and schools who participated in our events and planted trees with dedication. Furthermore, we deeply grateful to the incredible supports of local communities, collaborators, media, and our generous sponsors—BJB, Bank Mandiri, Pinnacle Outdoors, Basilia Group, Cosi Outdoors, and Delta Mas.

We also extend our gratitude to all our sponsors and individual donors. Your support over the past 16 years creates great impacts on the environment and the local communities.

Let’s continue to green the world and make our planet a better place to live! You can plant and donate trees with Trees4Trees to create a greater impact on the environment and the local communities!

Nursery Highlight: Preparations Underway for the 2024-2025 Planting Season

As our 2024-2025 planting cycle begins, preparations have been in full swing at our nurseries. We eagerly anticipate the planting season at the end of this year, aiming to plant more trees in diverse areas, including hilly areas, riverbanks, industrial zones, and water sources nearby.

Over the past two months, our dedicated nursery teams have been busy setting up essential infrastructure, such as greenhouses, seedbeds, electricity and watering systems. They have also been improving our in-house nursery management technology. These facilities are crucial for the nursery’s operation and for ensuring timely delivery to our tree growers. By maintaining efficient infrastructure, we aim to achieve our planting goals, maximizing the benefits for both the environment and our tree grower partners.

This year, we aim to plant five million trees across 20 trees species. We will distribute these tree-seedlings to approximately 23,000 farmers over a two-month period (December to January). These seedlings will be shipped to various locations, amounting to around 3,300 truckloads during the planting season, or approximately 55 trucks per day.

Explore the early stages of our nurseries’ activities below!

(Above) Our nursery team is diligently preparing planting media (a mix of soil and manure) to fill polybags for planting tree seedlings. As the seedlings grow, during the distribution stage, each tree grower will receive approximately 220 tree seedlings, packed with an average of 12 per bag. This translates to a total of 417,000 bags of seedlings distributed, each customized with a mix of species according to the farmers’ preferences.

As part of our commitment to women’s empowerment, we employ women from the local community as seasonal workers in our nurseries, providing them with the opportunity to earn income independently and support their families economically.

We are also excited to announce that one of our nurseries in Bandung has been relocated from Cililin to Cipongkor District. (Above) The new site, now situated nearby Saguling Reservoir, where the Ciminyak river flows. The relocation is part of our commitment to enhance the tree planting and maximize the trees’ growth this year.

To enhance the new Ciminyak nursery facilities, our team built traditional working spaces using bamboo. These traditional working spaces will be used for meetings and coordination purposes.

The Soreang nursery team (above) and the Kebumen nursery team (below) are building new greenhouses to grow more tree seedlings this year and optimize their growth. The greenhouse provides the light, warmth, temperature, and air crucial for the seedlings’ survival. It also protects them from extreme heat or cold by maintaining the temperature.

(Above) A nursery worker applies bamboo sticks to create seedbeds. (Below) The Kebumen nursery team has completed establishing new seedbeds along with the frames to apply shading nets. These new seedbeds have been established to enhance the growth of tree-seedlings. These seedbeds will also be used to group the tree seedlings based on type, height, and health.

As part of Trees4Trees’ commitment to effective seedling distribution and transparency for our supporters, we utilize in-house technology to record nursery activities. This includes tracking the process of seedlings being grown, distributed, and loaded. Our IT team provided Cirasea nursery team (above) and Soreang nursery team (below) with training on the operation of our nursery management system. Similar training was also provided to teams at all Trees4Trees nurseries.

As a non-profit organization dedicated to reforestation, Trees4Trees not only distributes and plants trees but also produces tree seedlings in-house at our four nurseries across West Java and Central Java.

Our nurseries operations are vital, enabling us to control and ensure the quality of the seedlings provided to tree growers and used in our reforestation programs. Each tree species has its own growth cycle requirements, making our nursery management system essential for planning and controlling the process. This ensures all seedlings are grown and delivered on schedule as complete orders to the farmers.

Each year, our nurseries make a substantial impact as they significantly contribute to environmental improvement and create valuable job opportunities for the local community. You can also plant trees with us and join our reforestation program this year to make a positive impact! Contact us at info@trees4trees.treesforplant.com to get involved.

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Activity Highlight: Distributing Tree Seedlings in Central Java and Yogyakarta Surroundings

The Central Java and Yogyakarta regions are two of Trees4Trees’ main locations for tree planting and play a vital role in our reforestation initiatives. In the Trees4Trees 2023-2024 planting season, we successfully distributed over 570,000 tree seedlings to approximately 2,300 tree growers across Central Java, spanning Kebumen, Pati, Boyolali, Semarang Regency, and Gunung Kidul in Yogyakarta.

Our tree-planting initiatives throughout the regions serve diverse purposes, ranging from addressing drought and water scarcity to preventing erosion and landslides, revitalizing degraded areas, and providing essential shade.

In addition to our terrestrial efforts, Trees4Trees extended its impact to the coastal region of Pati by planting around 33,750 mangroves, contributing to the overall health and resilience of the coastal areas.

Let’s celebrate the hard work of our team in Central Java and Yogyakarta as they deliver seedlings to our tree growers in various locations!

Our nursery workers in Kebumen (above) and Pati (below) were meticulously selecting and preparing the best seedlings then packaging them for distribution to various planting areas across Central Java and Yogyakarta.

The selected and packaged tree-seedlings in the nursery of Kebumen (above) and Pati (below) were ready for loading to the delivery trucks. They were attached with a barcode and information about tree types, the grower who will receive them and the village destination.

(Above) Our nursery team in Kebumen loaded the tree-seedlings to a small pick-up truck. (Below) Our nursery team in Pati had already finished loading all seedlings to a bigger truck. Due to the challenging terrain to the tree-planting areas, with usually very narrow and steep roads, we used small pickup trucks for delivery. While the bigger trucks are used to deliver the seedlings to the areas with wider roads.

The tree-seedlings were all dropped and organized in a meeting point in Gunungsari Village, Pati (above) and Kedungpilang Village, Boyolali (below). They were ready to be picked up by our dedicated tree growers.

Following the arrival of the tree seedlings in Gunungsari, Kebumen (above) and Ngringin, Gunungkidul Yogyakarta (below), local communities enthusiastically welcomed them. They couldn’t wait to receive the tree seedlings. Our team also worked hand in hand with the local community in loading out the seedlings.

(Above) Mangrove seedlings were delivered to the meeting point near Tegalombo Village’s coastal area in Pati Regency. They were then transported to the planting location by members of a fishpond farmer group collaborating with Trees4Trees as tree growers. (Below) The mangrove distribution process in Banyutowo Village involved the active participation of the local community.

Witnessing our tree growers bringing their trees home was genuinely thrilling. They transported the trees from the designated meeting points using various methods, including carrying them on their backs with bamboo sticks or traditional baskets, as well as utilizing motorcycles. Shortly after, they will proceed to plant these trees in their fields.

Our tree growers’ smiles are the most precious to us! We are grateful for the opportunity to support them as a local community by providing tree seedlings and organic fertilizers and witnessing the joy on their faces!

Activity Highlights: Distributing Seedlings for Citarum River Restoration

Distributing seedlings for planting community forests may seem like a simple task. After all, it’s just handing out some seedlings to some farmers, right?

However, a closer look reveals the complexity and scale of this operation. During the 2023–2024 planting season, the Trees4Trees West Java field team distributed approximately 4.1 million seedlings of 14 different tree species to 18,800 farmers. Each of them could choose up to five different tree species. This seedlings’ distribution is part of our effort to restore areas in the Citarum Watershed, encompassing five sub-watersheds: Cisangkuy, Ciwidey, Cirasea, Ciminyak, and Citarik.

Timber trees were packed 10 to a bag, while fruit trees were packed 8 to a bag. Due to the challenging terrain, with very narrow and steep roads, small pickup trucks were used for delivery. Each truck carried a maximum of 1,500 seedlings to avoid overcrowding and damaging the seedlings.

Adding all this up means there were around 415,000 bags of seedlings individually packed per farmer order and delivered to 176 villages with more than 20,395 planting locations inside a two-month period.

So, on a daily average, 73,000 seedlings were packed into 9,240 bags, each with a unique order quantity and loaded and shipped to the distribution points in 50 trucks. That’s a lot of green for a greener future!

Now, let’s appreciate the hard work and dedication of our field team as they have already completed delivering seedlings to our tree growers around the Citarum Watershed.

The tree seedlings were placed at the closest meeting point so that it will be easier for residents to pick them up to their lands. (Above) Our field team facilitated the distribution to Sukawening Village in the Ciwidey Sub-watershed. (Below) Our field team managed the distribution to Mekarjaya Village in the Cisangkuy Sub-watershed.

As the tree seedlings arrived at the meeting points, our team, along with the local community, unloaded the trees and grouped them according to each dedicated tree grower who would receive them. Our field teams in Cibenda Village (above) and Pacet Village (below) organized the trees to make distribution easier for each tree grower.

Even though heavy rain fell on the distribution day, our team remained committed to distributing tree seedlings to our tree grower partners in each village. Our team delivered seedlings in Sukawening Village (above) and Neglasari Village (below) in the middle of rainy day.

Distributing tree seedlings was sometimes challenging. Our team had to navigate steep and difficult-to-access terrain to reach some villages. In the Cirasea 3 site (above) our team worked hand in hand with the local community to place tree seedlings in locations inaccessible to trucks. (Below) the pickup truck passed through a very narrow road in Loa Village, part of Cirasea 1 site.

The tree-seedlings were all dropped and organized in a meeting point. They are ready to be picked up by the dedicated tree growers.

(Above) Before delivering to local farmers, our field team meticulously checks all seedlings, including the total trees, types, and the dedicated tree growers who are supposed to receive them. (Below) Our field team ensured that our tree growers received the correct seedlings according to their requests as in the initial stage before handing the seedlings to them.

Following the arrival of the tree seedlings in a village around the Ciminyak sub-watershed, local communities enthusiastically welcomed them. They can’t wait to receive the tree seedlings they have been eagerly anticipating.

The smiles of the local people are invaluable as they receive trees and organic fertilizers from our team. We are grateful to have an opportunity to support them and see the joy on the faces of our tree grower partners in the Cirasea 3 site!

We were delighted to witness schoolchildren actively assisting their parents in transporting the tree seedlings back home in Weninggalih Village.

Experiencing our tree growers bringing their trees home was truly thrilling. They transported the trees from the meeting points in a variety of methods, such as carrying them on their backs with bamboo sticks or traditional baskets, placing them on carts, or utilizing off-road motorcycles. Shortly thereafter, they will proceed to plant these trees in their fields in the Citarum watershed surrounding.

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Taking the Next Step: Trees4Trees’ Planting Season 2023-2024

At Trees4Trees, we started the new year early, by kicking off our 2023-2024 planting season back in December. With the generous support of our sponsors, volunteers, and donors, we plan to continue these programs through March 2024.

Since December, millions of seedlings have been distributed from our nurseries to locations all over Java. Each of these trees offers reason for hope. From village to city and from coast to coast, they can help protect the environment and empower local communities.

Rising to the challenge

Indonesia saw its fair share of troubles in 2023. An extended dry season, caused by El Niño, delayed our planting efforts by a month – from November to December. Now the rains have finally arrived, were determined to make up for lost time.

“We intend to plant 4.9 million trees across Java,” says Pandu Budi Wahono, Trees4Trees Program Manager. “This will help around 21,770 local farmers in 231 villages,” he added.

Continuing the Citarum Watershed project

A big part of this program is our Citarum Watershed restoration project. Our goal, with support from 18,800 local farmers in 176 villages in the watershed area, is to plant 4 million trees in the next couple of months.

“The restoration covers areas around five sub-watersheds,” explains Tomi Bustomi, who is our Regional Manager for West Java. “Ciminyak, Ciwidey, Cisangkuy, Cirasea, and Citarik River.,”

Working alongside the Government of Indonesia, Tomi and his team aim to plant 10 million trees by 2025. In doing so, they will help restore ecosystems, preserve cultural and economic value for local communities, and safeguard biodiversity.

A shore sign of progress: Replanting on the coast of Java

In Pati Regency in Central Java, Trees4Trees is creating a green belt along the shoreline by planting mangroves. From 2021 through 2023, we already planted a total of 195,200 trees in six villages. Now, the plan is to extend these efforts to four more villages in the region.

During December and January, a total of 33,750 new trees were planted in the villages of Semerak, Dukuhseti, Tegalombo, and Banyutowo. Khoirum Minan is the Trees4Trees Pati Unit Manager, who says extending the green belt in this way can benefit local communities by “preventing high tides from hitting residential areas and fishponds owned by locals.”

Saving water, improving lives

Last year’s prolonged dry season had a massive impact on local communities. Lots of places experienced serious water shortages, which affected both people and plants. To prevent this happening again in the future, Trees4Trees has been busy planting lots of tropical fruit trees known for their ability to store water when times are hard.

These tree species include teak, kaliandra, and indigofera. We’ve also planted multi-purpose trees like coffee and petai, which are good for the environment and offer a sustainable source of income for local people too.

Taking the Next Step: Trees4Trees’ Planting Season 2023-2024 — (Above) Water sources in Boyolali dried up in 2023, so T4T stepped to support water conservation by planting seedlings that will store water in their trunks, prevent soil erosion, and reduce surface run-off (below).

Expanding urban forests

Our replanting plan extends to all kinds of environments, tackling a range of problems. This even includes cities and industrial areas, where trees bring some much-needed shade, carbon capture, and soil health, not to mention adding a little natural beauty.

Most recently, Trees4Trees has been busy planting urban forests in industrial areas like GIIC in Bekasi, KIIC in Karawang, and Bogor.

another planting event — (Above) Another planting event, this time with AOI & ITS in Bojonegoro, East Java. (Above) Another planting event, this time with AOI & ITS in Bojonegoro, East Java.

It takes a village: Working together with partners

In all our replanting operations, we collaborate with lots of different companies and organizations to get the job done. Each of these events helps deliver sustainable impacts to different areas, from cultural and historical sites to industrial regions, villages, farmland, and watersheds.

Every project is a team effort. By involving staff, partners, and clients as tree-planter volunteers, and teaming them up with local communities of growers and farmers, we’re helping create new networks.

Whether developing skills, sharing stories, or simply making new friends, the Trees4Trees planting season continues to expand its impact. Everyone involved is ready to take the next step on this journey, together.

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Tree-Seedling Distribution in West Java

Nursery Highlight: Tree-seedlings Distribution in West Java

Our planting season is now underway. In West Java, the distribution of tree-seedlings, which began in December 2023 and extends until mid-February 2024, heavily relies on our three nurseries. They are Cirasea Nursery, Soreang Nursery, and Ciminyak Nursery. The three nurseries serve as the cornerstone, facilitating the distribution of millions of tree seedlings to local communities across five sub-watersheds of the Citarum River in West Java.

Our nurseries team in West Java has been diligently preparing the tree seedlings, which have been growing since April 2023. We invite you to witness their wholehearted efforts as they skillfully prepare the tree seedlings for distribution through images below!

Our nurseries team selected the tree seedlings meticulously. It aims to ensure the distribution of only high-quality tree seedlings to local communities.

After completing the selection process and quality control, our team packed and categorized each tree based on its type. Demonstrating our commitment to reducing plastic waste, we educated and encouraged our tree growers to reuse the plastic bags previously used for the seedlings.

We appreciate the dedication of our nurseries’ team as they continue to work wholeheartedly, packing each tree even in the rain.

After finishing the tree-seedling packing process, our nursery workers transported tree-seedlings from the tree blocks to the distribution points.

Before loading into trucks for distribution, our dedicated team checked all tree-seedlings and recorded them carefully. (Above) A nursery worker checked the type of trees that would be distributed to the dedicated planting areas. (Below) Our team made sure they recorded and checked all tree-seedlings.

As part of our commitment to the transparency of tree distribution and our tree-planting program provided to sponsors and donors, a barcode attach to each tree. Then, they will be scanned and recorded in our in-house technology system called the GEKO system. This in-house technology allows us to monitor the tree distribution and tree-planting process. (Above) The Ciminyak Nursery team and (below) the Soreang Nursery team scanned barcodes on the trees to record them.

Our nursery team also prepared liquid organic fertilizer. They will then being distributed to our tree growers along with the tree seedlings. We reuse used mineral plastic bottles to store the fertilizer as part of our commitment to reduce plastic waste.

All of our nursery team are working hand in hand. They sticked one to another to load tree seedlings from the distribution point onto the trucks. This exemplifies the cultural spirit of gotong royong in Indonesia, signifying collaborative effort.

The loading process has already been completed and the tree seedlings are ready to go. (Above) The truck was full of tree seedlings and ready to bring seedlings from Soreang nursery.

Our nursery team covered the trucks with paranet to ensure tree seedlings safe and not exposed with direct sunlight or rainfall.

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