The earth needs trees to ensure clean air for its inhabitants. It is no wonder that trees are dubbed as the "lungs of the earth". The NEWTrees program initiated by WWF-Indonesia aims to maintain this function. Collaboration with several private parties in the initiative has resulted in significant contributions to reforestation efforts in a number of conservation areas across Indonesia.

Recently, this reforestation initiative received support from the banking sector. BCA donated 2000 tree seedlings that will be planted in the Mount Rinjani National Park area of Lombok.

"Over the last 10 years, about 43 percent of the springs on Mount Rinjani have disappeared. Whereas the Mount Rinjani area is a water storage area and a vital life support system for three million people in Lombok. BCA's step in supporting the reforestation of this area is expected to encourage other businesses to do the same," said Anwar Purwoto, Director of Forest, Freshwater & Terresterial Species WWF-Indonesia.

BCA itself stated that their support is a manifestation of their vision to make "green investments," which will be mobilized through the sale of Indonesian Retail Bonds 008 series (ORI008). "During the ORI008 offering period, BCA is committed to donating Rp1000 for every purchase of ORI00 worth Rp5 million through BCA," said Branko Windoe, Head of BCA's Treasury Division. "This NEWTrees program is a manifestation of that promise."

The donation of 2000 tree seedlings will be used to reforest a 5-hectare area of Mount Rinjani National Park. The nursery phase itself has started since June 2011, but the planting will only be carried out in December 2011 after the tree seedlings are deemed strong enough to be planted.

The NEWTrees program has planted trees in national park areas in Aceh, Riau, Lampung, and Papua provinces. Supported by geotags technology, the progress of NEWtrees trees can be directly monitored via Google Earth and Yahoo Maps.