A total of 106 hectares of area will be replanted with local tree species
PEKANBARU (30/03)— As the follow-up action from last year’s campaign organized by the youth initiative Forest Friends, 106 hectares of critical habitat of the Sumatran tiger is being replanted with local tree species. The first phase of replanting activities, covering 30 hectares, is taking place in Tesso Nilo National Park from 29 March to 30 June 2011.
Forest Friends is an initiative targeted at 18- to 25-year-old youths using social networking tools. Under the initiative, three youths each from Indonesia and Germany were selected after an intense weeks-long selection to compete for fans and gain support toward forest conservation through blogging. Through Forest Friends, which is also accessible on Facebook, the youths communicate and share their views via articles, video and photos. The blog competition took place from May to August 2010, as an integral part of WWF’s Year of Tiger Campaign 2010 aimed at doubling wild tiger numbers by 2022, the next Year of the Tiger. At the end of the competition the youths had successfully gained support for replanting more than 100 hectares of area.
The Forest Friends winners,.Rima Putri Agustina (25-year-old from Indonesia) and Lena Gottschalk (20-year-old from Germany), have been visiting the park from 28 March to 2 April. Together with WWF, Tesso Nilo Nilo National Park Office, rangers, and the local community, they started the symbolic planting on Tuesday (29/03). Various tree species such as Shorea and Koompassia were planted in the area.WWF-Indonesia will work with Tesso Nilo National Park Office and local communities to manage and monitor the replanted area.
“As one of the six Forest Friends finalists, I'm very happy and proud to know that there are so many young people support our campaign. I am so excited to have the opportunity to visit the park and directly be involved in the planting activities with various partners,” said Gottschalk.
The head of Tesso Nilo National Park Office, Drh. Hayani Suprahman, MSc, stated his support for reforestation efforts: “I appreciate the Forest Friends campaign for its contribution on Tesso Nilo biodiversity protection and their support on our conservation work in the park.”

Encroachment by local villagers who clear the forest to plant crops or build settlements is one of the major threats to the national park. To combat the threats, national park officeconduct a jointprotection patrol with several partners such as WWF-Indonesia. The Tesso Nilo Patrol Team is actively involved in law enforcement and the socialization process, distributing information about encroachment threats to nature.

“The next crucial step is to replant and rejuvenate ecosystems in the encroached critical areas,”Suprahman added.
Tesso Nilo NP, a critical habitat for Sumatran tigers was chosen as the replanting site because it has great potential for long-term tiger conservation.
In addition to planting trees in Tesso Nilo, the Forest Friends winners will experience a day in the life of the WWF-Indonesia Tiger Research Team, ride across the jungle and go patrolling with the WWF Flying Squad’s elephants, cruise on the Nilo River, and observe a community business of sustainable forest honey production in the nearby village area.
A chance to visit Tesso Nilo and plant trees is very exciting for Lena and Rima. “One of the best things from the Forest Friends competition is to know that we will reforest and plant trees in such a huge area, which someday would be a save haven for critically endangered Sumatran endemic species, and also for people who live around the forest. I do really hope that this effort works, so we never hear any more bad news about Sumatran forests,” Rima said.
As part of their activities during the trip, Rima and Lena will make a jungle documentary that will be shared in Forest Friends blog. It is hoped that the documentary will inspire other youth to give back to their environment, not only for Sumatra, but any other place on earth.
####
Notes for Editor:

• Forest Friends
  The Forest Friends initiative aimed to trigger creative and innovative ideas from youth in promoting, motivating, and inspiring others to conserve forest and environment. The three- month competition (May to end of August 2010) was a joint initiative of WWF-Indonesia and WWF-Germany. The competition allowed its selected contestants (both from Indonesia and Germany) to bond in friendship and share information online about forest protection activities, green lifestyles, and other activities related to forest and environment conservation.
• Info about Forest Friends can be accessed at http://www.wwf-jugend.de/durchstarten/forest-friends or www.wwf.or.id/savesumatra
• Photos from Forest Friends Replanting Program in Tesso Nilo will be available starting 4 April 2011. Please contact Annisa Ruzuar (asruzuar@wwf.or.id) for details.

Contact:

1. Desmarita Murni, WWF-Indonesia‘s Communications Coordinator Forest Program, Telp: 021-5761070 ext 509, email: dmurni@wwf.or.id
2. Syamsidar, Communication Manager, WWF-Indonesia’s Riau Program OfficeTelp: 0761-855006, email: syamsidar@wwf.or.id