Eucalyptus Trees Planted: Medan, Sumatra

By Barrie | September 10th, 2007 | No Comments

Eucalyptus (eucalyptus sp) trees, the wood of which is generally used as raw material for the paper and pulp industry, have begun to be planted in Perumnas Mandala, Deli Serdang regency, a densely populated area in eastern Medan.

To mark the commencement of this effort to grow eucalyptus trees to regreen the area, elementary school children were mobilized in a program called “Plant While Small, Enjoy When Grown Up“. The program is sponsored by pulp and paper company PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL) in conjunction with the 62nd anniversary of independence on Aug. 17.

At least 300 seedlings of eucalyptus of the pellita and citridora species have been planted and along roads in Kenangan Baru subdistrict, which is on one side of the Belmera (Belawan-Medan-Tanjungmorawa) toll road.

About 50 people, including the school children’s parents and a number of community figures, supervised the children in planting the seedlings and explained to them the benefits of trees, which are a source of oxygen.

Toba Pulp’s seedling manager Karman Sirait said on Aug. 30, that the planting of eucalyptus trees was in response to a request by residents that Medan be regreened.

In the initial state, Karman said, Toba Pulp donated 200 seedlings of pellita and 100 seedlings of citridora to be planted in Medan. His company, he added, will give more eucalyptus seedlings whenever they are needed.

Toba Pulp, he went on, is the only pulp industry in Indonesia engaged in the planting of eucalyptus trees on a large scale.

“Toba Pulp can produce 1.8 million eucalyptus seedlings per month,” he said.

There are over 700 species of eucalyptus in the world. Toba Pulp, however, has planted mostly uro-grandis species, the result of crossbreeding between urophylla and grandis. The company has supplied the pellita species for Medan as the species is more suitable for low-lying areas. As for citridora, the species has leaves that can be processed to produce cajaput-like oil.

The planting of eucalyptus trees in Medan is the first time the company has done this in Toba land.

Kenangan Baru subdistrict head Irawadi Harahap welcomed the company’s support in regreening the area, saying eucalyptus was a good choice for the project.

“We have chosen eucalyptus trees for regreening because they provide shade and can also produce cajaput oil,” Irawadi said.

Jaya Arjuna, an environmentalist, said that it was time for Medan to be regreened with eucalyptus or similar trees. This city, he added, has of late been very hot due to a lack of trees.

Government Regulation No. 63/2002 on green spaces, Jaya said, stipulates that green space must reach a minimum of 0.25 hectares or at least 10 percent of an urban territory.

“If Medan measures about 26,510 hectares now, its green spaces must be about 5,302 hectares,” Jaya said.

No data is available at the Medan municipality on the size of green spaces in the city. However, according to Jaya’s observation, green spaces in the city are still far from what is required by the aforementioned government regulation.

“The municipality prioritizes the physical construction of the city rather than the environmental aspects,” Jaya said.

Jaya explained that green spaces were beneficial in a number of ways, such as serving as water catchments and therefore alleviating flooding. In addition, they also reduce noise pollution, maintain the climatic cycle, lower the temperature and reduce the hazards of ultra-violet rays.

Apriadi Gunawan