Tunza Conference To Make Bandung World Urban Forest

Kuta (Antara Bali) - Tunza Indonesia, Children and Youth Conference on the Environment 2011 will turn Bandung city in West Java into a World Urban Forest with the help of children from many countries, a spokesman of the event's organizers said.

"In the World Urban Forest program, children participating in the  Tunza Conference will plant trees  in Bandung on September 27," Wahyu Marjaka, a member of the Tunza Conference's organizing committee, said here Wednesday.

The trees would be planted in Bandung city's Babakan Siliwangi, a 4-hectare-wide area which was formerly known as a culinary hub,  Wahyu said.

He said the world urban forest would eventually be surrounded by an auditorium building, residential housing complexes, hotels and the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) campus as well as a nuclear power plant.

"In addition, in the future after the nuclear power plant project is completed, we will try to make the nuclear power plant land into urban forest as well. But this is still a plan " Wahyu added.

The land area of ​​four hectares is planned to be planted with different types of trees that would be provided by Tunza committee.

"Later, about 800 trees will be planted. However we are providing about 2,500 trees since the target audience is actually over two thousand," Wahyu said.

He said, the one meter sized seeds of trees will be planted on the first day of the conference which is planned to be opened  by the Vice President and ministers. Meanwhile the tree planting activity by the conference participants would be done one day before the meeting's closing.

"Each tree will be given a label with the name of the participant who planted the tree," Wahyu said.

The world urban forest will be guarded and maintained by the Agriculture, Forestry and Plantation office of Bandung city.

Tunza conference would be themed "Reshaping our Future through a Green Economy and Sustainable Lifestyle" was an international activity every two years participated in by about 550 children and youths aged 15 to 25 years from 120 countries.(*)