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AKARTA: Women’s Empowerment Minister Linda Amalia Sari Gumelar and Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan signed on Wednesday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to improve gender equality between men and women in the forestry sector.

Linda hoped that future Forestry Department policies would also show significant participation of women. “For example, women can conserve nature by applying technologies normally relegated to men,” she said.

Zulkifli said that, since 2009, the ministry has focused on tree-planting programs, which women could take part in. “Unlike deforestation, which is mostly done by men, planting trees can involve women,” Zulkifli added.

He said that in 2010, women participated in planting 1.3 billion trees. This year he expects his department to plant 1 billion trees.