Students join forest protection program

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MALANG: State forestry company PT Perhutani has enlisted the help of Islamic boarding school students its forest protection campaign.

Under the program, officially signed by the director of PT Perhutani, Bambang Sukmananto, and the director general for Islamic education at the Religious Affairs Ministry, Muhammad Ali, Islamic boarding schools in the country will be given a role in conservation program.

Given the high concentration of Islamic boarding schools in Java, the program will be first implemented in forests on the island.

Perhutani spokesperson Susetyaningsih said that the role of the Muslim students would depend on local conditions.

Susetyaningsih also said that the students would work with local officials in more than 5,600 villages involved in the program.

Currently, Perhutani manages more than 2.7 million hectares of forests in the country.

Much of the forests are unsupervised because of a lack of manpower within the company.