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resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has deplored Indonesia’s unsuccessful reforestation programs that are mostly focused on the planting of young tree seedlings without allocating an adequate treatment process and budget for the seedlings.

“For years, we have carried out monotonous things and processes that have never changed. The amount of budgetary allocations for reforestation at the Environment and Forestry Ministry is huge. But, where are the trees? Where are the reforested areas? Who can show me?”

Jokowi was speaking at the celebration of Indonesia Tree Planting Day and National Planting Month in Karangasem village, Ponjong, Gunungkidul regency, Yogyakarta, on Saturday.

He also declared a national tree planting movement. Thousands of Karangasem residents welcomed Jokowi’s arrival. On empty and infertile mountainous land in Karangasem village, the President planted jati tree seedlings (a kind of teak wood) and fruit trees.

Jokowi said expensive ceremonial events to plant a million or a billion trees were held every year. If the planting events were conducted properly, land across Indonesia would be filled with trees.

“Tree seedlings with an average height of 30 centimeters are forcefully planted but after that no budget is allocated for their treatment. How can they continue to grow?”

He said such incorrect reforestation methods must be stopped.

Reforestation processes are not only about tree planting, but must also be followed up by intensive treatment processes so that the plants do not dry up or get eaten by livestock, he added.

Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said Karangasem village was chosen because its land is critical, dry and a karst area.

“It’s quite difficult for the people to benefit from it.”

Siti said around 3,000 farmers living in Karangasem village had planted 45,000 seedlings of jati, acacia and fruit trees on 15 hectares (ha).

The seedlings were provided by the government and harvest yields would be managed by community-owned cooperatives.

Siti said the celebration marked the start of the use of barcodes to evaluate and monitor the trees’ development in an android-based system that could be operated online and offline.

The minister added that the government would provide 50 million tree seedlings per year to support its program, with each person expected to plant 25 trees throughout his or her life. This program has been successful in planting 2.73 million trees on 5,463 ha of land.

“In 2014 and 2015, the reforestation program has been successfully conducted on 4.22 million ha of critical land both in and outside forests,” said Siti.