PROFAUNA Calls on the Public to Take Care of Indonesia’s Forest

The Protection of Forest & Fauna (PROFAUNA) Indonesia called on the public to put more concern towards the state of ever-shrinking forest of Indonesia. The call was delivered through a theatrical act in front of the Mayor's office in Malang, East Java, on 19 September 2015. The center act consisted of 5 female activists dressed in costumes resembling trees. The 'trees' were then cut down by loggers using a chainsaw.The activists finally fell down to the ground. Dropped dead.

The campaign staged by more than 20 of PROFAUNA's activists was a symbolic act, to convey a message that cutting trees in the forest means killing human in the long haul. Declining forest will eventually bring economic, ecological, and social loss.

"Indonesia's remaining forest today is estimated to be around 82 million Ha, which takes strict policies from the government to survive. Active participation from everybody is also important in decelerating the deforestation rate," said Swasti Prawidya Mukti, PROFAUNA's Campaign Officer.

Through the public campaign, PROFAUNA called on the public to take simple steps in their daily lives that can help forest protection efforts. Among the simple things we can do to protect the forest are minimizing the use of papers, reducing the consumption of palm oil-based products, and not hunting wild animals because the serve as seed disperser of the forest trees.

"Papers come from trees that are planted in production forests. Production forests are opened on areas which used to be natural forests. Minimizing the use of paper will help preventing more natural forest to be converted into production forest," explained Swasti.

Read this article for more ways to help protecting the forest: http://www.profauna.net/en/content/easy-steps-help-protecting-indonesias-forest#.Vf99LdKqqko