The South Sulawesi administration in cooperation with Kalla Group and Hasanuddin University has conducted an aerial seeding as a method of reforestation.
Two tons of Trambesi and Sengon tree seeds were sowed from the air over a five-hectare plot of land at Moncongloe village in Manuju district, Gowa regency on Sunday.
Head of the South Sulawesi Forestry Agency Syukri said the aerial seed sowing was designed to develop a new method to rehabilitate unproductive lands efficiently and effectively.
“Using helicopters, we could reach and cover inaccessibly areas and spend less time and money,” Syukri said as quoted by Antara.
It was the time to restore nature through natural methods, Jusuf Kalla of the Kalla Group said, referring to the natural process of sowing the seeds with the help of the wind or carried out by birds that they could grow in the soil.
“There have been various reforestation methods, yet their result is far from satisfactory due to the absence of organized timing and frequency,” said Kalla, who is also a former president.
Kalla hoped all of the damaged forests in South Sulawesi could be treated under such a method within the next two years.
Twenty helicopters will be used in the reforestation program, which means that 100 hectares of unproductive land could be treated each day.
