Indonesians told to plant trees before marrying

Prospective newlyweds in an Indonesian province are being given one more promise to honor: planting trees to help slow the rapid deterioration of the country's forests.

As Indonesia marks World Environment Day on Thursday, husbands-and brides-to-be in Gorontalo, a rugged mountainous province on Sulawesi island, are being required to plant 10 seedlings supplied by the local government, said Hasyim Alidrus, head of the religious affairs office.

It is part of a nationwide "re-greening" initiative launched by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Bali Conference in Bali last November and millions of trees were planted across the vast archipelago after the meeting.

The program, critics say, is largely symbolic in a nation that is losing its forests at one of the fastest rates in the world due to illegal logging, mining, new oil palm plantations and slash-and-burn land clearing.

Conservationists say deforestation on Borneo island has claimed an area the size of some European countries and continues virtually unabated.

That has hardly dampened the enthusiasm of 27-year-old Khairul Baso and his fiancee, Andini, who received two 6-month-old teak trees along with palm, fruit and flower seedlings ahead of their wedding this weekend.

The couple is just one of nearly 900 that this year received trees from Gorontalo's religious affairs office, where they are required to register their marriage documents. Couples are required to plant the trees to receive their legal paperwork, Alidrus said.

如今，印度尼西亚某省的准新人们要多履行一个结婚“承诺”：他们在结婚前必须得先植树，为减缓印尼森林覆盖面积迅速减少出一份力。

据印尼哥伦达罗省宗教事务局局长哈希姆·阿里竺斯介绍，在本周四的“世界环境日”当天，该省的每对准新人被要求种植由当地政府提供的十株树苗。哥伦达罗省是位于印尼苏拉威西岛的一个山区省份。

该活动是为了响应印尼总统尤多约诺于去年11月在“巴厘会议”上提出的一项“再绿化”全国植树计划。会议结束后，印尼在全国各岛屿种植了数百万棵树。

评论家说，这一计划对于印尼来说很具象征意义。由于非法砍伐、采矿、开辟新油棕园及烧芭活动泛滥，印尼已成为全世界森林覆盖率下降速度最快的国家之一。

环保人士指出，森林采伐已导致婆罗洲岛的大片森林消失，其面积甚至相当于一些欧洲国家的国土面积，但采伐活动仍在继续。

不过这并没有打消27岁的哈卢·贝索和他的未婚妻安迪尼植树的热情，他们在这周末的婚礼前领了两棵6个月大的柚木树苗以及一些棕榈树、果树苗和花苗。

今年共有近900对新人在哥伦达罗宗教事务局领了树苗，同时，宗教事务局也是新人们领取结婚证的地方。阿里竺斯说，按照规定，准新人们完成植树义务后才可领取结婚证。