House of Representatives (DPR RI) Speaker Puan Maharani highlighted that Indonesia’s founding father and first president Sukarno’s efforts to reforest the Arafat Plains in the past must be an inspiration to preserve Earth.
Arafat Plains and Mount Arafat, located some 20 kilometers southeast of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, are places revered by Muslims and a visit to Arafat constitutes a part of the Hajj pilgrimage ritual.
In her statement received here on Friday, Maharani urged residents to partake in preserving the environment from the threats of climate change.
“We must preserve the Earth not only to care for nature but also because we need a healthy Earth to support our works, health, life, and joy,” she stated during the commemoration of Earth Day on Friday.
The DPR RI speaker believes that everyone can contribute to protecting and preserving the Earth even by doing the most simple things, such as switching off lights when not required and reducing water and electricity usage.
“Every person could also help plant trees to reforest the earth,” the parliament speaker remarked.
Maharani then recounted a story about Sukarno’s efforts to reforest the Arafat Plains in Saudi Arabia.
She remarked that while Sukarno performed the Hajj pilgrimage in 1955, he suggested Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the then King of Saudi Arabia, to plant thousands of trees in the Arafat Plains after witnessing the barren plains while performing the Hajj ritual there.
“Apart from delivering his suggestion, Sukarno also handed out thousands of Nimba (Azadirachta indica) trees to be planted in Arafat,” she noted.
The speaker pointed out that as the tree is known to grow in a dry habitat and is often found in arid places, on the roadside, or in open forests, the tree thrives in the plains.
The Nimba tree, which survives until now and continues to provide shade to pilgrims, was recently named the Sukarno Tree, she stated.
In a bid to emulate Sukarno’s spirit, Maharani often organized tree planting events, such as during the Earth Day commemoration in 2021 when she led legislators to plant avocado and other exotic trees at the Parliament Complex ground.
“Planting trees is a small step that will hugely impact our Earth,” the speaker remarked.
Source: Antara News