Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Saturday launched a nation-wide greening campaign dubbed "Indonesia Menanam" (Indonesia Plants).

The program was launched on the occasion of International Earth Day, the Antara News Agency reported.

Yudhoyono called on governors, district chiefs and mayors to grow forests within cities.

"Forests in a city function as the city's lungs. They can also serve as centers of research, education, recreation, plant and animal preserving," the president said.

He also called on the mass media to monitor the activities of governors, district chiefs and mayors in implementing the program.

The president also called to religious leaders and companies to raise public awareness on forest preservation because deforestation has become the main reason for many natural disasters recently.

Every year, more than 2 million hectares of Indonesian forest were damaged.

"This is bad. We should not let this happen and we must stop it from now on or we will have more disasters any time," he said.

"Illegal logging must be stopped, the perpetrators must be punished and we must lower the deforestation rate to its minimum level," the president said.

Kota Baru Bandar Kemayoran in Central Jakarta has been used as a location to plant various trees from all regions in Indonesia.

The location covering 4.6 hectares of land would be used as a city forest for recreation, education and research.

Source: Xinhua