In an effort to mitigate the effects of global warming, WWF-Indonesia, in cooperation with Nokia and Equinox Publishing, has launched a tree planting campaign in Sebangau National Park in Central Kalimantan. This initiative, called NEWtrees, gives people an innovative way to help reforest this protected national park and monitor the growth of the trees through geotags (trees labeled with precise latitude and longitude coordinates) viewable via Google Earth and Yahoo Maps.

Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan (PRWEB) November 10, 2007 — In an effort to mitigate the effects of global warming, WWF-Indonesia, in cooperation with Nokia and Equinox Publishing, has launched a tree planting campaign in Sebangau National Park in Central Kalimantan. This initiative, called NEWtrees, gives people an innovative way to help reforest this protected national park and monitor the growth of the trees through geotags (trees labeled with precise latitude and longitude coordinates) viewable via Google Earth and Yahoo Maps.

“This project is the first of its kind anywhere in the world and we are excited to join forces with two great companies like Nokia and Equinox to help the Sebangau conservation,” said Nazir Foead, Director of Corporate Engagement at WWF-Indonesia. The site chosen for the initial replanting grid is located near the joint WWF - park authority’s Sebangau field office, approximately 45 minutes by boat from the capital of Central Kalimantan, Palangkaraya.

The first stage of the project will see Nokia support the planting of 100,000 individually-geotagged Jelutung (Dyera costulata) seedlings, a native species of tree that is a favorite of the park’s orangutans. Nokia’s Environment Manager for the Asia Pacific region, Francis Cheong said, “By collaborating in this initiative with WWF-Indonesia and Equinox Publishing, we hope to not only help towards reducing the annual haze that blankets the region, but also contribute in a small way to protecting and preserving Sebangau as an invaluable national asset in the APAC region The geotagging technology that is capable with the Nokia N95, in combination with Google Earth and Yahoo Maps, will help to monitor the development of the trees.”

Photos and locations of the planted trees will be viewable on http://www.wwf.or.id/NEWtrees and http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwfindonesia beginning with the first ceremonial planting on 7 November 2007.

“There are several interesting reforestation initiatives happening in Indonesia at present but what makes NEWtrees unique is that we have the ability to show exactly where the trees are being planted. Contributing individuals and institutions will receive a certificate with the exact coordinates and date that their trees were planted, and will even be able to visit them,” said Mark Hanusz of Equinox Publishing.

The park authority sees NEWtrees as an important milestone in which the private sector is contributing directly to conservation. Park Manager, Drasospolino, highlighted this initiative as the catalyst for other corporations to participate, and with the aim of rolling such a program out to other national parks in Indonesia.

For further information, please contact:
Israr Ardiansyah, WWF-Indonesia Media Outreach
Tel: 021-576 1070 Ext: 110, Hp: (+62) 811 266 973

About Sebangau National Park: Sebangau National Park is an area of 568,700 ha that holds one of the largest known remaining orangutan populations in the world and was gazetted by the government of Indonesia in October 2004. It is located in the south part of Central Kalimantan Province, between the Sebangau and Katingan rivers, and serves as one of the last remaining peat swamp forests in Kalimantan. The peat swamp forest in Sebangau is a home to at least 106 species of birds, 35 species of mammals, and several sub-types of forest such as riverine forest, mixed swamp forest, transition forest, tall interior forest, and mixed forest from granite and low pole forest.

About WWF-Indonesia: WWF started work in Indonesia in the early 1960s and in 1998 it was established as part of the WWF Global Network. WWF-Indonesia’s main programs are forest, marine, freshwater, species, climate change and toxic chemicals and work at 24 sites, spread throughout 16 provinces in Indonesia.

About Nokia: Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. Nokia makes a wide range of mobile devices and provides people with experiences in music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games and business mobility through these devices. Nokia also provides equipment, solutions and services for communications networks.

Nokia has been at the forefront of driving environmental initiatives in the mobile industry for more than a decade. It considers the environmental impact of its products and operations at all stages; the materials used in production, the energy consumed by a mobile, and how it can be safely recycled at the end of their life.

Today, up to 80% of a Nokia mobile can be recycled and the company has take back and collection points for unwanted phones and accessories in 85 countries around the world. Earlier this year Nokia became the first mobile manufacturer to add alerts into its mobiles that encourage people to unplug their charger once the battery is full, a move that alone could save enough electricity to power 85,000 homes a year.

About Equinox Publishing: Equinox Publishing is Indonesia’s largest English-language publishing company. Beginning August 2007, Equinox became the first publisher in the world to convert all of its books to 100% recycled paper.

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