Jakarta. Youth 20, commonly abbreviated as Y20, on Friday attended the inauguration ceremony of the Rumpin nursery center and mangrove rehabilitation launch in Bogor, West Java. 

Inaugurating the Rumpin nursery center was President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo himself. 

The Y20 joined the Rumpin inauguration as a partner to the Environment and Forestry Ministry, whom they had been working with to address planetary issues. 

At the recent Y20 third pre-summit, for instance, the Y20 delegates and experts —in partnership with the ministry— planted mangroves at Margomulyo mangrove forest in Balikpapan. This mangrove planting was to take concrete action in restoring the damaged ecosystem. 

Y20 also pledged to engage youths in efforts to protect the Earth. 

To this end, the Y20 has included the topic of building a sustainable and livable planet as one of its summit’s priority areas. So youth delegates can exchange ideas about how to safeguard the natural capital and promote a circular economy. The summit’s priority area also aligns with the 2022 World Environment Day Theme: Only One Earth. 

Data showed that youth made up 53.81 percent of the Indonesian population. Given its large number, the young generation do play a vital role in various sectors, including the environment. 

“The Y20 as an official G20 engagement group will continue to invite youth to take concrete actions for the planet,” a recent Y20 press release reads.

Thirty Nursery Centers

Restoring the environment requires concrete actions. For this reason, the government has set a goal to build 30 nursery centers over the next three years, according to Jokowi. 

The Rumpin nursery has an annual production of approximately 10-12 million seeds. So 30 nursery centers would bring the total production to 360 million seeds a year. The nursery will distribute the seeds to landslide-prone areas and critical lands.

"We aim to have at least 600,000 hectares of mangroves in Indonesia by the end-2024," Jokowi said at the ceremony.

According to Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar, the Rumpin nursery center is part of Jokowi's efforts to give a boost to land restoration programs, namely through the procuring and planting of seeds on a large scale.

“An important part in the highlight of this event is the involvement of young environmental activists, who have actually taken part in the interests of the future and are actualized in the present,” Siti said.