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August 23, 2019

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Indonesian man walks the walk for trees

Source: AP | 00:10 UTC+8 August 23, 2019 | Print Edition

An Indonesian man is walking more than 700 kilometers backward from his village in east Java to the country’s capital to raise awareness about deforestation.

Medi Bastoni began his arduous expedition on July 18 from his home on the slope of Mount Wilis, a dormant volcano in East Java province that has been affected by deforestation.

The 43-year-old man is expected to arrive in Jakarta today. He hopes to meet Indonesian President Joko Widodo and ask him to re-plant trees on Mount Wilis and elsewhere.

“I’m doing this to raise people’s awareness of deforestation,” Bastoni said when he reached Jakarta’s satellite city of Bekasi, about 22-kilometer east of the capital. “I need the president’s support to help reforestation efforts, hand-in-hand with other communities.”

Indonesia for many years has chopped down its rainforests faster than any other country, profiting paper and palm oil conglomerates while causing social and environmental problems. Rapid forest loss and greenhouse gas emissions have made Indonesia the fourth biggest contributor to global warming after China, the US and India.

This isn’t Bastoni’s first backward walk. The father of four completed a 73-kilometer walk last year from East Java’s town of Tulungagung to the peak of Mount Wilis in a similar effort to raise awareness about deforestation.

Bastoni has attached a rearview mirror to his backpack that helps him avoid bumping into objects along his way. He walks at least 20 to 30 kilometers a day and sleeps in mosques or police stations along the way. In many cities and villages, cheering supporters offered him meals, drinks or a place to overnight.

He failed his target of reaching the capital a day before Indonesia’s Independence Day on August 17 due to a swollen leg that forced him to rest for a few days.

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