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INTERNATIONAL airline Cathay Pacific will plant 3,000 mangrove trees in Indonesia, as part of its plan to plant 20,000 mangrove trees in Southeast Asia, through its “1 Ticket 1 Tree” promotion.
“This activity is part of Cathay Pacific’s commitment to plant one tree for every purchase of one flight ticket in the Southeast Asia region during the ‘1 Ticket, 1 Tree’ campaign period,” Cathay Pacific’s head of Indonesia Matthew Choi said in a press release on Monday.
Cathay Pacific has planted 600 mangrove trees in Indonesia in 2021, as part of its “Join For Trees” campaign. The project was then expanded to cover the whole of Southeast Asia in 2022, with Cathay Pacific committing to plant a tree for every ticket purchase made in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore.
This year, around 30 volunteers comprising Cathay Pacific employees, sales agents and Sebumi volunteers gathered at Taman Wisata Alam, Pantai Indah Kapuk, to kick off the planting of 3,000 mangrove trees in Jakarta Bay from the “1 Ticket 1 Tree” campaign.
“We are excited to continue our mangrove tree planting in Indonesia to support local communities, restore local habitats, and drive climate resilience. We hope this effort will spark more conversations about sustainability and inspire more people to come together to do their part for the environment,” Matthew said.
In the mangrove restoration process, Cathay Pacific collaborated with local organization Sebumi. Over four years, Sebumi helped protect 8,273 hectares of conservation area, planted 1,057 mangroves and 590 corals, offset 1,089 tons of carbon, educated more than 20,000 people in cities and villages, and developed seven communities around conservation areas spread across Indonesia.
“Sebumi appreciates Cathay Pacific’s planting of 3000 mangroves in Jakarta Bay as a tangible form of the aviation industry in an effort to help local communities build climate resilience. Sebumi hopes that this 1 ticket 1 tree initiative can also increase travelers’ awareness to make more responsible travel choices that have a positive impact on the earth,” said Sebumi founder Iben Yuzenho.
Sebumi is also of the view that the activity is important for the empowerment of local communities through the utilization of mangrove forest areas as sustainable tourism destinations and sources of local product development with economic value. The restoration of mangrove forests will simultaneously encourage communities to be actively involved in mangrove conservation around their place of residence so that it will support the achievement of climate resilience, both at the local and global levels.
Mangrove forests play an important role in the environment, both in terms of ecology where mangrove forests are important as marine animal habitats, shoreline protection, as well as carbon dioxide absorbers and oxygen producers. Many people and communities depend on mangrove ecosystems for their food, protection and income. [antaranews/photo special]
