Created by a passionate environmentalist, Ibu Sri Lela Murniwati, or ibu Murni, this is one of the only mangrove conservation programs in Jakarta. Ibu Murni has gone far from the year 1997 when she acquired the permit to create a conservation forest. When she first acquired this 100 hectare plot of land, it was all a mangrove forest, but, it was all destroyed just after it was bought by her. Over the past 13 years, she has planted mangroves on over 50 hectares of the land. But, it was not only her employees. She encourages people to come participate and plant mangroves. Many times she has received many donations from the housing complexes around the forest, and yet, she refuses them all. She does not want money for she believes their will always be a way. What she does want, is people to come out to get on there hands and knees to plant mangrove seedlings in the chest high waters that the forest sits on. She believes that when people plant the trees themselves, they feel proud about the work they have done. They feel they have made a difference in the environment and that they will cherish this memory, and will try harder to preserve the environment. Visitors she cherishes the most, are little children. To her, these children are the future environmental conservationists. She recalls a time when a group of elementary students came to her forest with their parents to plant trees. They payed for 2 mangrove trees, but they ended up planting 30. When she questioned her staff they said that they "couldn't resist their sweet faces". She was touched by these children and how much they wanted to do for the environment. This is what she wanted people to do. Come to her forest, not under compulsion by company or school, but because they want to help the environment. And she would much rather have 100 people do this, than be donated money. She hopes that before she is "taken to heaven", she wants to change as much peoples hearts as possible.
