A 70 years old Indonesian man is working on building forestland. His name is Sadiman. He wants to make forests more green and dense. He has been planting banyan and ficus trees. These trees are very beneficial for the people living there. 25 years ago, Sadiman made a decision to save arid mountains. In the past, water sources have been dried up because of the mountain forest fires. Then he had an idea that if someone would not grow banyan trees here, the area would grow arid. The reason for growing banyan and ficus trees is that these trees store a lot of water. Since then he has planted more than 11,000 ficus and banyan trees. The forest spreads across more than 618 acres of land.
His aim is to increase water resources and ensure clean air. Forests are the lungs of the earth and it’s very important for humans to breathe clean air. It can also help to prevent natural disasters as roots of banyan trees are very long. The reforestation has caused spring to form and now local homes are provided with clean fresh water. Initially his work was not appreciated by village residents. People used to ridicule him for bringing banyan tree seeds to the village. It made people uneasy because people have belief that spirits live on banyan trees. Many people also believed that he was insane. He traded his goats for banyan tree seeds. Local community used to call him madman.
It is only because of him that clean water has been brought to several villages. Once, the farmers there were limited to single harvest in a year because of lack of rain. But the resilient efforts of Sadiman has ensured abundant water resources and now farmers are guaranteed to have two to three harvests in a year. Sadiman hopes that people there have a prosperous life, live happily in the world and stop burning forests.