From Seeds to Forests: Why Good Restoration Begins at the Nursery

Before rehabilitation begins, one simple question arises: where do suitable seedlings come from?

Behind the seedlings, there are nurseries that nurture them long before they take root. Within Korea–Indonesia forestry cooperation, one initiative supporting seedling production was the Rumpin Seed Source and Nursery Center (RSSNC) in Rumpin, Bogor.

RSSNC was initially developed in 2005 through cooperation between the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Directorate General of Land Rehabilitation and Social Forestry of Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry. From 2011 to 2020, the Korea Forest Service (KFS), through the Korea–Indonesia Forest Cooperation Center (KIFC), continued supporting RSSNC’s operations under the broader bilateral forestry partnership.

RSSNC supported high-quality seed and seedling production alongside research, technology development, capacity building, and knowledge exchange. Producing good planting material requires more than quantity: seedlings must be properly selected, propagated, raised, and prepared before planting. Its facilities included propagation houses, seed and tissue-culture laboratories, nursery areas, and experimental forests. Tissue culture produces new plants from small pieces of plant tissue under sterile laboratory conditions, while propagation houses provide controlled spaces for raising young plants before they move to larger nursery areas or the field.

Records from 2018 show that RSSNC produced more than 50,000 seedlings through generative propagation from seed and more than 10,000 through vegetative propagation. Seedlings were distributed to farmer groups, communities, government institutions, NGOs, and other users. Following the project’s completion in 2020, seedling production continued through Watershed Management Agency or BPDAS (Balai Pengelolaan Daerah Aliran Sungai) Citarum Ciliwung under the Ministry of Forestry. A 2025 field report records a maximum capacity of up to 12 million seedlings at RSSNC, with production figures reaching around 3 million seedlings in an earlier period and around 300,000 seedlings in 2025.

Seedling development in Rumpin also expanded beyond RSSNC. In 2021, the nearby Rumpin Modern Nursery was established through cooperation involving the then Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF), the Ministry of Public Works and Housing (PUPR), and APRIL Group. Covering 8.8 hectares, it includes germination, acclimatization, production, and open-growth areas, with the facilities since handed over to the Ministry of Forestry.

Looking back at RSSNC highlights a part of restoration that is often less visible than planting itself. The journey from degraded land back to a functioning landscape can begin much earlier—in seed selection, propagation, nursery care, and preparing seedlings before they ever reach the field.