Tropical rainforests are often referred to as the “lungs of the earth” as they contribute 40 per cent of the world’s oxygen. In Indonesia, Kalimantan is home to the country’s largest rainforest. Internationally acclaimed jewellery designer and philanthropist, Delia von Rueti has drawn attention to the need to conserve the country’s vital rainforest area by donating 2,500 hectares of private land in Muara Teweh, Central Kalimantan for conservation.
The area was once agricultural land, but since 2016, has been part of preserved land and home to various species of plants. Delia welcomes visitors to engage in environmentally-friendly activities, which help provide income for the local community. She has also provided financial compensation to small farmers who operated on the land without papers or permission.
Delia, noticing that several forest area were sold for agricultural purposes, bought the land and prohibited clearing activities as she wanted it to be preserved for the next generation.
Delia also initiated “Love and O2”, a movement that works toward the preservation of nature and the environment in a sustainable manner. Through the campaign, Delia hopes people will pay closer attention to the planet and help preserve one of the world’s greatest sources of oxygen.
The movement involved several campaigns and programmes such as “Road to Love” and O2 Awareness Party “Love & Sport” during car free day on 27 November 2016, followed by a “Photo Exhibition Love and O2”. Delia also designed T-shirts and launched a programme, “One T-shirt for One Tree.” One can buy the T-shirts at Plaza Indonesia and through its website. The proceeds from the sales are allocated to helping in the planting of trees and towards the maintenance of the Tropical Rain Forest Park.
Delia, who lives in Bali with her family, is also focused on environmental issues there. She created healthy snack products such as bio coconut chips and granola made by people in the village of Munduk Catu in Tabanan.
Her daughter, Kayla von Rueti, has followed in her mother’s footsteps. She has been involved in preserving the environment and encouraging people to live healthy lives. During Valentine’s Day at FoodHall supermarket at Plaza Indonesia, Kayla held a press gathering with the theme “Lovetacular, Love and O2” hoping to convey her message of treating the earth gently by consuming healthy and environmentally-friendly local food.
“We always think about making something that can people in their daily lives. I saw that Indonesians really enjoy snacking, everywhere, and I also saw that in Bali, where I live now, there are many coconut trees and people don’t know how to use all of the fruit. In other tropical countries people make coconut chips, so I thought about making it a healthy snack in addition to helping mothers in the villages have a source of income,” Kayla said.
Currently, there are three products: Sweet Coconut Chips, Spicy Coconut Chips and Granola. The coconut chips are made from organic ingredients; natural coconuts with sea salt, cane sugar and lemon juice, while the granola consists of oats, raw honey, cashews, raisins, chia seeds, vanilla, almonds, pineapples, cranberries, goji berries, pumpkin seeds, sea salt, coconut sugar, and cinnamon powder. As much as 15 per cent of each sale will be donated to the forest conservation program. People can find these products in Plaza Indonesia’s FoodHall. Kayla hopes to expand distribution at various stores in Jakarta.
Kayla, who has always been interested in cosmetics, said Love and O2 is in the process of making cosmetics with completely natural ingredients that don’t have an adverse affect on the environment. The idea came to her when she saw a lot of cosmetics in Bali that said only natural ingredients were used, but it’s all completely natural.
" We have to always make sure that our products are made locally and use ingredients from Indonesia or if needed, from other Asian countries.The cosmetics will also have biodegradable packaging so that it will be 100 per cent natural and won’t produce waste,” she noted.
Love and O2 continues to explore local ingredients and products made by local people in Indonesia.
