The Indonesian government, which has gotten bad press for the country’s rapid deforestation, rolled out a variety of tree-planting initiatives as it played host to the 190-nation climate summit held in Bali in early December. You know, predictable stuff: a nationwide effort to plant 79 million trees in one day, complete with a photo op for the president. A similar effort aimed specifically at women, with a photo op for the first lady. A district-wide marriage fee of five trees per couple.
This idea–implemented in the Sragen region of Java–makes a certain amount of sense, what with married people more likely to reproduce and increase their environmental impact. The 25-tree fee for divorced couples, on the other hand, is a bit of a head-scratcher.
(Thanks, Gristmill.)