Medi Bastoni walks 20 to 30 kilometres backwards every day under the scorching sun, with a rear-view mirror attached to his backpack to avoid bumping into objects (AFP Photo/Medi BASTONI) |
Jakarta (AFP) - An Indonesian man is walking 700 kilometres (435 miles) from his home on a volcano in East Java to Jakarta in the hope of drawing attention to the archipelago's quickly shrinking forests -- and he is doing it backwards.
Medi
Bastoni, a 43-year-old father of four, set out on his arduous, in-reverse
journey in mid-July, with the goal of reaching the capital by August 16, a day
before the Southeast Asian nation's independence day anniversary.
"Of
course I'm exhausted, but I'm willing to do this to fight for the next
generation," Bastoni told AFP.
"(My
home) is losing all of its trees so I have to do something. I can take the pain
and fatigue."
When he arrives, Bastoni said he hopes to meet with president Joko Widodo and highlight deforestation across the archipelago including at his home on Mt. Wilis, a dormant volcano.
Walking
backwards is a siganl to Indonesians to reflect on the past and remember
how
national heroes fought for the good of the country (AFP Photo/Medi BASTONI)
|
When he arrives, Bastoni said he hopes to meet with president Joko Widodo and highlight deforestation across the archipelago including at his home on Mt. Wilis, a dormant volcano.
Indonesia
suffers from one of the high rates of deforestation in the world, according to
Greenpeace.
Bastoni
walks 20 to 30 kilometres backwards every day under the scorching sun, with a
rear-view mirror attached to his backpack to avoid bumping into objects.
Along the
way, supporters cheer him on, offer him meals or a place to stay overnight. But
Bastoni always leaves at dawn to stay on schedule.
Walking
backwards is meant as a siganl to Indonesians to reflect on the past and
remember how national heroes fought for the good of the country, he said.
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