'Be a tiger' – a woman's fight to turn barren land into lush forest in Indonesia

Sprung from an idea her husband had, followed by years of hard work, a plot of land in Indonesia with conditions so poor it could not support plant growth gradually expanded, flourished and was restored to a bountiful state.

While doing this and facing what she said were threats from land brokers, Madam Rosita, who goes by one name, also saw the work as building a treasure for future children, or else they "won't even know what a tree is" due to deforestation and urbanisation.  

The 63-year-old, who used to run a tyre shop, said that her husband, who worked in the oil industry, wanted to "create a forest" as his retirement goal and they decided to do this in their hometown of Bogor, south of Jakarta in West Java. 

More than two decades ago, they made their first step towards this dream by planting a handful of trees on a plot of land they bought, hoping to produce a mini forest eventually. 

It was not as easy as it sounds. Mdm Rosita has been dubbed a "half-crazy woman" due to her fierce resolve to achieve her goal.

Since then, she has acquired nearly 30 hectares of land and planted 44,000 trees, creating what is now known as the "Organic Forest" in the area.