REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BADUNG - Captain of Real Madrid, Christiano Ronaldo, is appointed as an ambassador for mangrove conservation in Indonesia.

"Ronaldo started to fall in love with mangrove since he knew Martunis, a boy who survived from the tsunami in Aceh in 2004," Minister of Forestry Zulkifli Hasan said on Wednesday. 

Martunis survived the disaster because he held on a mangrove tree, after he was floating in the sea for over 19 days. At that time, Martunis was wearing football uniform of the Spanish FC.

The arrival of Real Madrid's star planted mangroves trees along with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and minister Hasan. Ronaldo arrived in Bali with private jet on Tuesday night. In a brief speech, Ronaldo said the offer to become a mangrove ambassador really drew his attention.

"I hope this event in Bali will help to improve mangrove forrest in Indonesia," Ronaldo said.

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