It is very important for us to know how Harapan Rainforest is regenerating. To do that we need to know what it is like now. I’ve been running the inventory teams that have just finished the first phase of that work, covering just over half of Harapan Rainforest. It was a marathon effort, with 374 plots measured, taking nearly a year with six teams of eight people involved full-time. In each plot they recorded information on soil type and topography, and measured every tree. When we measure the trees again in a few years time, we should be able to tell how quickly the forest is regenerating. It could also be used to calculate how much carbon is being stored. At the start of the survey, each team could finish one plot a day, but by the end could do two. I hope that they can maintain this level of productivity in the second phase of the inventory, starting shortly.