2,600 saplings planted at UPMKB’s Nirwana Forest Reserve

BINTULU (Aug 26): A total of 2,600 saplings of tropical rainforest tree and fruit tree species have been planted at Universiti Putra Malaysia Bintulu Sarawak Campus’s (UPMKB) forest reserve.

The forest reserve, known as the Nirwana Forest Reserve, conserves Borneo’s tree species such as ‘belian’, ‘engkabang jantung’, ‘kapur bukit’ and other exotic fruit trees.

UPMKB’s Dean of Faculty of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences Assoc Prof Dr Noorasamah Saupi said this is part of the university’s initiatives and contributions towards the Greening Malaysia programme.

The Malaysian government, through the programme, had initiated a campaign to plant 100 million trees in a period of five years, starting from 2021 to 2025.

According to Noorasamah, six tree-planting events had already been conducted over the past two years, involving collaborations between agencies such as Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB), Bintulu Development Authority, Bintulu Resident’s Office, and Department of Environment.

“This collaboration promotes resource sharing and sustainability,” she said, attributing much of the programme’s success to SEB’s funding.

The tree-planting events from 2023 to 2024, she said, were jointly coordinated by Wan Shahril Wan Abdul Kadir of SEB Bintulu Power Station and Assoc Prof Dr Geoffery James Gerusu of UPMKB.

Meanwhile, SEB Bintulu Power Station manager Cheling Sapong, at one of the tree-planting events, said SEB is committed to supporting green initiatives, in alignment with its ‘10-year Integrated Tree Planting, Protection and Habitat Restoration Campaign’, from 2021 to 2030.

He, thus, called on all stakeholders to continue contributing towards the environmental conservation efforts.