Sarawak surpasses 35 mln tree planting target one year early, leading Malaysia’s environmental restoration efforts

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By Ashley Sim

KUCHING, Aug 27: Sarawak has achieved a major milestone in its environmental conservation efforts, having successfully planted 35 million trees—reaching its ambitious target a full year ahead of schedule.

Deputy Premier and Second Minister for Natural Resources and Urban Development, Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, stated that the Federal government had previously set a target of planting 100 million trees by 2025 through the Greening Malaysia Campaign.

“Sarawak has emerged as a leader in this endeavour through its own Greening Sarawak Campaign. We set our own, more aggressive goal to plant 35 million trees by 2025.

“I am proud to share that Sarawak achieved this goal one year earlier, this year.

“This achievement is a testament to our commitment to environmental stewardship, as well as the successful partnerships between the government, NGO (non-governmental organisation), and private sector. This achievement underscores Sarawak’s pivotal role in Malaysia’s broader green initiatives,” he said during his speech prior to the launch of the Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Forest Landscape Restoration 2024 held today at a local hotel here.

Awang Tengah, who is also Minister for International Trade, Industry, and Investment, represented Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg at the event.

The minister went on to say that to ensure the success of the restoration initiative, the Sarawak government mandated that all forest licence holders carry out restoration efforts within their designated areas, with a particular emphasis on degraded forests.

“I am confident that the forest landscape restoration programme in Sarawak will not only enhance the forest ecosystem by supporting the sustainability of its flora and fauna and universally improving the quality of life, but also create new employment opportunities and foster alternative economic sectors such as agroforestry, eco-tourism, and carbon trading,” he added.

Awang Tengah further emphasised that the Sarawak government is committed to Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) by implementing best practices in forest management.

“To ensure our forest operations adhere to international sustainability standards and minimise environmental impacts, Sarawak has made it mandatory for all our long-term forest timber licences to obtain forest management certification (FMC).

“To date, 26 Forest Management Units (FMU) and 8 Forest Plantation Management Units (FPMU), encompassing 2.38 million hectares and 122,800 hectares respectively, have been certified.”

The event was attended by various dignitaries and officials, including Deputy Minister for Urban Planning, Land Administration, and Environment, Datuk Len Talif Salleh, and Forest Department Sarawak (FDS) director Datu Hamden Mohammad.

The conference, organised by FDS in collaboration with the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO), runs from today until Aug 29. — DayakDaily

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