Haidar plants sapling to officially launch the tree planting programme as Yakup(right) and other guests look on.

BINTULU (Sept 15): A total of 115 local and ornamental tree saplings consisting of four rare fruit species (durian, dabai, petai, kasai), one local forest species (engkabang) and one ornamental tree species (asoka) were planted during the tree planting programme themed ‘Nurturing Healthy Environment’ at Kelab Golf Bintulu on Wednesday.

The programme was organised by the Faculty of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, UPM Bintulu Campus (UPMKB) in collaboration with the Bintulu Development Authority (BDA), Bintulu Golf Club and the Department of Environment (DoE) Bintulu branch.

It was part of activities to mark BDA’s 45th anniversary and Sarawak’s 60th year of independence.

This greening programme was implemented in line with Sarawak government’s call to plant 35 million trees in support of Malaysia’s agenda in the 100 million tree planting campaign from 2021 to 2025.

This programme is one of the initiatives to mitigate climate change and help reduce the impact of the release of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the earth’s atmosphere.

Among other things, this programme also aims to promote continuous and sustainable carbon storage through tree planting activities, which is a ‘nature-based’ approach.

This greening sustainability programme is important for future generations to ensure that the Earth remains healthy, clean and safe to live in in the future.

Speaking at the launch of the programme, BDA general manager Datu Muhamad Yakup Kari said this tree planting activity is a necessity and not an option in order to face future challenges.

“This kind of programme is able to bring the community together to build a city that is safe to live in, where the quality of the environment is clean and healthy as we move towards a green sustainable city,” he said.

He pointed out it was also based on BDA’s 2024-2030 strategic plan, themed ‘Towards Low Carbon Industrial Hub by 2030’, in order to create a holistic and balanced future development.

He added that the programme could also foster closer ties between various government and private agencies to jointly reduce the impact of climate change.

The official launch ceremony was officiated by BDA deputy chairman Dato Haidar Khan Asghar Khan.