100 Million Tree Planting Campaign covers area of up to 80,000 hectares

KUALA LUMPUR: The 100 million Tree Planting Campaign to be carried out under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) will cover area of ​​20,000 to 80,000 hectares nationwide.

The campaign, led by the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources with the cooperation of the Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia (JPSM), will involve the planting of about 20 million trees a year from 2021 to 2025.

JPSM director-general Datuk Mohd Ridza Awang said the trees will also be planted along the coastline, swamp and peat soil areas.

We will also focus in areas that have been illegally cleared, degraded forest, forest with not many trees that grow naturally, as well as forest areas formerly used for logging activities, he said, adding that among the types of trees that will be planted are Merbau , meranti tembaga, merawan siput jantan and other rare species.

He said an allocation of RM20 million has been set aside for the campaign, which will be used to prepare the seedlings, planting, treatment and maintenance of the trees, as well as upgrading the nursery and research and development (R&D) activities.

Implementation of the campaign is not limited to the department only, as the government also encourages the public to also plant trees to achieve the target.

"The public, including the private sector and non-governmental organisations, can take the initiative by planting all types of woody plants that have roots, stems, branches and leaves," he said.

Monitoring of the campaign, themed "Greening Malaysia: Our Tree, Our Life" will be done using the Greening Malaysia application which can be uploaded through the mobile phone application and accessed through the website www.100jutapokok.gov.my.

Both the mobile application and the website, which can be accessed by all ministries, departments and the public, serve as counters that will record the number of trees that have been planted during the campaign.

“So, any member of the public who plant any type of woody trees, whether it is a landscape or agricultural tree, can report having planted the trees to be recorded,” said Mohd Ridza.

He said the campaign was implemented to reflect Malaysia’s commitment made during the 1992 Rio De Janeiro Earth Summit to maintain at least 50 percent of the country as a forest area.

As of 2019, 55.3 percent or 18.27 million hectares of the land area in Malaysia are covered by forests, with 4.81 million hectares in Peninsular Malaysia gazetted as Permanent Forest Reserve under the National Forestry Act 1984.

Mohd Ridza said the campaign is also part of efforts to address the phenomenon of climate change at the global level.

"Scientists identify forests as an important element in addressing the climate change because the process of photosynthesis that absorbs carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can reduce the greenhouse effect," he added.

Since the campaign was launched in 2010, a total of 72,167,890 trees have been planted in areas covering 90,000 hectares nationwide.

"JPSM hopes that all quarters, including non-governmental organisations, individuals and all Malaysians will participate to ensure success of this campaign and to achieve the target of planting 100 million trees, while at the same time, helping to improve the country's ecosystem and biodiversity," he added.

--BERNAMA