4.6 mln trees planted in S’wak since January under Green Malaysia Campaign
KUCHING: A total of 4.6 million trees of various types have been planted in Sarawak through the Green Malaysia Campaign that was launched in January.
State Forest Department director Datuk Hamden Mohammad said the campaign, which targets to plant 100 million trees nationwide by 2025, saw Sarawak pledging its commitment to plant 35 million trees during the period.
He said such tree-planting campaigns were not new for the state as it has been carrying out similar campaigns since 2019.
However, he said the scope and scale of Green Malaysia Campaign was far more extensive as it involved all Malaysians and did not focus on forest areas only.
“(The campaign) is broader, because it does not only involve forest areas but also cities, villages, schools and any areas that can be planted (with trees) to make Malaysia green.
“(Through the campaign) in five years we will plant 35 million trees, which is equivalent to seven million trees a year. This is a big challenge but we are confident because according to our records, we were able to plant 10.2 million trees in 2019,” he said to Bernama yesterday.
Hamden said the Sarawak Forestry Department also encouraged the participation of various parties, whether government or private agencies, in the programme.
He said they also planted various types of trees, including forest trees such as Meranti and Belian as well as fruit trees.
“We have also opened many nurseries throughout Sarawak, such as in Kuching, Lundu, Sibu and Miri. We will distribute the saplings to all Sarawakians for them to participate in the programme,” he said.