Abang Johari cutting a bunch of balloons to symbolically launch the Le Tour de Restoration (Greening Sarawak Campaign) at the State Legislative Assembly building yesterday.
KUCHING (Oct 1): Sarawak will use the ‘Seed Ball’ approach to further strengthen tree replanting or forest restoration in the state, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
This initiative by the Sarawak Forest Department (SFD) would use drone technology to sow or drop seedlings in targeted areas, which is seen as very appropriate to facilitate tree planting activities in areas that are difficult to enter such as hilly areas.
“We congratulate the SFD on this because it is an innovation to strengthen the forest restoration programme in Sarawak,” he said at a press conference after officiating the Le Tour de Restoration (Greening Sarawak Campaign) launching ceremony here held at the State Legislative Assembly building yesterday.
He said each seed ball coated with tree seeds can reach a sprouting rate of up to 90 per cent after seven to 14 days of sowing and the cost of preparing the seed ball is cheaper compared to other methods.
In addition, he said SFD will also hold a smart collaboration with Universiti Putra Malaysia Bintulu Campus to create a forestry research hub in Sarawak.
He said all the efforts were in line with the state’s 2030 Post Covid-19 Development Strategy which also emphasised forestry sustainability by replanting trees in degraded forests.
Commenting further on the state’s Forest Restoration Programme, he said the state government had raised it as the main agenda to green Sarawak.
“In the 12th Malaysia Plan, the state government has allocated RM62 million to the Sarawak Forest Department to implement restoration programmes throughout the state.
“This year a total of RM10 million has been channelled to this department. Meanwhile, the federal government through the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources has also channelled an allocation of RM10.37 million,” he said.
Of that, he added, RM4 million would be for the Malaysian Greening programme through the Planting Campaign of 100 million trees and RM6.37 million for the mangrove planting programme and the state’s forest restoration programme through Social Forestry to FSD to implement the activities planned this year.
Commenting on the Malaysia Greening Programme Campaign, Abang Johari said the state government through SFD had targeted to plant 35 million trees during a period of five years from 2021 to 2025.
He said Sarawak was confident of achieving the planting target because by 2020, the state had managed to plant more than 10 million trees.
“Meanwhile, for 2021 until September 30, a total of 6.78 million trees have been planted throughout Sarawak,” he added.
Also present during the launching ceremony were Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, Assistant Minister of Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment Datu Len Talif Salleh, Sarawak Federal Secretary Datuk Amir Omar, Deputy State Secretary Dato Sri Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki, SFD director Datu Hamden Mohammad and other officials.
from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3m7hVF6
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