BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Over 1,000 tree seedlings planted at 42 schoolsBRUNEI fulfilled its commitment to support global efforts in preserving biodiversity and environment with the planting of 1,014 tree seedlings at 42 schools and four other selected locations throughout the nation yesterday as part of the Green Wave campaign.
Apart from the schools, the other areas where tree-planting was conducted were Luagan Lalak Forest Recreational Park in Belait where a total of 530 trees seedlings were planted, the Land Transport Driving, Evaluation and Licensing Facility in Sg Akar with 208 seedlings; the Gas Discovery Centre (OGDC) in Seria planted 100 seedlings and 60 in Brunei Cement Serasa.
Senior forestry officer at the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources (MIPR) Linda Ibrahim said: “The mass tree-planting shows our commitment to the world, for not only the government is involved in (planting the trees), but the community as well.”
She added, “With the planting of the trees we hope that students will be more involved and aware on the importance of biodiversity and environment and appreciate it more”.
Yesterday’s event marks the beginning of Brunei’s commitment in offsetting global tree loss in a series of mass planting of 60,000 tree seedlings this year, she said.
The Green Wave Initiative themed: “Biodiversity, Development and Poverty Alleviation” is jointly organised by the Forestry Department under the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources with HSBC.
The Green Wave campaign enables children and youth to make a difference, one school, one tree, one step at a time and through their involvement hopefully would raise awareness about biodiversity, and the need to reduce its loss all around the world. Commenting on the collaboration with HSBC, Linda said, “… HSBC is one of the private companies which is very active in environment. It’s aware that not only government should be taking part in looking after our environment but the private sector also has a role to play”.
HSBC Corporate Sustainability Manager Lim Boon Teck said that more individuals and private corporations should participate in the effort.
“We cannot do it alone. Initiative like this, we get our staff and students involved. We make it a joint effort for everyone,” he said.
Some 50 HSBC staff members joined in the tree planting at the Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Science College (MSPSBS), one of the schools participating in the Green Wave campaign, where 116 tree seedlings were planted.
According to Lim, tree planting is a tool for people to understand about the environment.
“Tree planting is not just an activity, it is a tool. Its objective is to get our staff, community and more people to understand more about the environment, biodiversity and the threat that we are facing now in terms of climate change. It will reach a wider audience based on the activities,” he said.
“In terms of education, we also depend on other people, like the media to provide the stories and lecturers, teachers to teach the students.
“It is to educate the public, so that we are more aware on how we use our resources and what are we doing to the environment in our daily lives and the impact that we have,” he said.
Lim assured that HSBC will support activities that come along in the future based on the merits. They will also certainly look into seriously getting the wider community involvement.
He related that “the Green Wave started out on a very small scale. The school requested for 66 trees, they wanted us to sponsor. The forestry officer told us about the Green Wave, and we made it a national event. This is a good achievement, we got all secondary schools in Brunei to be join the drive”.
“I have talked to more than 100 students today and hopefully to do the same at other schools, where there will be 100 students in each school. Altogether there are 42 schools, which means we have reached out to about 4,000 students. In that sense, it is a great achievement.”
“I think it is just trying to get more people involved, write the stories and tell the stories. Hopefully, Bruneians will be more aware of the green heritage that we have. When I show the map of Brunei (to students), you can actually see Brunei from space. It is something to be proud off,” he said.
Lim said that Brunei government has a good policy on conservation.
He said that the biggest unknown (threat) is climate change which can impact the forests, and in this aspect, the HSBC has sponsored a study at Kuala Belalong, Temburong, to better understand the impact of climate change on the environment and to come up with strategies to help tackle the issue.
Commenting on the clearance of land for development, Lim said “It was not so much of intent to destroy the land, but lack of knowledge on how our action can impact the environment ecosystem, ecotourism, that is why more education is needed.”
At exactly 10am yesterday,a total of 1,014 tree seedlings wer planted simultaneously to mark the International Biodiversity Day. The tree seedlings planted yesterday comprised Casuarina, Ru Ronang, Ru Laut, palm species, Tabibuea and Ubah.
