SHAFINAZ SUHAIMI joined Wild Asia's recent tree planting event in Johor to see how the Kulim oil palm estate is supporting our Natural Corridor Initiative.

Written by Intan Shafinaz on 4 Nov 2008 with 0 comments. Be the first!

Kulim (Malaysia) Berhad play host to Wild Asia's Plant-A-Tree Campaign and do their bit to nurture seedlings for the children of tomorrow.

"The environment is ours to protect and preserve", said Tuan Haji Ahamad Mohamad, Managing Director of Kulim (Malaysia) Berhad. He was addressing the 150 attendees who sacrificed their Saturday on October 18, 2008 to participate in a tree-planting event held in conjunction with the Malaysian Environment Week.

Jointly organised by Wild Asia and Kulim's Quality Assurance and Sustainability Department, the tree- planting event was held at Labis Bharu oil palm estate in Johor, the southern-most state of Peninsular Malaysia. This is the first time Kulim has worked with Wild Asia on the Natural Corridor Initiative (NCI), which aims to link natural areas within modified landscapes through the creation of corridors, thereby increasing functional space for wildlife to co-exist.

For oil palm plantations especially, natural corridors and buffer zones along the rivers and streams improve the health of the river ecosystem by regulating water flow, lessening sedimentation and stabilising stream banks.

Wild Asia chooses to work with private landowners, especially planters, on the NCI as the commitment of the landowner (not to mention their green fingers) would ensure that the young trees are tended to and monitored over a period of time, up to and until the time the trees are matured enough to fend for themselves.

A member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) since August 2004, Kulim sees the RSPO Principles and Criteria (P&C) on the production of sustainable palm oil as an integral part of its business philosophy and a means to bring about positive change to the entire 75,635 hectares of oil palm plantations it operates in Malaysia (35,220 hectares), Solomon Islands (6,101 hectares) and Papua New Guinea (34,314 hectares). With total commitment from the board, sufficient resources have been granted to ensure that the necessary expertise is sought to execute programmes which will carry the Group beyond RSPO compliance.

Top management support for the Group's efforts in environmental-related initiatives was evident on that day of the tree-planting event. The Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer, Directors, General Managers and Regional Coordinators were all present to share their green vision and ambitions with relevant local stakeholders (i.e. nearby schools and villages, suppliers and contractors).

"This should not be the only tree-planting event as we believe these activities not only benefit the environment, but will strengthen our ties with local stakeholders, most of whom are present today", said Tuan Haji Ahamad Mohamad. Standing testament to the Group's commitment to sustainability, awareness programmes have been carried out with operational and support managers, suppliers, traders and contractors to ensure that Kulim's corporate goals and objectives are effectively communicated and well-understood.

Consultants have been engaged to assist with habitat and biodiversity assessment in Kulim's existing oil palm plantations and plans extending over the next 3 years have been drawn up to promote, protect and rehabilitate the areas identified. Extensive mapping and data collection activities are also underway to physically place the estates within the context of the wider environment and landscape.

Dr. Reza Azmi, Founder and Director of Wild Asia, stressed that it is essential to create more natural corridors because "we simply do not have enough natural lands". The idea is not to plant the entire stretch of the river, but instead to establish seed banks at strategic sites along the waterways and in natural areas within the estate for more sustained propagation of indigenous trees

Where the NCI is concerned, Kulim has identified suitable areas to plant native jungle or riverine trees and will therefore continue to play host to trees contributed by donors through Wild Asia's 'Plant-A-Tree' campaign (see www.wildasia.org).

Mr Low Kai Chuan was one such donor who has personally given 45 trees to the cause.

"I had wanted to do something for the environment, so I went online to do a quick search and I found two sites that struck my interest - one was the United Nation's 'The Billion Tree' Campaign and the other was Wild Asia's 'Plant -A-Tree'. Since I wanted something more localised and closer to home, we opted for Wild Asia's tree campaign", he explained.

Close to home indeed, since Mr Low comes from Ulu Tiram in Johor, Malaysia, exactly where Kulim's head office is located.

Further away from the location, the other generous tree donors were students from The Castle Secondary School, South Gloucestershire, United Kingdom (UK), who contributed 176 trees via Wild Asia's online tree campaign.

"A great deal is happening on issues of sustainability over here in the UK at the moment. The government has just committed to 80% carbon dioxide cuts by 2050", stated Mr Andrew Grant, Senior Teacher with The Castle Secondary School.

The Castle School will be hosting an important national conference on Sustainability for the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and will therefore be using that avenue to introduce and promote Wild Asia's tree campaign, amongst other things.

The Natural Corridor Initiative forms part of Wild Asia's Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI), which aims to promote better management practices in agriculture, by minimising adverse impacts on the environment, ensuring that local communities are engaged and local cultures respected, as well as, protecting native biodiversity.

The SAI has now stepped up a notch as Wild Asia teams up with Proforest this year, the latter being key consultant to the RSPO based in Oxford, UK, to offer a Stepwise Support Program (SSP). From training workshops to field assessments, the Programme combines Wild Asia's field experience in RSPO implementation with Proforest's vast experience in the development of policies, sustainability standards and their technical knowledge in natural resources to guide and assist plantation companies in understanding RSPO and the complexities it presents, hence better preparing the plantations for certification.

At Labis Bharu Estate, the end of the half-day tree-planting event made a mark in the great journey Kulim has embarked on in its pursuit of true sustainability.