Sarawak are Inaugural Champions - Sime Darby Plantation

Green LivingKehidupan HijauLearning AboutMangrove ReplantingTn. Hj. Khairudin speaking to the Brigade members and the villagers.Tuan Haji Khairudin berbicara dengan para anggota Brigade dan penduduk desaTn. Hj. Abu Safian showing Brigade members the first step in preparing mangroveseedling for replanting.Tuan Haji Abu Safian memberikan petunjuk kepada para anggota Brigade tentang langkahpertama mempersiapkan pembenihan bakau untuk penanaman kembali.Mangrove replanting was thetopic for Mangrove Brigade’slast class that wasappropriately held by the beachadjacent to the Bangkong Division ofWest Estate, Carey Island where theexisting mangrove replanting projectis located.Held on August 12, 2009, the finalclass was not only attended by theBrigade members and theaccompanying teachers but it alsosaw the presence of R&D Head, Tn.Hj. Khairudin Hashim and the OrangAsli villagers from Kampung SungaiJudah, Carey Island headed by itschief Tok Batin Ata Anak Ya.That day, Tn. Hj. Abu Safian MohdTamin from Datar Raya Sdn Bhd, thecontractor in-charge of the mangrovereplanting project, was on site toshow the children and the villagersthe replanting process, which is morecomplicated than planting normaltrees.Mangrove trees, being a semi-aquaticplant, need some kind of foundationsupport in order for them to survivethe constant flooding of the replantingground and the strong tide that canwash away the mangrove seedlings.For that reason, mangrove seedlingsare not planted directly on the groundbut pre-planted in a log made fromcoconut husks. The log, known as coirlog, measuring about two meters longwill act as the base for the seedling togrow. Each log will be able toaccommodate a maximum of fiveseedlings to enable them to growcomfortably. To prevent the logs frombeing swept away by strong tide,each log is tide to woods that areplanted rather deep into the ground.Tn. Hj. Khairudin, in his speech priorto the replanting demonstration,thanked villagers for coming to showtheir support to the project. He saideven if the villagers were not directlyinvolved in the replanting it wascomforting to note that they knewabout the project that is beingimplemented by the sea shore.“We would be very grateful if all ofyou would help us by telling yourfriends and family members whocome to this place not to pull out theseedlings but to protect them so theycan grow to be big and ultimatelygreen this area once again,” he said.He also hoped that the children woulduse the knowledge they gained duringthe monthly Mangrove Brigadeclasses to educate their friends whodid not have the opportunity tobecome members in the first batch.The children and the villagers werelater briefed on the importance ofmangrove ecosystem to environmentand the community by Cik Nur ArinaMuhd Affandi, a Masters student inEnvironmental Science from UniversitiMalaya who is currently doing herresearch on mangrove ecology.Mangrove Brigade 2009 isparticipated by 40 students from SMKPulau Carey and the SK (Tamil) PulauCarey Barat.The beach near West Estate has beenthe site for R&D Centre and UniversitiMalaya’s mangrove replanting trialplot, where a stretch of 75 meterslong near the bund has beenreplanted with mangrove seedlingssince May 2009. The survival rate ofthe seedlings to date is veryencouraging.42. Seedlink July - October, 2009