AEON goes green at new Kuching mall
KUCHING: AEON Co (M) Bhd has symbolically ‘planted their roots’ here by giving 50 saplings and 450 plants a new home on the ground of its first mall in the city.
The retail group’s ‘Hometown Forest Programme’ is a treeplanting tradition that aims to preserve and protect the environment, as well as the surrounding ecosystem.
This initiative is part of AEON Co’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes conducted with the local community prior to the opening of any mall.
The area outside of AEON Mall Kuching Central was busy yesterday with stakeholders, members of the local community and school-children planting the trees.
Acting Forest Department Sarawak (FDS) director Hamden Mohammad said that he was pleased to learn that AEON had planted over 500,000 trees in Malaysia alone over the last 27 years.
“The Sarawak Government is committed to ensuring forest resources are sustainably managed to meet the demands of the present and future generations,” he said at the event yesterday.
In a text of speech read by his senior assistant director Wong Siong Kuan, Hamden said the department wanted to ensure the perpetuity of forest resources for environmental protection, as well as social economy of the communities in Sarawak.
“Sarawak has embarked on forest plantation projects to rehabilitate the degraded forested areas and ensure the sustainability of its timber as well as to relieve the pressure of timber supply from natural forests,” Hamden said, adding that the KTS Group – under its managing director Dato Henry Lau – is one of the groups actively involved in tree planting.
According to him, urban forestry also plays a role in improving urban habitats and quality of life, bringing environmental enhancement, control of air and noise pollution, and micro-climatic modifications.
“The FDS has been collaborating with nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), schools, corporate bodies and agencies both locally and internationally in reforestation projects and tree planting programmes.”
This collaboration has involved more than 430,000 trees planted over an area of 1,070 hectares in Kubah National Park, Sampadi Forest Reserve (FR), Balai Ringin Permanent Forest, Gunung Apeng FR and Sabal FR.
FDS also collaborates with those from the corporate sector, as well as local and international NGOs to plant ‘bakau’ (mangrove) at Kuching Wetlands National Park.
To date, more than 25,000 mangrove saplings have been planted.
FDS have also planted over 680,000 trees along selected coastal areas to protect the state’s coastal line from erosion and also to act as a barrier in the event of a tsunami.
“We always encourage and welcome any government agency, corporate body and NGO in tree planting programmes,” said Hamden.
Meanwhile, AEON Co managing director Shinobu Washizawa said tree planting has long been AEON’s commitment towards helping to preserving nature by continuously creating a more natural and pleasant environment for future generations.
“The initiative to go green gives us the opportunity to spread the message of ecological sustenance while creating a genuine working relationship with the residents within the vicinity of our first AEON Mall in Kuching.”
The planting commenced after a briefing by Dr Ang Lai Hoe from the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM).
The Malaysian AEON Foundation also donated RM5,000 worth of books to two schools – SK Tembawang in Bau and SJK Chung Hua Batu 7 – as tokens of appreciation to the students who took part in the tree-planting.
The event also hosted CLD Commercial Sdn Bhd director Stephen Lau, as well as AEON Mall general managers Joanne Liew and Audrey Lim.