Iskandar Malaysia Social Hero Awards (IMSHA) winner, Ihsan Johor continues to plant more trees with the Johor Forestry Department (Jabatan Perhutanan Negeri Johor) in a bid to fight climate change issues. The Mangrove tree planting was carried out at the Sungai Pulai Ramsar Site, Johor in an effort to conserve and preserve the marine swamp forest ecosystem.
“We have continued our mandate by collaborating with the Johor Forestry Department, a joint programme organised by them. We believe this continued partnership, which is also in line with SDG goals, will eventually give great benefit to our ecosystem, ecotourism, and communities,” CEO of Ihsan Johor, Farrah Faridah Baptist said in a statement to The Iskandarian.
The South Johor District Forest Office carried out the tree-planting programme in an effort to meet the tree-planting ambition set forth by the Malaysia Greening Programme through the 100 Million Tree Planting Campaign. The programme coincided with International Mangrove Forest Ecosystem Conservation Day, which is observed annually on 26 July.
The largest mangrove forest in the state of Johor is located in the Sungai Pulai Nature Reserve (HS Sungai Pulai). Located in two districts, Johor Bahru in the east and Pontian in the west, these locations are at the mouth of Sungai Pulai.
The Johor State Forestry Department is in charge of managing it as a Permanent Forest Reserve. The Sustainable Forest Management (PHSB) system is used to manage this area.
On 24 October 1923, this land was gazette as a Permanent Forest Reserve and designated as a Production Forest, where logging operations have been conducted since 1928.
On 21 April 2004, the Johor State Government Council authorised this region as a RAMSAR site. It has a total size of 9,126 hectares, including the entirety of HS Sungai Pulai (8,353 ha) and a portion of the Government Land (773 hectares).
The Ramsar Convention, also known as “The Convention on Wetlands,” is an international environmental convention signed on February 2, 1971, in Ramsar, Iran, under the supervision of UNESCO. It designates certain wetland sites as being of worldwide importance. These sites are referred to as Ramsar sites.
Another goal of this programme is to protect and educate the public about the need of preserving and conserving the marine swamp forest ecosystem, especially coastal areas, in order to maintain the ecosystem’s function and contribution to the welfare of the global community.
The planting programme was also attended by the staff of the Silviculture and Protection Section of the Johor State Forestry Department as well as volunteers from Ihsan Johor.
“Let’s all maintain and protect the nation’s coastal and sea swamp forests as a result,” said Johor Forestry Department through its Facebook page.
