One of the many trees DBKL plans to grow in the city is the ‘tabebuia pentaphylla’.
KUALA Lumpur residents will soon be seeing more flowering plants and trees of varying sizes and colours in the city centre.
Some of the plants selected are from the amherstia nobilis species, also known as the Pride of Burma.
The tree is renowned for its bright red flowers.
Another choice species is the brownea grandiceps or rose of Venezuela, which produces red and purple flowers.
Also on the list is tabebuia pentaphylla, a fast-growing semi-deciduous tree for cooler areas with glossy green leaves and clusters of pink flowers.
Other flowering plants Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) will be planting are frangipani, flame trees, the Pride of India and cassia fistula trees also known as golden showers.
Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Mahadi Che Ngah pledged to plant more of these types of trees in line with the city’s policy to reduce its carbon footprint.
“We will be planting more trees and flowering plants this time around as they are not just pretty to look at, but environmentally friendly to insects like butterflies, ” he said.
He reiterated DBKL’s commitment to tackling climate change and pushing for Kuala Lumpur to become a low-carbon city.
He established a task force last year to work towards achieving the goals of Kuala Lumpur Low-Carbon Society Blueprint 2030.
He also said that he fully supported the government’s campaign to plant 100 million trees between 2020 and 2025.
“We fully support that initiative as it is in line with our goals.
StarMetro’s report on Jan 11.
“And since we launched our low-carbon blueprint three years ago, we have managed to reduce carbon emissions in the city by 54%.
“We hope to hit the targeted 70% by 2030, ’’ he added.
On Jan 5, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin kicked off the national tree-planting campaign by planting a merbau tree in the grounds of Seri Perdana.
The campaign, under the Forestry Department, will see an estimated increase of 20,000 to 80,000 trees in preserved forest areas by 2025.
“We welcome the government’s move to plant more trees to address climate change and to improve the quality of life in Malaysia.
“This is good news for everyone, it shows the government’s changing relationship with its natural environment and its efforts to ensure that Mother Nature can thrive while urban development continues in cities like Kuala Lumpur, ” said Mahadi.
He said part of the plans to reduce the city’s carbon emissions was planting more trees in the city.
“We recently replanted thousands of trees all over the city to replace old ones, and our next plan is to plant more flowering plants and trees, ” he elaborated.
Mahadi said DBKL’s Landscape and Recreational Development Department had started planting flowering trees and shrubs in more than 100 locations in the city, including along highways and main roads.
Some of the roads planted with flowering plants are Jalan Istana, the KL-Seremban Highway, Jalan Dewan Bahasa, Jalan Kuching, Jalan Ampang, Jalan Alam Damai, Jalan Syed Putra, Jalan Segambut, Jalan Kepong, Jalan Sentul, Jalan Pudu and Jalan Kelang Lama.
On Monday, StarMetro reported that environmentalists urged DBKL to plant more flowering plants and trees to increase insect numbers in the city.
They said rapid development had gravely impacted the insects, especially the butterfly population in Kuala Lumpur.
With butterflies threatened by habitat loss because of development, fumigation, sanitation, pesticide and climate change, researchers say that the city can help improve the situation by planting more trees and creating more urban gardens as well as green spaces to help restore the balance.
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