OVER 200 trees have been planted in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, in two years under a community initiative aimed at restoring greenery and raising awareness about climate change.
Chandran Nair, founder and chief executive officer of Global Institute for Tomorrow, said the initiative involving Bangsar Park and its surrounding areas focused on planting trees in areas where old ones were removed.
“Urban temperatures have risen considerably in the last 40 years, by as much as 3° to 4°.
“In some areas, citizens are taking action encouraged by local MPs and authorities to beautify and green their areas.
“An obvious course of action is to plant trees where old trees were cut down due to age or disease and safety reasons,” he said in a statement to Bernama.
Among the species planted were African tulips, bunga tanjong, beruas, gelam, frangipani and coconut palms, sourced from Free Tree Society and Chandran’s own nursery in Jelebu, Negri Sembilan.
Each sapling is tagged with a bilingual message urging the public to “protect the plants and take care of Malaysia”.
Chandran said the initiative has drawn positive response from the public, and hoped it could serve as a model for other neighbourhoods and schools to instil civic responsibility and environmental stewardship in children from a young age.
Chandran added that while the authorities were aware of the community’s efforts, stronger measures could be taken to tighten rules on indiscriminate cutting and pruning of trees, and to ensure replanting was made mandatory.
“They should ensure that house owners understand that trees outside their homes are public assets and they have no right to cut or poison them,” he urged.
