NGOs find green solution to KK's fig tree problem

Photo by Shavez Cheema

KOTA KINABALU: Fig trees are sprouting out of control in abandoned and older buildings around the city.

Environmentalists and conservationists are taking a green approach to the problem, instead of just destroying the fruit-bearing plants.

NGO 1StopBorneo Wildlife founder Shavez Cheema said on Wednesday (July 10) that several NGOs have been taking these fig trees from around buildings and replanting them in wildlife sanctuaries or habitats.

Shavez said they approached Kota Kinabalu OCPD Asst Comm Kasim Muda and pitched the idea to him, seeing that many of these plants were growing at the Karamunsing police station and workers' quarters in the city.

He said fig trees are food sources for various types of wildlife, and are not merely weeds or useless overgrowth.

Fig trees grow naturally all over the state and the seeds that germinated in Kota Kinabalu were most likely dispersed by the starlings, pigeons and other birds, he added.

“For some building engineers, it is a big headache when these trees grow as they can damage the structure.

“During the fig removal and collecting process, we managed to get around 400 to 500 trees from various species such as Ficus tinctoria, Ficus microcarpa, Ficus benjamina and Ficus drupacea, just from the Karamunsing station and quarters alone,” he said.

Shavez said these trees will be replanted at degraded sites in Tawau, Kota Belud and Telupid.

He is confident that if done properly, the replanting would benefit many wildlife species such as deer, gibbons and orang utan as well as birds once they mature and bear fruit.

The next stage of the plan is to work with City Hall officials to collect more trees for replanting.

“We can utilise these plants here, too, and turn Kota Kinabalu into a green and beautiful city. But that is another idea for another day," Shavez said.