Straits Energy Resources Berhad had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Management Council Of Terengganu State Parks and the Setiu Land Office, for a multi-year reforestation project to restore degraded forest areas in the Setiu Wetlands State Park, one of the largest natural wetland in the East Coast region of Peninsular Malaysia.
Benua Hijau, a 51%-owned unit of Straits, will be focused on the development and execution of environmental and social sustainability initiatives.
As part of this reforestation project, Benua Hijau plans to plant 100,000 Pokok Gelam (melaleuca) trees across a land area of 200 acres, the equivalent of 113 soccer fields. The reforestation activities, which will take place over five years, will be focused on a designated area surrounding Tasik Berombak within Setiu Wetlands. Tasik Berombak is one of the largest freshwater lakes and Gelam ecosystems in Malaysia’s East Coast region.
Benua Hijau will coordinate activities across this designated area, including the physical planting of the trees and community engagement activities. Benua Hijau will also invest in the setting up of a dedicated nursery and research center to prepare Gelam saplings and study the Gelam ecosystem and value chain.
Spanning over 50,000 acres, the Setiu Wetlands is made up of forests lining riverbanks, freshwater Pokok Gelam swamps, peat swamps, mangroves, brackish water lagoons with vegetated sand islands, seagrass beds and sandy beaches. It is the only wetland in Malaysia with nine interconnected, biodiverse ecosystems – the sea, beach, mudflat, lagoon, estuary, river, islands, coastal forest and mangrove forest.
