Volunteers planting 3,900 varieties of trees and shrubs in Bidor, Perak.
AEON Co (M) Bhd has completed the final phase of the Malaysia-Japan Friendship Forest project in Bidor, Perak.
The three-phase reforestation programme began in 2014 with the aim to plant 30,000 trees by 2024.
The 10-year project will be handed over to the government in September next year.
Aeon initiated this project to contribute to the Forest Research Institute Malaysia’s (FRIM) continuous effort to rehabilitate the former mining area in line with the company’s principles of ‘Peace, People and Community’.
In the first phase, Aeon planted 8,000 trees.
The second phase five years later saw an additional 10,000 trees planted.
In the final phase this year, Aeon planted the remaining 12,000 trees with help from FRIM.
The latest planting session which also marks Aeon’s 39th anniversary saw 3,900 varieties of trees and shrubs including saga, pulai, keriung, ara meranti and damar hitam planted at FRIM Research Station in Bidor.
Perak science, environment and green technology committee chairman Teh Kok Lim graced the event. Also present were Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry deputy secretary-general Abdul Wahid Abu Salim, Aeon managing director Keiji Ono, FRIM director-general Dr Ismail Parlan, and Perak housing and local government committee chairman Sandrea Ng Shy Ching.
Ono said in a statement that this initiative aimed to give back to future generations.
“We wish to rehabilitate the site with a variety of species that can also serve as an educational resource for the local community,” he said.
Volunteers consisting of Aeon staff, business partners and the local community as well as government agencies took part in the reforestation effort. They were joined by 80 students from Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI).
The programme is in line with Aeon’s efforts to uphold the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, specifically Climate Change (SDG 13) and Life on Land (SDG 15).
