Children participating in a storytelling session at Cyberjaya Lake Gardens.
A COMMUNITY-based ecological restoration project at Cyberjaya Lake Gardens has been introduced by Global Environment Centre (GEC) and Sepang Municipal Council (MPSepang) in collaboration with Microsoft’s community environmental sustainability programme.
MPSepang president Datuk Abd Hamid Hussain said the restoration efforts were crucial to protect and enhance the lake’s ecosystem, especially with nature-based solutions.
“The 162ha Cyberjaya Lake Gardens is considered the ‘green lung’ of Cyberjaya.
“It has facilities for recreational activities such as an information centre, lookout tower, children’s playground, exercise facilities as well as picnic sites.
“As we improve the park with such facilities and attract more visitors, it is also crucial to restore the health and water quality of the lake, including enhancing biodiversity mainly with local species,” he said in his speech.
(From left) MPSepang deputy president Muhamad Shah Osmin, Abd Hamid, Faizal and MPSepang councillor Lee Kan Ming at the pollinator garden.
“MPSepang supports the implementation of this restoration project and calls on other stakeholders, such as corporations, education institutions, communities, and volunteers to do the same.
“I am happy to know that the project is also establishing the Friends of Cyberjaya Lake Garden as a formal platform for the involvement of the community in taking ownership and being actively involved in the activities at the lake together with MPSepang,” said Abd Hamid at the recent launch.
GEC director Faizal Parish said the restoration of Cyberjaya Lake Gardens would not only improve water quality but also beautify the area and enhance its biodiversity including aquatic life, as well as empower the local community.
“The project will adopt nature-based solutions; we will plant native species along the stream to filter water before it enters the lake,” he said.
“This will improve biodiversity by creating a habitat, including the establishment of a pollinator plant garden.
“The project also includes ‘floating islands’ of native plants that will be installed in the lake to continuously clean the water.
“These floating cells are a creative and innovative nature-based approach to addressing pollution,” said Faizal.
He added that the programme also provided environmental education to increase awareness on the importance of protecting water bodies and adopting nature-based solutions such as ecological restoration.
Faizal said GEC, as the implementing agency, would continue to collaborate with and empower Friends of Cyberjaya Lake Gardens and other key stakeholders to co-organise community- based wetland planting and clean-up activities aimed at instilling a sense of ownership and commitment to protecting, restoring and monitoring the lake.
Various activities were held on the same day, including the launch of the pollinator garden, a storytelling session and the Lake Ranger initiative.
