PETALING JAYA: Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd has plans to plant three million trees over the next three years through Project RELeaf, a reforestation initiative in line with the company’s pledge to achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
In 2011, Nestle initiated the Kinabatangan Rileaf Project, where the company and its partners helped plant one million trees in Sabah along the Kinabatangan River.
Since then, more than 320,000 trees and 360,000 seedlings have been raised as of May this year despite the restrictions imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Indigenous species such as Medang and Sentul, and pioneer species such as Talisai Paya, Bayu and Laran were planted.
In March, Nestle and Sime Darby Plantation Bhd collaborated on their first tree-planting programme in Sua Betong estate, Negri Sembilan, in conjunction with the United Nations International Day of Forests.
Yayasan Sime Darby committed RM2 million to support Nestle’s replanting efforts in the project.
Nestle Malaysia CEO Juan Aranols said the company was conscious of the importance of conserving natural ecosystems, which are vital for wildlife corridors and help mitigate the risk of human-animal conflict.
“Forests are also the green lungs of the planet, providing a nature-based solution for carbon sinks to help combat climate change. To this end and in conjunction with the United Nations International Day of Forests, we are progressively accelerating our reforestation efforts with our partners, driving us forward in our Project RELeaf journey.
“With Nestle’s well-established presence of 110 years growing with Malaysia, this is how we continue to make a positive impact, by shaping a greener Malaysia for future generations. This is also in line with Nestle’s global ambition of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,” he said.
Deforestation is one of the many problems facing the environment, while logging activities pose a threat to wildlife and the livelihood of indigenous communities.
Data from Global Forest Watch, an online platform that monitors forests, showed Malaysia lost 2.7 million hectares of primary forests between 2002 and 2020.
This accounted for the loss of 34% of the country’s total tree cover during the period. The total area of Malaysia’s primary forests also shrank by 17%.
