Chemsain joined hands with Rotary Club of Kuching and and in collaboration with Forest Department of Sarawak, embarked on a long-term mangrove planting project as one of their CSR activities. The project was named Chemsain-Rotary Preserve Planet Earth Project. The Project encompassed four (4) important stages which included:

1. Awareness on mangrove through a public seminar
2. Chemsain-Rotary Eco-challenge which aimed to nurture the passion and enhance knowledge on the life-cycle of mangrove
3. mangrove tree planting to consolidate the knowledge and skills on preserving the mangrove forest and
4. monitoring and maintenance of planted mangrove which will provide a better understanding on managing mangrove forests in the future.

The Project was launched on 14th April 2018 at the Chemsain Building, Kuching, by the Rotary International District 3310 Governor, Dato’ Lee Chuan Wan, with the theme “Conserve Our Mangroves”.

Stage 1 : Public Seminar

Following the launching ceremony, a paper on “Mangrove Forests of Sarawak and its Propagation” was presented by Sarawak mangrove expert, Dr Paul Chai. He pointed out that one of the misconceptions of mangrove forest is that it is a ‘wasteland’ and hence, effort to conserve them has not received much attention. He reiterated that such misconception must be changed and more awareness programmes were needed.

In the next paper entitled “Mangrove Rehabilitation – 100,000 Trees Journey”’, presented by Ms. Irmadiana Ardi of the State Forest Department, she highlighted the work done by the department in restoring degraded land within the Kuching Wetlands National Park (KWNP). So far, more than 88,000 hectares had been planted with 88,700 mangrove trees since 2014. Currently, the department is continuing efforts to restore degraded mudflats in KWNP to enable mangroves to have a base to propagate.

Stage 2 : Eco-Challenge

The Chemsain-Rotary Eco-Challenge “Nursing the Mangrove Seedlings” kicked-off on 28th April 2018 with nine (9) teams of 10 members each. This challenge was open to any local schools, colleges, and universities. Each team was given 20 propagules to germinate and nurse for two (2) months and the winner would be judged based on the survival rate, height and vigor of the seedlings as well as a video clip of the team activities. 

To make things more exciting, Prof. Dr. Lau Seng, Organising Chairman of the Eco-Challenge, led a trip to the Kuching Wetland National Park with a group of participants to harvest the mangrove propagules (seedlings). Around 200 seedlings were brought back and distributed to the rest of the participants. To plant mangrove, mud and saltwater are needed. Chemsain staff were assigned to collect the mud from a mangrove area. However, since transporting mud from Kuching Wetland National Park was too arduous, the team were instructed to collect mud from a different area instead. Chemsain also participated in the Eco-challenge and planted seedlings in the basement.

The Eco-Challenged was concluded on 28th June 2018. The 2nd runner up for the Eco-challenge was awarded to “the Man- Groovers” from Lodge International School. Although they were a group of boys, they nursed the seedlings very well which surprised us all. A team from UNIMAS, “Mangroove”, was the 1st runner up in the Eco-challenge. They were one of the teams which had participated in the trip to collect the propagules and had a good experience doing so. During their presentation, they shared their interesting video of their experience when collecting the propagules at the Kuching Wetland National Park. Last but not least, the champion team of the Eco-challenge went to the youngest participants.  They were the “Green Botanic” - 11 years old students from SJK Chung Hua No.4. Surprisingly, they had the average tallest and healthiest 20 mangrove trees. Each of them also managed to give a short and clear presentation during the finals. They deserved to be the champion with their hard work and patience in taking care of the 20 mangrove trees. The prizes were presented by President Joanna Ting of Rotary Club of Kuching and Ir. Brian Chong of Chemsain.

Stage 3 : Mangrove Planting

Stage 3 of the project was implemented on the 28th July 2018 at the Kuching Wetland National Park (KWNP). All the seedlings from the Eco-Challenge and some additional seedlings provided by the Forest Department were planted at a barren site within the KWNP. 70 volunteers participated in the tree planting event. They consisted of members from the Rotary Club of Kuching, Rotary Club of Kuching Unity City, Rotary Club of Kuching South, UNIMAS, Swinburne University of Technology, Lodge International School, SK Chung Hua No. 4, Forest Department of Sarawak and Chemsain. Staff from the Forest Department give a briefing prior to the planting which highlighted the roles and efforts carried out by the Forest Department in the conservation of mangrove forest in Sarawak. The volunteers took about 2 hours to plant some 500 mangrove seedlings and also potted more than 100 propagules to replenish the seedlings. It was a successful and meaningful event where volunteers had the opportunity to observe the habitat of mangrove forest with its many species of aquatic organisms, insects, birds and even crocodiles.

Stage 4 : Monitoring and Maintenance of Planted Mangrove

Stage 4 of the project will be conducted by the Forest Department and university students to monitor the growth of the mangrove in the plots on a quarterly basis. The outcomes of the monitoring will be presented in the form of theses, conference papers and promotional materials for environmental awareness programmes.

Conclusion

Although this project took a few months to implement with its many stages, it was indeed a thoroughly worthy project. Undertaken jointly by a private company, a government agency and a voluntary service organisation, this project will undoubtly benefit our environment and future generations.