Climate Solutions Partnership

Climate Solutions Partnership - Malaysia

Duration: 00:03:23

Speakers:

[Seedhu]

I monitor and patrol the Raja Musa Forest Reserve.

Many years ago, wildfires were occurring frequently.

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Seedhu Raman
SHGSU Member

[Seedhu]

After we came and started monitoring wildfires have reduced.

[Faizal]

There were outsiders that came in and they cleared and drained the land. Even though it was designated as a forest reserve about 40 years ago, it was a very bad situation.

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Faizal Parish
Director of Global Environmental Centre

[Faizal]

There were no trees, where we're standing now was totally bare, was just grass, and every year it was burning 2 or 3 times.

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Restoring Peat Swamp Forest
Raja Musa Forest Reserve Selangor, Malaysia

[Faizal]

This is the largest contiguous peat swamp forest in Peninsular Malaysia.

It's a very important site for forest conservation, for carbon sequestration and storage, and many other benefits.

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The Climate Solutions Partnership has helped to fund the Raja Musa peat swamp forest restoration programme

[Devika]

The key focus of the Climate Solution programme is to promote community ownership and the rehabilitation works.

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Devika Rajamanickam
Country Head of Corporate Sustainability, HSBC Malaysia

[Faizal]

We first had to restore back the control of the area, and then we restored the water level, and then we initiated the fire patrol and fire prevention programme.

And that also because we raised the water level, that the forest was much less likely to burn.

[Seedhu]

We take the water level on a daily basis.

By doing this we know how high the water level is - below ground.

For the fire risk, if the water level is high, it will be shown low.

[Nordin]

The primary purpose of this seedling site is to provide trees for planting in peatland areas.

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Nordin bin Bardan
SHGSU Nursery Director

[Nordin]

Reforestation is vital for peatland areas to stabilise the soil conditions to their original state.

There's a special peatland-friendly community here.

All these seedling sites will supply trees to be planted in the field.

When the sales yield some profit, the community gain finances from selling these seedlings.

[Devika]

It has been a successful programme thus far.

We have seen zero fire in Raja Musa forest for the last five years, and we have improved livelihoods for the people around here.

The community itself, where they have gotten a lot of green jobs.

[Faizal]

You need to be looking 30, 50 years into the future.

Expanding the work, the geographic focus or area, and using the model that we've developed through the HSBC project to expand that to other part of the landscape.

[Seedhu]

By doing this work we are able to protect the surrounding forests and people are also safe.

We feel proud about it.

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World Resources Institute | Perhutanan | HSBC | Global Environment Centre

Climate Solutions Partnership

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