Last month I was lucky to be given a chance to participate in a noble cause by a group of awesome folks in my community. The good folks at my local Surau, Musolla Al Jannah D'Pinestogether with the municipal council (Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya) came together with a brilliant activity to make our community a tad bit better place to live in.

The group of people has worked with the municipal council to turn a plot of land from a bushy, eyesore sight to a field with different types of plants and trees. They have also invited resident around the area to come together to help clean up the area and buy a tree to be planted and the plot of land. I was lucky enough to own one of the trees planted in the area. The planting day was held on a weekend to encourage participation and was attended by many residents from the community as well as Mr, Jelani Aman, Head of Landscaping, MPAJ, Madam HaslizaKamarulzaman, Deputy Director, Youth & Community, MPAJ and Mr Ahmad Fauzi bin Khamis, Councillor of Ampang Jaya. 

This is also in support of the National Landscape Day 2018. A special mention goes to the Chairman of surau, UstazDzakiSamsuri and the Project Director, TengkuRavalinabtTengkuMohdAdlan& her committees who had started off the whole project which is a JV Project of MPAJ &Musolla Al Jannah D'Pines Communities.

The plants that were planted were a mix of both fruit bearing trees and plants, including the infamous durian tree. Mango, mangosteen, rambutan, ciku, guava being the rest of the trees planted. A total of 75 trees were planted during this initiative and this plant a tree program is in line with the National Landscape Day. The trees were carefully picked to provide shades, produce oxygen and also taking into consideration the root to ensure it will not damage the walkways. The cost of the whole project was estimated at USD 1250 and a total of 100 volunteers from Musolla Al Jannah D'Pinescame together to ensure the objective of the program was achieved.

With this initiative, I was able to achieve SDG’s fighting climate change as well. A plant at a time fighting the climate for our future.

A recent study published in the journal Ecological Modeling estimated that trees in urban areas save megacities more than $500 million a year in public health costs, energy expenses, and environmental protection. Initiatives of such is crucial to encourage more people to help planting more greens and preserving the environment besides creating a healthy environment for the betterment of the community. The local government previously has also expressed the importance to preserve the greenery due to rapid development by maintaining the green spaces ration of not less than 30%.

The old saying goes, “the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago; the second best time is now.” So, when did you last plant a tree?