Sarawak Energy continues to manage the Murum Flora Conservation Garden Island at one of the islands of the Murum Hydroelectric Plant (HEP) reservoir as part of its ongoing dedication to sustainable environmental conservation and 10-year campaign to plant and protect 500,000 trees under the corporation’s Tree Planting, Protection, and Habitat Restoration Campaign 2021-2030.
In June 2022, Datu Sharbini Suhaili (Group CEO, Sarawak Energy), Ir Bunyak Lunyong (CEO, SEB Power), Marconi Madai (Senior VP for health, safety, security, and the environment), and Ir Polycarp Wong (VP for hydropower) visited the island.
Together with other Sarawak Energy team members, they planted 50 trees as part of an initiative to commemorate Global Hydropower Day 2022.
Sharbini commented: “We target to plant or protect 50,000 trees in 2022. We will also enrich our hydropower catchment areas by planting more trees while protecting existing species and associated ecological services. As responsible hydropower developers, we continue to build on our previous environmental initiatives and prioritise sustaining them.
“Tree planting is part of a suite of critical nature-based solutions in our goal to conserve the environment and combat climate change, especially when we do it together on a larger scale and in collaboration with our partners and stakeholders.
With the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in June 2022 at the Sama Jaya Nature Reserve; Sarawak Energy and Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) established a formal partnership for the planting and preservation of trees as well as the carrying out of other biodiversity-related research projects across all of Sarawak Energy’s assets, facilities and project areas.
The signing event was in connection with Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi (Dr) Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Abang Openg’s official 10-Year Integrated Tree Planting, Protection, and Habitat Restoration Campaign launch.
Sarawak Energy has planted 1,528 plants since the Murum Flora Conservation Garden’s establishment, which includes mixed dipterocarp species like the gaharu, belian, keruing, meranti, nyatoh, ensurai, and engkabang as well as other species like tongkat ali, bamboo, and non-tree species like the wild orchid, ethnobotanical, among others.
The Murum Flora Conservation Garden, established in 2015, aimed to preserve local plant species in the dam’s reservoir region as part of the Wildlife Monitoring and Rescue (WiMOR) effort. The reservoir area, which includes the 1.4 ha-surfaced area island, has approximately 12,000 tree seedlings and 32,000 other plant species transferred or planted. The island is 30 minutes by boat from Murum HEP Intake jetty.
A book titled Wild Orchids of Murum Dam, Sarawak, which details the assortment of wild orchids discovered in the Murum catchment area, was released in 2020 in association with Sarawak Forestry Corporation.
