Press Release » AEON AWARDING MOST PHOTOGENIC BABY
300 Volunteers Gathered To Plant 1,000 Trees At AEON Reforestation & Rehabilitation of Orang-Utan’s Habitat in North Ulu Segama, Lahad Datu, Sabah
30
JULY 2011
Lahat Datu, 30 July – A total of 300 volunteers from the local community, school
children, forestry department, and agencies
gathered to plant 1,000 sapling trees at the
site of AEON’s Reforestation & Rehabilitation of Orang Utan’s Habitat in North Ulu Segama, here today.
This noble effort was held to educate participants about the importance of preserving
and conserving the environment, especially in
planting trees to save the orang utan’s habitat.
On 24 January
2011, AEON which operates the JUSCO general
merchandise chain stores and shopping centre
has signed a five year contract with The World
Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Malaysia; an agreement
that engages on reforestation and rehabilitation
of the orang utan habitat in North Ulu Segama.
Through the agreement, AEON
will be planting saplings of high trees, middle
high trees, low trees and shrubs in the next
five years. AEON has invested 0.5 million into
the 5 year project that covers approximately
80 hectares of tree planting area in Northern
Ulu Segama.
The forest was severely degraded
due to several cycles of logging operations
in the past and frequent occurrence of forest
fires. Miraculously, the orang utans survived,
despite the ordeal they had to endure.
The well-being
of the orang utan population in North Ulu Segama
(NUS) was in dire condition in 2007. The population
is literally confined in a small poor forest
habitat, and doomed to succumb to starvation
and eventually death. With that scenario, NUS
was considered a high priority area for forest
and orang utan habitat restoration.
The fast
growing tree species will restore the connectivity
of the forest canopy, so that the orang utans
will be free to roam in search of food in all
the areas within NUS and have places to build
their nests. The wild fruit trees will be a
source of food for the orang utans.
Cik Noryahwati Mohd Noh, General
Manager of CSR & Corporate
Branding AEON CO. (M) Bhd, said: “Orang-utans
are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant
great ape, this should be shared together with
our future generations. They are classified
as endangered due to their habitat being destroyed,
fragmented and poaching. We hope that through
this noble effort, the habitat of orang utans
may be protected”.
AEON Co. (M) Bhd in collaboration
with WWF-Malaysia hope to spread the significance
and value of rehabilitating the orang utan population
and look forward to sustain this project for
the long term.
