MEDIA RELEASE

Orang Asli students have fun learning peat swamp forest through Junior Peatland Forest Ranger Programme

BESTARI JAYA, 24 SEPTEMBER 2016: Forty (40) Orang Asli students from Kuala Langat District participated in an environmental camp entitled Junior Peatland Forest Ranger Programme (JPFR) – an environmental education programme that aims to instill environmental awareness and educate younger generations on the importance of conserving and protecting peat swamp forest.
The 3 days 2 nights camp held on 22-24 September, was organised by Global Environment Center (GEC), Selangor State Forestry Department (SSFD) and Friends of North Selangor Peat Swamp Forest; in partnership with Selangor State Education Department and Kuala Langat District Education Office; and co-funded by BOH Plantations Sdn Bhd and GAMUDA Land Sdn Bhd.

The students ranging from 10 to 12 years of age had a chance to listen to different lectures related to peat swamp forest in Malaysia, participated in making handicraft made from non-timber forest products and visited Kampung Kuantan Firefly Park.

BOH Plantations CEO, Caroline Russell shared, “We are glad to see the proceeds from the BOH Eco Trail 2016 go towards educating our future generation about our environmental heritage. Through the BOH Eco Trail held in May, we reached the public about the importance of preserving our peatland forests. Now, by empowering students through this camp, we wish to see them play a role as young ambassadors within their community to continue to share this message.”

GEC Director, Faizal Parish said “The environmental camp is intended for young generations to enhance their knowledge and raise awareness on the importance of peat swamp forest through open classroom activities. For many of these students, the Kuala Langat peat swamp forest is their home. I hope that they will be able to gain the scientific knowledge learned through this camp and integrate with their indigenous knowledge to protect the peat swamp forest”. 

Dr. Mohd Puat Dahalan, Director of Selangor State Forestry Department added that this JPFR camp helps the students to understand how their decisions and actions will affect the environment, builds knowledge and necessary skills to address complex environmental issues, as well as ways can be undertaken to keep the environment healthy and sustainable for the future.

The students also participated in the rehabilitation activities of peat swamp forest such as seedlings wilding and tree planting; and visited the Centre for Excellence of Peat Swamp Forest in Selangor.

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For media enquiries, please contact:

Ms. Shafinaz Shahabudin,                Ms. Adelaine Tan    
e-mail : shafinaz@gec.org.my           E-mail: adelaine@gec.org.my                 
Mobile : +60 12 513 5495                 Mobile : 012-239 2983   

About Selangor State Forestry Department
SSFD is an agency responsible for managing, developing, maintaining and administering the state's forests. SSFD is responsible for conserving and preserving the forests sustainably. Among the tasks performed are as managing, administering and planning forests, especially the Permanent Forest Reserve (PFR) to enhance and maintain the existing number of PFR at Selangor state, process license applications for wood-based industries, managing and promoting the recreation area / amenity forest, enhance forest enforcement activities on combating illegal logging activities and provide awareness to the public on the importance of the forest. All rules and regulations are complied with in accordance with the National Forest Policy 1978 (Amended 1992) and the National Forestry Act (Adoption) Enactment 1985.

About Global Environment Centre
Global Environment Centre was established in 1998 to work on environmental issues of global importance. The Centre is registered in Malaysia as a non-profit organisation but works regionally and internationally both directly and through many partners. It supports information exchange and capacity building as well as undertakes strategic projects particularly in developing countries. It works in partnership with other like-minded agencies worldwide.
For more information on the Global Environment Centre please visit www.gec.org.my

About BOH Plantations
BOH Plantations is the largest tea-growing company in Malaysia with 1,200 hectares of tea gardens both in highland and lowland areas. BOH is also the nation’s leading brand of black tea, consistently offering exceptional quality and exquisite flavours in each carefully sealed package.
For 87 years and over a cup of BOH tea, we have brought together generations of multi-cultural Malaysians from all walks of life to bond and share special moments. As a Malaysian brand, we have stayed true to our promise of connecting people in an authentically Malaysian way to ‘Share the Ummph!’