Tree Planting at Raja Musa Forest Reserve

Event Date:  18^th October 2014

Time: 10.00am – 2.30pm 
Location: Raja Musa Forest Reserve, Kuala Selangor
Organizing Chairperson: Leo Tan Ying Jie  
No. of participants : 21 Monash University Malaysia Leo Club members and 3 Alumni 

Background :
Raja Musa Forest Reserve is located near Batang Berjuntai/Berjuntai Bestari in the northern region of the Selangor State, Together with Sungai Karang Forest Reserve, it makes up the largest peat swamp forest complex in Selangor. 


Objectives:

     1.To raise awareness on preserving the environment and to tackle environmental issues such as global warming

2.Gain practical experience on replanting trees in peat swamp forest, which had previously undergone deforestation and requires remediation.

Details:
      After the planting activity, the members washed their hands and feet using tap water. The members were given food by other volunteers present there and so, they had their lunch at the forest itself. The party left the reserve for Monash University at 1.00pm. Overall, it was a successful event   

      21 Leo members and 3 alumni gathered at Monash University Foyer at 7am and departed for Raja Musa Forest Reserve at 7.30am. There was a total of 5 cars and the journey to the reserve took about an hour. As the place is a forest reserve with only a dirt road leading into it, the members walked 1.25 km till the planting site. After registration, the members were briefed by GEC personnel on the objectives and methods of planting seedlings.

      The tree replanting program commenced at 10.00am. The members were allocated into 2 groups to plant 2 lines of trees, whereby each line consisted of 60 trees. Planting the trees involved digging holes and placing tree seedlings at the designated bamboo markers. Every member was required to wear the Wellington boots provided by GEC as it rained heavily the day before the event and so the land was flooded (around knee-length). Thus, the process of planting the seedlings became difficult as members were required to walk carefully through the mud. A number of members were trapped in the mud but they were helped by other volunteers working for GEC. One of the members nearly fainted due to the heat. She was helped by the other members, to get to a tent and was given some food. Fortunately, she recovered after resting. Additionally, given the moderately harsh type of environment which consisted of a lot of dead tree branches, the members suffered from a few minor cuts and scrapes.

      Around 12.00pm, the Leo members managed to plant the trees within a span of 2 hours. 120 young plants were given but the members could not plant all of them; few numbers of trees were left out because some of the planting sites were too deep in mud and members could not walk till those places for safety reasons.

                          

                       Figure 1: Group photo before commencement of tree planting

Figure 2: Leo members during briefing by GEC prior to planting 

     Figure 3: Leo members making their way through the peat swamp to plant trees.