Growing Communities through Biodiversity
Gamuda Land has, over the last two decades, planted about 250,000 trees in its property developments, which feature lakes, ponds, wetlands and streams that cover 140ha. These statistics not only bear testament to Gamuda Land’s appreciation of the need to adhere to the modern principles of environmental sustainability, but it is the holistic impact of these initiatives that has woven an identifiable theme into the fabric of all our projects.
The growing number of people living in towns and cities is not only inevitable but essential in developing countries, and Malaysia is no exception. As such, Gamuda Land has come to understand and embrace the critical need to imbue our projects with sustainable development practices and philosophies.
As a responsible township developer, our property arm Gamuda Land understands all too well the many risks associated with development through the context of environmental impacts, which include the loss of biodiversity of natural habitats and the social impact resulting from urban development.
That’s why we are committed in creating sustainable places of living whilst ensuring the community’s well-being is kept in mind.
Gamuda Parks, a recent stratagem devised by Gamuda Land was set up to drive a balanced equilibrium regarding the implementation and maintenance of parks within townships.
Chief Operating Officer of Gamuda Parks, Khariza Abdul Khalid and Executive Director of Product Management Unit (PMU), Eddie Chan explains that it is also a dedicated initiative towards the betterment of biodiversity with a firm understanding that biodiversity enhances ecosystem services which are crucial to human beings, in the short and long term.
“Setting up of Gamuda Parks was to help spearhead that effort through a consolidation of the design process, biodiversity enrichment, environmental conservation, township management and education to meet the needs of the future in a holistic, forward thinking and complete manner,” Khariza stated.
“We want people to have a place where they can grow up and grow old in. A place for them to call home,” she added.
“Take Gamuda Cove for example. When we acquired the land, it was completely desolate. What existed before were only rubber crops, quarry and mining. There was no diversity whatsoever. But now that we’ve planted trees and installed proper drainage, it is bound to attract life,” Eddie chimes in.
However, he notes that sustainability is not an overnight success.
“It really is about investing in the long term. We will only be able to see the fruits of our labour 10 years down the road. And that’s why it is important to conduct audits to see our progress,” he added, noting that sustainability is not an overnight success but one that requires consistency in practice
“To date, 497 species of flora and 135 species of fauna have been audited through a biodiversity survey. We have also planted 250,000 tree saplings to date and created 1,600 acre of parks – equal to the size of our Gamuda Cove development. Our plans moving forward is to progressively enhance our efforts towards achieving our goals in supporting the 11th Malaysia Plan,” comments Khariza.
The 11th Malaysia Plan goes together with National Policy on Biological Diversity 2016-2025, embracing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG). Gamuda Parks currently supports 9 out of the 17 UNSDGs which include the enhancement of communication, education and public awareness on greener environments and ecosystem to the younger generation.
As a result, this movement led to the formation of the Gamuda Park Rangers in collaboration with National Geographic. Gamuda Park Rangers comprises of children aged between 6 to 12 years old.
“By initiating them into the program at a young age, we believe that the younger generation will grow into future leaders with a more synchronized and clearer understanding of the importance of maintaining a green environment and ecosystem,” Eddie Chan commented.
All in all, the cohesive input of a collective society is necessary in order to further this cause and we believe, that this cannot only be spearheaded by a single individual.
Within Gamuda Land itself, every staff will have their own water tumbler come this August, in an effort to reduce the usage of plastic bottles, and the wastage that comes with the disposal of the products.
While this may be a small step within a big picture, we prefer to view this as a combative effort that will yield tremendous results in the years to come.