Teaming up to restore biodiversity

IN its continuous nature conservation efforts, town maker Gamuda Land is partnering with local universities to restore biodiversity in Paya Indah Discovery Wetlands (PIDW), a nature sanctuary located next to Gamuda Cove in Dengkil, Selangor.

Gamuda Land has signed a memorandum of understanding with Universiti Malaya (UM) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) to improve PIDW’s overall water quality, while a memorandum of collaboration was inked simultaneously with Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) to improve efficiency of waste management across three core Gamuda Land townships – Gamuda Cove, Gamuda Gardens and twentyfive.7.

“We want to commit in areas where we can make the biggest impact when it comes to climate action.

“As a town maker, mindful master planning and good designs are where we can make a difference for the community, working hand in hand with nature and not against it.

“We cannot do it alone, so we are pleased to have like-minded institutions who share our green agenda to work with us,” said Gamuda Land executive director Khariza Abd Khalid at the signing ceremony held at Gamuda Cove.

While many green initiatives in the market focus on post-construction, Gamuda Land strengthens biodiversity right from the start, where Gamuda Parks is governed by three main pillars – green (flora maintenance), blue (waterscapes such as lake and pond designs) and brown (material management).

The partnership with UM and UKM will see an investigation into the PIDW’s current water quality and the establishment of a water quality benchmark, which will be used as the basis for biodiversity audit.

With better water quality, trees in the area will flourish to provide food source to the animals and fish will also propagate, hence inviting migratory birds.

UM will also assist in content curation of the gallery at Wetlands Arboretum, which is a botanical garden aimed at promoting awareness, study and conservation of plant species diversity.

These initiatives are in line with the Gamuda Green Plan (GGP), a comprehensive framework that charts tangible targets driven on environmental, social and governance (ESG) dimensions, to reduce direct and indirect corporate greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 30% in 2025 and by 45% in 2030.

Another key aspect of Gamuda Parks’ core focus is to advocate better waste and material management under the brown pillar.

The three year-collaboration with UniKL will provide a clear guideline through scientific research for Gamuda Land’s maintenance team to better manage overall waste across the three core townships.

“Additionally, improvements in food wastage compost management will enhance the overall landscaping at Gamuda Land developments, as we use compost as bio-fertilisers for the growth of plants and trees that adorn our townships.

“This will help us to minimise landfill waste while providing the plants within the townships with an organic form of nutrients.

“Eventually, the carbon footprint of each township will be reduced by diverting compostable waste from landfills,” added Khariza.

Gamuda Parks is a self-driven initiative by Gamuda Land, with the mandate to implement holistic management and consistency to biodiversity enrichment, conservation, nature education and township design as well as maintenance efforts across its townships.

Through Gamuda Parks, Gamuda Land has progressively delivered its pledge for biodiversity conservation through ongoing audits and data compilation exercises in several of its townships, as well as through the formulation and publication of the Gamuda Parks Biodiversity Policy.

To date, Gamuda Land has completed seven biodiversity audits with three in progress to assess the overall health of the natural environment of its developments in Malaysia.

These audits are jointly conducted with Forest Research Institute of Malaysia and have recorded significant increase in the number of species in its townships, including migratory and The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list bird species.