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By Shikin Louis and Ashley Sim
SARIKEI, Aug 13: The Rajang Delta Development Agency (RADDA) will undertake a carbon storage project involving mangrove forests along the Rajang River here.
Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said scientific studies have found mangrove trees to be able to store three times more carbon than ‘normal’ trees.
“So I have requested Datu Len Talif Salleh (Deputy Minister of Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment), in his capacity as the chairman of RADDA, to produce oxygen from mangrove forests in this area.
“This is because the oxygen production value for mangrove trees would be three times more than normal trees.
“Due to such important value, we want to protect and preserve our environment which is in line with our policy in Post-Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030,” he said when officiating at the Tanjung Manis Fishing Safari 2023 closing ceremony in conjunction with Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation’s (STIDC) Golden Jubilee anniversary celebration which was broadcast live by Sarawak Public Communications Unit (Ukas) on Facebook today.
On April 23, 2023, Len Talif stated that Kuala Rajang has high potential for microalgae production and carbon storage initiatives.
At the time, he said discussions were ongoing on when Sarawak would start commercialising carbon trading, adding that there was a need for an assessment to gauge the capacity for carbon storage to ensure potential buyers and sellers can agree on the quantum.
On Aug 8, 2023, Abang Johari confirmed that there are only two carbon licence holders to date, namely Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros) and Samling Timber Malaysia’s subsidiary company SaraCarbon Sdn Bhd.
It was previously reported that Petros will serve as a resource manager for Sarawak’s natural carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) resources particularly in commercialising the development of stranded sour gas reserves offshore Sarawak while SaraCarbon would study the potential of undertaking a carbon nature-based project in Marudi within Samling’s industrial tree plantation area. — DayakDaily
