(From left): Hanna, Badrul, Sanjay, Khariza and Zulhafiz give the thumbs up to the collaboration.

PETALING JAYA: Gamuda Land has entered a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with three local universities to restore the biodiversity in its township developments. The institutions of higher learning are Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL).

The collaboration with UM and UKM is to improve the overall water quality at Paya Indah Discovery Wetlands (PIDW) while the MoU with Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) is to improve the efficiency of waste management across three core Gamuda Land townships. 

“We want to commit to 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 and work together with nature and not against it. In order to do so, we cannot do it alone, and we are pleased to have like-minded institutions who share our green agenda to work hand-in-hand with us,” said Gamuda Land executive director Khariza Abd Khalid.

Taking these steps with UM and UKM to improve the water quality in PIDW will assist in improving the overall health of the wetlands. With better water quality, trees in the area will flourish to provide more food sources to the animals. Fishes will also propagate more, which means more food for water and migratory birds. 

“Meanwhile, the Wetlands Arboretum also underscores the role Gamuda Land has taken in safeguarding the wetlands to conserve the biodiversity of the natural site,” adds Khariza.  

These initiatives are in line with the Gamuda Green Plan (GGP), a comprehensive framework that charts tangible targets driven by environmental, social and governance (ESG) dimensions. The goal is 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’ agenda is to advocate better waste and material management. “The results of this study will provide a clear guideline for our maintenance team to better manage overall waste management in our townships. Additionally, improvements in food wastage compost management will improve the overall landscaping at Gamuda Land developments as we use the compost material as bio-fertilisers as a soil enhancer for the growth of plants and trees that adorn our township,” says Khariza.  

This effort in enhancing waste will help us to minimise landfill waste whilst providing the plants within Gamuda Lands’ townships with an organic form of nutrient supplements. Eventually, the carbon footprint of each township will reduce by diverting compostable waste from landfills. 

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

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

“To date, we have completed seven biodiversity audits with three in progress to assess the overall health of the natural environments of our developments in Malaysia. These audits are jointly conducted with the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) and have recorded a significant increase in the number of species in our townships which includes migratory and IUCN’s red list bird species,” said Khariza.

Also present at the signing ceremony were UKM associate professor Dr Wan Hanna Melini Wan Mohtar, UM infrastructure and information services associate vice-chancellor associate professor Dr Nor Badrul Anuar Juma’at, Gamuda Land leisure and hospitality general manager Sanjay Nadarajah as well as UniKL industrial linkages director associate professor Dr Zulhafiz Tajudin.

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