Belum Forest Friends (BFF) initiative launched !

Hello readers ...

 Pic from BRainSfeed FB

In conjunction with Belum Conservation Malaysia's celebration of 10 years conservation effort, Belum Forest Friends (BFF) was recently launched and introduced to the public. Held at Menara Mustapha Kamal, BFF is an initiative by Belum Conservation Malaysia as part of its overall drive to get more Malaysians actively involved in rainforest conservation and the environment.

Pic from BRainSfeed FB

To kick start the initiative, 18 Malaysian personalities ranging from artistes and designers, to conservationists and enterpreneurs, joined hands with Belum Conservation Malaysia as the very first BFFs. The pioneer BFFs are notable celebrities such as Dato' Sheila Majid, Dato' Acis, Dato' Yasmin Yusuff, Jaclyn Victor, Maya Karin, Sean Ghazi, Deanna Yusoff, Aziz Harun, Bella Nazari, Andi Bernadee, Cassidy La Creme, Aizat Amdan, Mizz Nina, Nini Marini, Bill Keith, Marisa Meer Habib and conservationists Yasmin Rasyid of Eco Knights and Andrew Sebastian of ECOMY.

Malaysians are more aware of how important it is for them to preserve the rainforest and environment nowadays but they often do not know how and where to start. BFF aims to satisfy their need by providing simple yet meaningful ways for everyone to actively care about this good cause.

At the start, the initiative offers members two choices of activities. For a small fee, BFFs can choose to support either a tree-planting programme managed by Pulau Banding Foundation (PBF), or a school uniform donation drive for Orang Asli of Belum-Temengor, facilitated by the Emkay Foundation

More on-going programme, additional opportunities will be created for BFFs to #getinvolved in conservation, for instance, volunteering and species rehabilitation projects.

Pic from BRainSfeed FB

Yang Berbahagia Dato' Fazwinna binti Tan Sri Mustapha Kamal, a member of Belum Conservation Malaysia's Executive Committee in her speech stressed the importance of giving back to nature as an important civic virtue. We owe so much to mother nature, especially our rainforests. BFF is meant to be easy for anyone to get involved. While the gesture of planting a tree or donating a school uniform seem small, the effects are very far reaching, especially if we have many Malaysians joining hands with us. Conservation is not a task that should be left to scientists and policymakers. We all have responsibility to care for our rainforest.

The Belum-Temengor Rainforest Complex is one of the oldest in the world, at over 130 million years old. It is rich in biodiversity and shelters many endangered species such as Malaysian tiger and Asian elephant. It is also home for gaharu or agarwood tree. This endangered tree is highly prized for its bark and sap, both of which fetch high prices in the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries.

With Mizz Nina ~ planting Kacip Fatimah and Gaharu during BFF launched

PBF has instituted a goal of planting 1,000 gaharu trees in 2018 alone. This tree will be the focus of BFF's tree planting arm and guests of Belum Rainforest Resort who are also BFFs may opt personally plant a gaharu tree in their name at PBF's arboretum. Yayasan Emkay has also put forward a goal of 600 sets of school uniforms for the Orang Asli children, many of whom are living in poverty and are unable to afford them.

So readers, you can be part of this good cause too by joining BFF. To learn more about BFF, visit www.brainsfeed.org and click the BFF link. Also check Brainsfeed Social media at : https://www.facebook.com/brainsfeedlive/ or Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/brainsfeedlive/