KUALA LUMPUR: Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd's launched Project RELeaf in September 2020 to plant three million trees across Malaysia by 2023.
Nestle said the project is part of its efforts to tackle climate change and contribute to the company's global journey to zero net emissions,
"Project RELeaf builds on the pioneering Kinabatangan Rileaf Project, which concluded in 2020 and saw one million trees planted in Sabah," it said.
Chief executive officer Juan Aranols said the lockdown had limited Nestle's access to planting sites and brought some delays to the rollout of Project RELeaf.
However, Aranols said the company had made very good use of the time, and by now, Nestle's partner nurseries have nearly one million seedlings and saplings of various indigenous species, growing healthy and strong.
"By year-end, Nestle will have transplanted some 300,000 of them into their final sites.
"Following the end of the lockdown, we are hitting the ground running, and our teams are rapidly ramping up planting activity," he said.
Meanwhile, Aranols said Nestle has also built partnerships inside and outside of its supply chain and is exploring further collaborations with government and state agencies to ensure the acceleration and scaling up of the programme.
He said Nestle has a solid plan and resources to plant 1.3 million trees in 2022, followed by 1.4 million trees in 2023.
"We are fully committed to materialising our ambition to achieve zero net carbon emissions by 2050, with at least a 50 per cent reduction by 2030.
"Our reforestation initiatives will be complemented by the rollout of regenerative agriculture practices in our chilli, paddy and coffee farming engagements," he said.
To mark the first anniversary of Project RELeaf, Nestle Malaysia teamed up with non-governmental organisation Impact Revolution Enterprise for a mangrove planting activity in Kuala Selangor Nature Park.
Aimed at restoring the area's precious mangrove ecosystem, more than 100 Nestle volunteers planted over 500 Rhizophora Apiculata (pokok bakau minyak) saplings within the mangrove forest area.
The mangrove restoration activity is a programme under Nestle Cares, Nestle's global platform, which aims to instil a culture of volunteerism amongst employees.
Among other initiatives, Nestle Cares volunteers performed another mangrove planting activity near Kampung Sijangkang earlier this year and the company's annual beach and underwater clean up across several locations in Malaysia.