MTCC engages young people to love and care for forests at KLESF 2018
Kuala Lumpur, 12 November 2018 – Recognising that the future of sustainability lies in the hands of the future generation, the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) participated in the Kuala Lumpur Engineering Science Fair (KLESF) 2018 for the fourth year running with the main intention of engaging primary and secondary school children to inspire them to love and care for our valuable natural resource – the forests.
“With the tagline Sustainable Forest, Sustainable Future, MTCC believes that sustainably managing our forests is crucial in ensuring a sustainable livelihood, simply because our wellbeing is so intricately linked and dependent on the myriad of services provided by the forests. When we talk of the future, it is imperative to include the younger generation as they would be the one to continue to uphold our vision for a sustainable Malaysia. MTCC’s participation at KLESF for the fourth time is aimed at connecting with the next generation who will be the future guardians of our forest resources. And we believe in engaging them young to instill in them the sense of responsibility and love to care for our forests for posterity,” said MTCC CEO, Yong Teng Koon.
This year, MTCC took the students on a journey to discover what sustainability of living and forests means through its attractive educational booth at KLESF. In addition to a 3D model depicting the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) certification process, students were shown a video on what sustainable forest management entails, and were taken on an interactive ‘forest’ journey through poster display, with information on the role of protection and production forests, sustainable harvesting of forest products, the role of MTCS in promoting forest sustainability. The students also learned about how they can contribute towards achieving sustainability, for example through making lifestyle choices that are based on the 3Rs principle of “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.”
To instil the sense of commitment, the students were asked to write their green pledge on leaf-shaped notes and have these pasted on a ‘Green Pledge Wall’ which finally formed the image of a tree in full bloom; signifying the need for teamwork in our sustainability endeavour. To better appreciate our forests, the booth also featured a magnificent tropical forest backdrop for the students to take photographs or selfies of themselves. A total of 480 students visited the MTCC Booth over the 3-day KLSEF.
“We must believe in and start preparing our younger generation to be the change agents who can ensure our vision for a sustainable Malaysia lives on. In this regard, the decision by the Government earlier this year to include environmental education in schools to inculcate a better understanding and appreciation of the environment is timely and I hope it would be implemented as soon as possible,” Yong concluded.
