KUALA LUMPUR, 17 September 2009 - Sime Darby Plantation Sdn Bhd’s mangrove replanting programme at Carey Island, Selangor has received a boost from accounting giant, KPMG Malaysia.

KPMG has contributed RM50,000 towards the project as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Its contribution will go towards partly funding the construction of the geo-tube and gabions structure at targeted replanting site.

This structure functions as a wave breaker and at the same time traps mud and sand and gradually stabilise the ground to make it suitable for mangrove replanting. Mangrove seedlings pre-planted in logs made of coir will be planted on the prepared ground.

KPMG Partner-in-Charge of Audit, Mr Peter Ho, presented the cheque to Sime Darby Plantation Managing Director Dato’ Azhar Abdul Hamid at the Kuala Lumpur Hilton here today.

Sime Darby Plantation’s mangrove replanting initiative is part of a collaborative project on conservation and enhancement of biodiversity on Carey Island carried out by Sime Darby Research Centre and Universiti Malaya.

KPMG’s contribution towards the replanting of mangrove trees was not the first collaborative CSR activity carried out between Sime Darby Plantation and KPMG.

On August 1, 2009, KPMG staff planted 300 forest trees at the Wildlife Sanctuary Park in Carey Island as a friendly gesture to support Sime Darby’s group-wide tree planting programme. Sime Darby aims to plant five million trees around its properties by an unspecified deadline.

Under this collaboration, apart from the financial contribution, KPMG employees will also assist during the replanting activity, expected to take place at the end of November.

Sime Darby Plantation’s initiative in conserving the mangrove forest, which plays a vital role in protecting the land against the ravages of the sea especially during the Asian Tsunami of 2004, led to the establishment of the Mangrove Research Centre (MRC) on Carey Island.

The Centre, the first of its kind in the country, allows Universiti Malaya researchers and undergraduates to conduct research on mangrove ecosystem at the centre and conduct field work on site.

The establishment of MRC was one of the outcomes of the collaboration on biodiversity of flora and fauna between Sime Darby Research Centre and the Institute of Biological Sciences and Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences of Universiti Malaya (UM).