SHAH ALAM, May 26 — Local authorities are encouraged to employ arborists to improve landscape management in each municipal area, said Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming.
To achieve this goal, all local authority landscape employees should attend arborist courses organised by the National Landscape Department.
Acknowledging that some local authorities face financial challenges in tree maintenance, he said the initiative to employ arborists should be accompanied by efforts to streamline tree inventory in their respective administrative areas.
“For instance, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall already has an inventory, so they know which trees, what type and whether they are healthy or need to be pruned according to schedule.
“Tree health care, maintenance and inventory are crucial, especially for older trees,” Nga said.
He was speaking to the press after officiating the closing ceremony of the Green Urban Forum 2024, which was held in conjunction with National Landscape Day (HLN) 2024 today.
At the same event, the minister launched the book 200 Malaysia’s Native Trees For Street Planning, which will later be distributed to each PBT as a guide to improving tree management in urban areas.
Nga added that the Housing and Local Government Ministry is targeting at least RM1 billion in export value involving the sale of landscape products within the country by the end of this year.
Organising HLN is one of the ministry’s efforts toward achieving this target, where the country can showcase achievements, innovations, technologies and products related to the landscape industry.
“We have identified several high-potential markets like Singapore, where most of the trees and landscape products used are purchased from Malaysia,” he said.
— Bernama
