Ever wonder what it takes to rejuvenate barren lands into lush greenery? SEAD gives you the opportunity to spend the day in environmental conservation sites and contribute to the restoration efforts happening in Ipoh and Ansell Tan from Story Tinkers paid them a visit! SEAD, which stands for Stewards of Environmentally-Aware Development, is an environmentally-focused company specializing in the utilization of bamboo as a sustainable solution for the built environment, land regeneration and rural community empowerment.
Ansell visited the Centre of Resilient Ecosystems (CoRE) and got involved with other participants to transform degraded ex-mining plots into bamboo and vetiver fields, bringing life back to the abandoned land. Operating within Kinta Nature Park, SEAD is restoring 20 hectares of land using the incredibly resilient bamboo plant, which is suited to land restoration, due to its quick growing nature and regenerative capabilities. As a rapidly renewable plant, bamboo is a wonderful sustainable alternative for the timber and biomass industries that historically rely on logging forests, causing mass deforestation. Bamboo can be harvested without replanting in a way that can even increase the overall yield of the plant, supercharging its rate of carbon sequestration. SEAD processes the bamboo for multiple uses including decking, cladding and architecture installations that highlight the beauty of organic Malaysian designs.
To complement their efforts, SEAD runs the “Radical Regeneration” programme where anybody can come and lend a hand, while learning more about the purpose behind what they do, and receive hands-on guidance on how to effectively plant bamboo and other companion species, along with plant care. The programme lasts 3 hours with the option of heading into Kinta Nature Park’s visitor centre for some bird watching, with the old tin-mining lakes being the perfect place to spot a huge variety of migratory waterbirds, including herons and egrets. So, grab a pair of binoculars and make a day of it!
For more on SEAD and CoRE, visit: linktr.ee/seadbamboo
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