Over 40,000 saplings will be planted in Coloane by the Municipal Affairs Bureau (also known by its Portuguese initials IAM) starting from this month as part of its restoration program.
According to a report by local media, these saplings will be planted across an area of 35 hectares, covering both sides of Hac Sá Long Chao Kok, Alto de Coloane and Estrada Militar. By the time the second phase of the project is completed in July, the government will have planted 120 hectares of trees in 2024.
The restoration initiative came about in 2018 as a result of the loss of tree ecology caused by Typhoon Hato and Typhoon Mangkhut. In phase one of the program, over 125,000 saplings from more than 120 native tree species were planted, with the trees registering a survival rate of 90 percent and growing between 3 to 5 metres over the course of five years.
[See more: Some 800 mangroves will be planted during Macao Green Week]
“If local residents walk up to Hac Sá Long Chao Kok or other [relevant] locations, you will see areas that look like a terrace field with bamboo stakes driven to the ground,” said the head of IAM’s conservation division, Wong Kai Chin.
“The tree saplings are within one metre in height, meaning that you can’t see them from a distance, but if you move closer, you’ll see that these saplings are even better at fixing themselves into the soil.”
Currently, IAM is also hosting smaller-scale tree-planting activities and other sustainability events across the city as part of the 43rd Green Week, which will run until 24 March.
