The Bleeding Heart

From the air, Brunei is still quite green. A large track of the surface has been gazetted as forest reserve areas and remains protected from human impact. At the same time large housing projects are required to satisfy the growing population. From the air however such projects created large scars amidst the 'green' carpet, clearly visible when flying in to Brunei. The Heart of Borneo (HoB) project, an ambitious initiative to conserve the richness of the forests doesn't oppose such development projects but rather promotes sustainable development through sustainable land use management. However one could see that the whole land in these particular projects have been stripped of any vegetation before building works started. This resulted in the creation of a local ecosystem (or lack of it) and exacerbating in soil erosion and uncontrolled flooding downstream. Even after the project is completed, there's hardly any trees planted alongside road or by the new tenants in their new compounds. Here is a perfect example of how one could do their bits to ensure 'Carbon Balance' is maintained and everyone (the new tenants) can do their bits in embracing these HoB concept - by start planting trees.