Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and edotco Group Sdn Bhd (“edotco”), a subsidiary of Axiata Group Berhad (“Axiata”) recently planted more than 1000 mangrove saplings at Kampung Dato Hormat, Sabak Bernam district in Selangor, Malaysia. This initiative further expands Ericsson’s Connected Mangroves project in the area that was initiated in 2015.
More than 200 volunteers from Ericsson Malaysia, edotco and local community came together for this mangrove planting activity. The area where mangrove saplings have been planted has been equipped with sensors to monitor real-time information about soil and weather conditions, fires, water levels and any intrusion from third parties to ensure that the saplings reach full maturity.
These sensors help compile and send data directly to a cloud where farmers, NGOs, analysts and authorities, can have access to it to understand more about the health of the saplings.
Wan Zainal Adileen, edotco Malaysia Chief Country Officer states “Mangroves are a critical part of Malaysia’s ecosystem that protects local communities from natural calamities and nurtures wildlife in the coastal ecosystems. It is up to all of us to do what we can to conserve and protect the mangroves. I am happy that volunteers from edotco and Ericsson have come together to plant over 1000 saplings in Kampung Dato Hormat, Sabak Bernam and contribute to growing the connected mangrove project.”
Todd Ashton, Head of Ericsson Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh said, “We had initiated the Connected Mangroves project to protect and nurture the ecosystem in Kampung Dato Hormat Sabak Bernam, Selangor that constitutes an important part of the nearly 3,000 miles of coastline in Malaysia. We are now further building on this initiative through this partnership with edotco. I am thankful to volunteers from both edotco and Ericsson Malaysia for their participation in the plantation activity.
Todd further added, “The Connected Mangroves project reinforces our commitment to Malaysia and is a strong demonstration of how Ericsson’s technology can bring a positive change to our society”.
Ericsson is now looking at expanding the IoT solutions that are currently being used for the Connected Mangroves project to include broader use cases around the Mangroves ecosystem. The Company has already announced a hackathon called “Technology for Good Challenge 2.0” co-organized with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Universiti Putra Malaysia. The hackathon aims to attract new ideas and stimulate innovations in the IoT space for the Mangrove ecosystem as well as create local use cases to accelerate cellular IoT adoption by university and industries.
About Connected Mangroves
Ericsson’s Connected Mangroves project, the first of its kind in the world, combines cloud, machine-to-machine and mobile broadband to help the local community in Kampung Dato Hormat, Sabak Bernam District Selangor, Malaysia, to better manage the growth of new mangrove saplings and the planted areas. This project is in partnership with Global Environmental Centre (GEC) the NGO, Luimewah the sensor partner and the SHBKDH, community of Kampung Dato Hormat Sabak Bernam. From its beginnings in late 2015, the project has consistently shown that 80% of new mangrove saplings reach maturity through timely interventions by the local community, based on sensor data.
Ericsson collaborates with the Global Environment Centre (GEC), an NGO focusing on creating awareness and education as well as nurture sense ownership around to preserve mangrove ecosystems with the real-time monitoring system and involvement of local communities such as SHBDKG-local community of Kampung Dato ‘Hormat to make this project successful and sustainable.
The “Connected Mangroves” project was awarded under the United Nations Momentum for Change ICT as a shining example of how ICT and mobility can be used together to restore dwindling mangrove plantations and while protecting residents from natural disasters such as flooding.