LETTER | The Philippines government has implemented a sure success tree planting programme, one that the Malaysian government should emulate.

A new Filipino law requires all graduating students from elementary, high school and college to plant at least 10 trees each in order to qualify to graduate.

In effect, that would be a whopping 175 million new trees planted each year.

Not only is this an ingenious programme but it speaks volumes about a government that wants to walk the talk.

It is time that our Education Ministry, together with the Ministry of Agriculture or Ministry of Environment, collaborate and fast track a similar policy.

We should not take years to study, review, debate and argue.

Such a tree planting programme immediately instils the value of environmental care and a strong sense of nationalism in our young students.

At the rate we are raping our pristine forests and land-filling every available plot of land to greedily cash in on construction developments, the need for a greening programme cannot be left just to the Forestry Department or some remote government agency.

It is time to enlist our young generation into a constructive, long-term commitment that spins of multiple bonuses for our nation in the long haul.

Hopefully, the engines of private sector businesses and educational institutions will take up this idea too.

And the support of media is critical in bringing this idea into the public sphere.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.