MANGROVES do more than line the edges of Malaysia's coast. Their tangled roots help hold shorelines together; their dense habitats shelter marine life and their ability to store carbon makes them an important part of the fight against climate change.

At Kuala Selangor Nature Park, these natural defences received a helping hand recently when 40 employees from Hektar REIT's asset and property management companies joined a conservation effort to plant 200 mangrove saplings under the guidance of the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS).

The exercise was intended to do more than put young trees into the ground. By helping to rehabilitate degraded areas within the park, the initiative contributes to the longer-term work of restoring a fragile ecosystem on which coastal biodiversity and marine life depend.