`Protected Area’ a Misnomer

By Sarah Sabaratnam

READERS Digest recently researched the best and worst places to live in. 141 nations were surveyed for the greenest, most livable places people could thrive in.

Nordic countries like Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden were ranked in the top four, while Malaysia came in 54th place.

Finland won high marks for air and water quality, a low incidence of infant disease, and how well it protects citizens from water pollution and natural disasters. Yet, it too has its own set of environmental woes – it produces an above-average amount of greenhouse gases, has a large ecological footprint and contributes significantly to regional environmental woes.

If Finland, the most livable country in the world has its own set of environment problems yet to be dealt with, where does that leave Malaysia, ranked at 54th?

To mark Malaysia Environment Week this week, we sought environmentalists Dr. Loh Chi Leong of the Malaysian Nature Society, Dr G. Balamurugan of ERE Consulting Group Sdn Bhd, Loretta Ann Soosayraj, Coordinator, Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers (MYCAT) and Dr. Melvin Gumal director of the Malaysia Programme for the World Conservation Society.

We also thumbed through a copy of Sahabat Alam Malaysia’s book, Malaysian Environment in Crisis and checked websites of government agencies to give you a report card on the state of the environment you currently live in.

SECTOR

Protected areas

PRESENT STATE

According to Sahabat Alam Malaysia in their book Malaysian Environment in Crisis forests in Malaysia are given all sorts of protective terms but are often subject to the fancies of decision makers and may be degazetted at a whim for logging or development. Protected area coverage for Malaysia in 1998 was estimated to be about 6.42% of the total land area (MoSTE, 1998). However, various figures are provided by different sources, depending on the interpretation of what constitutes a protected area. This remains a contentious issue because the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) and the Forestry Department staff have conflicting definitions at to what constitutes as protected areas. With less than 7 per cent of Malaysia’s forests remaining pristine, one has to ask: Are these enough to represent the different ecosystems? Furthermore, are these protected areas totally protected? For instance although the Royal Belum State park is a protected area, it has suffered heavily from human encroachment.

CONCLUSION

In order to maintain viable populations of fauna and flora in the future, we will need adequate protected areas which are sizeable and unfragmented. Dr Melvin Gumal of the Wildlife Conservation Society says: “We should not think that only protected forests conserve wildlife. Logged-over forests such as those within the Central Forest Spine are also valuable as they are useful habitats to sizeable prey animals such as ungulates which then are food to the larger charismatic species such as tigers. Logged-over forests are thus useful for some species, but definitely not all species and that is why we also need the pristine protected areas.”

SECTOR

Biodiversity

PRESENT STATE

With less then seven per cent of peninsular Malaysia’s total forest area that has never been logged over, can we hope to protect our mega biodiversity which includes more than 80 lizards, 140 snakes, 736 species of birds, 449 species of fish, 150 amphibians, 4,000 types of marine fish, 449 species of freshwater fish, 1,000 butterflies and over 12,000 months, 150,000 species of invertebrates, too many insects to count, 286 species of mammals and over 15,000 species of known flowering plants. These are just the ones that have been recorded. What about all the species that have yet to be discovered? Many of these will disappear as forests are degazetted, and hills stripped, and rivers polluted, and mangroves plundered.

CONCLUSION

Dr. Loh Chi Leong of the Malaysian Nature Society says: “Biodiversity is also important for the economy (through the discovery of new drugs and food) and for food security. If our environment is not healthy, it will affect our economy and our health.

SECTOR

Domestic waste

PRESENT STATE

The percentage of waste being recycled n Malaysia is still embarrassingly low. In 2006, a study by the Japan International Corporative Agency Malaysia revealed that the national recycling rate was only 4.5 per cent which is still far from the 22 per cent target that we intend to achieve in the year 2020. On the other hand, in Denmark, 65 per cent of waste was recycled and reused in 2004 with less than 10 per cent of all waste being disposed at landfills. Back in 2001, Singapore was already recycling 44.4 per cent of its waste, and in the Philippines the percentage of recycling and reuse was 12 per cent.

CONCLUSION

Dr G. Balamurugan of ERE Consulting Group feels recycling needs to be done at home and not at a recycling centre. It must be forced and not remain an option.

SECTOR

River systems

PRESENT STATE

Although there are fewer “very polluted” rivers today than there were two years ago, much remains to be done. The authorities are very good at monitoring rivers and can tell us every year which rivers are dirty and clean but more political will is needed to prevent river pollution.

CONCLUSION

Loh says any effort at saving our rivers should focus on point sources of pollution – that is to eliminate the sources of pollution, rather than trying to deal with the pollution after it has entered the rivers. Cleaning up rivers is an expensive business and a shot-in-the-arm solution. They do not address the real problem.Hopefully, YTL’s RM1 billion contract to clean up Malaysia’s rivers will have the right focus.

SECTOR

Wildlife

PRESENT STATE

Research by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (quoted in the book Malaysian Environment in Crisis) has found that areas which the majority of the 286 species of mammals are entirely dependent are severely threatened or have been omitted from the existing network of protected areas. These areas which are below 600 metres include coastal dipterocarp forests, peat swamp forests, limestone flora, montane flora, lowland dipterocarp forests and alluvial swamps. Much of these areas have been converted for other land uses.

CONCLUSION

Gumal says there is a definite need to continue with wildlife research and some of it may have to be longer-term research, such as home range studies via radio-collaring of tigers, and habitat use by elephants. Knowing more about the needs of animals mean that we can tailor conservation management to their needs. But we also need to monitor our conservation interventions to find out if we are indeed effective.

SECTOR

Environmental legislation

PRESENT STATE

Lets us give you just one example. The tiger in Malaysia is primarily protected by the Protection of Wild Life Act 1972. This Act, while affording crucial protection to many species, is also 35 years old, and needs an urgent overhaul. Some inadequacies/ loopholes – The penalties: RM15,000 for killing a tiger in 1972 may have been sufficient, but what is RM15,000 today? The world has less than 3,000 tigers left, a decrease of 97% in numbers in the last century alone. We cannot afford to complacent with the last 3,000, or Malaysia’s last 500. Tiger derivatives: Tigers are totally protected here, which means it is an offence to kill, keep or trade in tigers and tiger parts. This law, however, does not cover tiger- based traditional medicines. Once a tiger has been killed and processed into a substance, the authorities do not have the power to seize the products and prosecute the offenders, even if the label says it contains tiger parts. Species/ specimen: Whether a smuggler is caught with 1,000 dead tigers, or one dead tiger, the charge is the same, and he risks the same penalty. Other legislation similarly lack bite and need to be updated to meet current needs for long term sustainability.

CONCLUSION

According to Loretta Ann Soosairaj of the MyCAT programme, urgent amendments are needed such as: Greater penalties; products derived from totally protected species also to be covered by the law; mandatory imprisonment, especially for repeat offenders; penalties for per specimen offence as opposed to per species offence, ie. the penalty goes up depending on the quantity of what is seized. Soosairaj says: “But it isn’t enough to have excellent, up-to-date laws. Excellent legislation on paper means nothing if not enforced. The enforcement arm must make good use of the laws, and the judiciary, impose maximum penalties. There must be greater importance placed on wildlife from the courts, for it is the courts who have the power to see that a smuggler, poacher, dealer receive just punishment for their crimes. For where is the sense in fining a man RM7,000 for having a dead tiger in his possession, instead of at least the five-year imprisonment or RM15,000 fine he risked?

SECTOR

Eco tourism

PRESENT STATE

When species disappear, so will tourists. Fraser’s Hill is a good example of this. Yet in the last few years, we have continued to threaten beautiful diving spots that used to attract droves of tourists, with unsound development. Such was the fate of Pulau Tioman, known to be one of the most beautiful islands in the world. Today it is the site of a RM40 million development project for a public marina, despite criticisms from the Malaysian Nature Society, WWF-Malaysia and residents who feel the project signals the end of Tioman as a diving hotspot.

CONCLUSION

Malaysia has yet to grasp the real concept of eco-tourism. Ideally, it means tourism that is sustainable in that it attempts to ensure the lowest impact on the environment and local culture. Loh says it should also be done by the locals who have a long-term stake in the area and not by outside developers. It should also generate income and employment for locals and not outsiders. It is in essence, responsible tourism which both protects ecosystems while being sensitive to local cultures. Loh also believes that all marine parks should require Environmental Impact Assessments. As in protected forests, most islands in Malaysia may have marine park status but that does not seem to protect them from development.

SECTOR

Land use

PRESENT STATE

A lot of industrial parks in Malaysia are built on land best suited for agriculture. National policies frighteningly propose that highlands should be used for temperate agriculture. Development in the country tends to be a little more haphazard than we would like it and is seemingly unplanned.

CONCLUSION

Loh says the government must come up with an integrated land management plan that stipulates which land is best utilised for what use. “In Japan you will find rice plots next to skyscrapers. This is because the authorities have decided ahead of time which is most suited for what need no matter what the price of the land. Buildings and development are only raised on non-productive land. This demonstrates not a case of choosing between environment and development but political will to choose an integrated plan.” He also says the technology now exists to carry out temperate agriculture in the lowlands.

SECTOR

Stock of environmental management professionals

PRESENT STATE

We do not have enough people trained in the right area to help in conservation work. This is not true of just the environmental NGOs. Government agencies that deal with the environment are short of qualified officers to carry out enforcement work. Customs officers do not have adequate training to identify illegally traded animals. In the industrial and infrastructure sector, environmental and safety officers are lacking.

CONCLUSION

Says Loh: “For a country like ours, very rich in biodiversity, we should have people who know how to monitor or study our biodiversity. Currently we probably have more people coming from overseas to study our biodiversity compared to our own researchers. This shows a gap. Furthermore, we are rushing to jump on the biotechnology bandwagon. But the answer to biotech is in our biodiversity.”

SECTOR

Marine and coastal ecosystems

PRESENT STATE

We have lost more than 50 per cent of our mangroves in the last 50 years. There is no point planting mangroves in one area, and then removing them in another area – it does not help increase the size of mangroves but merely maintains it. In States of Penang, Kedah and parts of Johor and Terengganu, where mangroves have been destroyed either by the tsunami or land conversion, the fishermen can’t catch enough fish to support their livelihood. The floods in Johor was to an extent caused by high tides because of loss of mangroves on the East and West Coast.

CONCLUSION

Loh says mangroves are very, very important to us, but are often underrated. They are an important barrier between saltwater and freshwater, especially if sea levels continue to rise. Without them salt water will move inwards and affect irrigation for agriculture. They are the breeding ground of fish and trap silt and pollution from going out to sea.

Working towards our future

YOUR country needs you. If our environment is to survive our grandchildren in a healthy and acceptable state, our generation needs to do something now. For a start, we can help with conservation related work during our free time. Or we could encourage our children to pursue careers in environmental management professions or the like.

The book How High Does the Hornbill Fly? was produced by the Biodiversity Steering Group & Working Group which includes representatives from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, LESTARI, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, the Maritime Institute of Malaysia, WWF-Malaysia, The Malaysian Nature Society, ISIS, the British Council and British Petroleum Malaysia.

This unique partnership set out to raise the profile of biodiversity in the country in line with the long-term goal mooted in 2000: “To have a strong base of conservation management professionals in Malaysia.”

The book comprises a summary introduction to the state of Malaysia’s biodiversity written by Professor Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Mohamad of UKM. It also features 22 different personalities who talk about how their jobs contribute towards protecting the nation’s rich biodiversity. Find out how you can have exciting careers like them, or do something in your free time that can have a similar effect. The book is available at BP Malaysia and interested parties may contact Ahmadi Ghani at ahmadi.ghani@se1.bp.com.

(c) 2007 New Straits Times. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.