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Title: CATCHMENT PROTECTION AS A KEY TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY OF WATER RESOURCES IN MALAYSIA


1
  • CATCHMENT PROTECTION AS A KEY TOWARDS
    SUSTAINABILITY OF WATER RESOURCES IN MALAYSIA
  • By
  • Prof.Dr Chan Ngai Weng
  • Water Watch Penang
  • www.waterwatchpenang
  • waterwatchchan_at_hotmail.com

2
AGENDA
  • INTRODUCTION
  • MAJOR ISSUES AFFECTING WATER RESOURCES
    AVAILABILITY IN MALAYSIA
  • CATCHMENT PROTECTION A MAJOR ISSUE AFFECTING
    SUSTAINABILITY OF WATER RESOURCES
  • ECOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF CATCHMENTS
  • ROLE OF NGOs IN CATCHMENT PROTECTION
  • CONCLUSIONS

3
  • DESPITE ALL THE COMMITMENTS UNDER AGENDA 21 AND
    PROMISES MADE AT RIO JOHANNESBURG, IN THE
    MALAYSIA PLANS OTHER DEVELOPMENT PLANS, THERE
    REMAINS SERIOUS PROBLEMS CONCERNING THE
    SUSTAINABILITY OF OUR WATER RESOURCES
  • TODAY, WATER PROBLEMS ARE OCCURRING VERY
    FREQUENTLY IN MANY PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.

Malaysia has a long way to go before we can say
we have seen the last of our water problems
19 JAN 2007
4
MAJOR ISSUES AFFECTING SUSTAINABILITY OF WATER
RESOURCES IN MALAYSIA
  • MISCONCEPTION ON AMOUNT OF AVAILABLE WATER
  • SINGLE APPROACH OF SUPPLY MANAGEMENT
  • DESTRUCTION OF HIGHLANDS, FORESTS WATER
    CATCHMENTS
  • (4) WATER POLLUTION
  • (5) LOST WATER THROUGH NON-REVENUE WATER (NRW)
  • (6) WATER WASTAGE
  • (7) PRIVATISATION OF THE WATER INDUSTRY
  • (8) LOW WATER TARIFFS
  • (9) INSTITUTIONAL
    ENFORCEMENT ISSUES
  • (10) CLIMATE CHANGE

5
(1) MISCONCEPTION ON AMOUNT OF AVAILABLE WATER
WATER IS A RENEWABLE RESOURCE VIA THE
HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE
  • ANNUAL RAINFALL
  • - 3,000 mm
  • gt 150 RIVER SYSTEMS
  • 990 bilion m3 (bcm)
  • SURFACE FLOW
  • - 566 bcm
  • GROUNDWATER
  • - 64 bcm

CURRENT ANNUAL WATER DEMAND IN MALAYSIA (2000)
9,543MLD (lt 3 SURFACE FLOW)
6
AMOUNT OF PER CAPITA RENEWABLE WATER (M3/YR)
USA
STRESS LINE 1700
7
(2) SINGLE APPROACH OF SUPPLY MANAGEMENT
  • NUMBER OF DAMS TREATMENT PLANTS THAT CAN BE
    BUILT IS LIMITED, BUT POPULATION EXPLOSION IS NOT
  • MANY RIVER BASINS HAVE REACHED THEIR LIMITS OF
    MAXIMUM SUPPLY (JPS 25 river basins currently
    experiencing water stress - Sg. Kelantan, Sg.
    Perlis, Sg. Langkawi, Sg. Kedah, Sg. Merbok, Sg.
    Muda, Sg. Prai, Sg. Penning, Sg. Kerian, Sg.
    Kurau, Sg. Bernam, Sg. Tengi, Sg. Selangor, Sg.
    Klang, Sg. Langat, Sg. Malacca, Sg. Kesang, Sg.
    Muar, Sg. Pontian Kecil, Sg. Johor, Sg. Tawau,
    Sg. Wariu, Sg. Moyog, Sg. Papar and Sg. Miri)
  • DEMAND DOUBLES EVERY 2 DECADES BUT SUPPLY LAGS
    FAR BEHIND
  • 2007 SELANGOR IS ESTIMATED TO EXPERIENCE WATER
    STRESS
  • 2010 PENANG IS EXPECTED TO HAVE INSUFFICIENT
    WATER

8
(3) DESTRUCTION OF HIGHLANDS, FORESTS WATER
CATCHMENTS
9
FOREST IN MALAYSIA BEFORE 1900 90 1957 75
1970 70 1980 62 1990 59 1996 57
2002 60 2007 - ?
10
Total forested area and tree cover in Malaysia
(million hectare) ________________________________
__________________________________ Year Land
Forested Land Tree Land
Forest Land Area Source
Area Area Area Crops Area
Tree Cover ______________________________
____________________________________________ 1980
32.9 20.5 62.3 3.5
10.6 24.0 72.9
MPI 1996 1990 32.9 19.4 59.0
4.6 14.0 24.0
72.9 MPI 1996 1995 32.9
19.2 58.4 4.8 14.6
24.0 72.9 MPI
1996 1997 32.9 20.6 62.6
4.8 14.6 25.4
77.2 MTC ______________________________
_____________________________________________
rubber, oil palm, cocoa and coconut only MPI
Ministry of Primary Industry MTC Malaysian
Timber Council (Source Adapted from Sahabat Alam
Malaysia, 200220)
11
FOREST FIRES DESTROY HUNDREDS-THOUSANDS OF
HECTARES OF FOREST EACH YEAR, INCLUDING FORESTS
THAT SERVE AS WATER CATCHMENTS
12
HIGHLAND DEVELOPMENT HAS BROUGHT ABOUT
DESTRUCTION OF WATER CATCHMENTS
13
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT (LAND USE CHANGE)
DEFORESTATION IN MALAYSIA
  • Pre-Independent Period 1957 British started
    much DEFORESTATION via Tin Mining Rubber
    Plantations Railroad Constructions.
  • Post-Independence 1973 Land Use Change
    Agriculture Rubber Oil Palm on the hill
    slopes, tea vegetables in the Highlands,
    padi/vegetables in the lowlands/floodplains/swamps
    .
  • 1974-1990 Land Use Change Urbanization,
    Logging, Hill Resort Development, Mining,
    Industrialization, Agriculture, Dams etc.
  • 1990-Present Day Rapid Economic,
    Infrastructural (Highways) Urbanization Growth.
    GDP grew at an average of 8 - 10 per annum
    (Except 1997/98) to become one of Asias
    TIGERS.
  • Predominant Model of Development During all
    Periods, the predominant model was ECONOMIC
    DEVELOPMENT with Environmental Conservation
    (Water Conservation) secondary.

14
MAJOR CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION LAND USE CHANGE
Shifting agriculture
Mining Irrigation Schemes
(draining of wetlands) Land
development schemes (FELDA, FELCRA)
Logging activities (legal illegal)
Dam Construction Construction
of Highways Agriculture
Highland Resorts (Tourism)
Housing, Industry Construction Projects

?
15
  • SHIFTING CULTIVATION OF THE ORANG ASLI HAS BEEN
    USED AS AN EXCUSE FOR DEFORESTATION
  • BUT THE FACT IS THAT SUCH SMALL SCALE SHIFTING
    AGRICULTURE ALLOWS FORESTS TO REGENERATE
  • FOREST PEOPLES ARE CONSIDERED BY ECOLOGISTS AS
    PART PARCEL OF THE FOREST ECOSYSTEM
  • SHIFTING AGRIC CANNOT BE BLAMED FOR EXTENSIVE
    DEFORESTATION.

16
DEFORESTATION DUE TO MODERN DEVELOPMENT
Destruction depletion of Malaysian forests is
mainly caused by logging, tin mining,
agricultural conversions, construction of dams,
housing, resort development irrigation schemes
(lowland forests or wetland forests) Of these,
logging has been singled out as having the
greatest impact on natural forest ecosystems.
17
Market ValueRM10,000.00
Cooling Effect equivalent to many air-conditioners
Saves Energy
Reduces Air Pollution.
Food Production via Photosynthesis
CO2 absorption Carbon Sink Reduces Global
Warming
Habitat and nourishment to insects, animals,
fungus, other lower plants, and humans (natives
living in the jungle).
Produces Oxygen
Recycles Minerals in Soils
Absorb horizontal moisture in the air
Controls soil erosion, sedimentation, floods
winds
Regulates River Flow
Water Catchment
INDIRECT VALUES
A form of natural water filtration purification
Medicinal Value
18
Regulates River Flow
Water Catchment
Forests are able to retain water in the
vegetation as well as in the ground. During the
dry season this water is released slowly into
streams from the ground via gravity.
Forests intercepts a large amount of rainfall,
absorbs it by vegetation, and the remainder
infiltrates into the soil to recharge soil
moisture, some then flows downstream as
groundwater flow.
Absorb horizontal moisture in the air
A form of natural water filtration purification
Cloud Forests - one of the main functions of
hill forests is their ability to capture moisture
in the air, or what is known as horizontal
precipitation (Salleh Mohd. Nor, 19922). This
is moisture entering the forest ecosystem via
condensation of atmospheric vapour on to leaves,
grass other vegetative surfaces. Vogelmann
(1973) has demonstrated that horizontal
precipitation in the humid tropics can be as high
as between 300 mm to gt 900 mm per annum. This is
translated into as much as between 7 (wet
season) to gt 100 (dry season). Juvik Ekern
(1978) has shown that horizontal precipitation
can amount to gt 10 times the rainfall during the
dry season. Without forests, air moisture will
be carried away elsewhere by winds and is lost
elsewhere.
Forests are natural filters that cleanses rain
water. Together with the soil, the water that is
release in forest streams in its natural state is
Class I (safe to drink straight from source).
19
CONCRETE JUNGLE - Through transpiration, an
average sized tree loses more than 200 litres of
water per hour on a hot day. This is translated
into a huge amount of transpiration that goes up
into the atmosphere form clouds, eventually
producing rain. Penang Island has lost this
transpiration source as most of its forests have
given way to concrete jungles. It is the same
for KL.
Consequently, both Georgetown KL have to import
water from outside its boundaries
20
GAZETTEMENT OF WATER CATCHMENTS IS AN EFFECTIVE
WAY TO SAVE OUR FORESTS ENSURE SUSTAINABILITY
OF WATER RESOURCES
PENANG STATE 103,945 Ha FOREST 7758 Ha (7.46
) WATER CATCHMENTS 5956 Ha (5.73 )
21
GAZETTEMENT OF PARKS PENANGITES GET THEIR OWN
NATIONAL PARK
1,200 ha Smallest National Park in the world
22
LESSONS FROM THE PAST COLLAPSE OF ANCIENT
CIVILIZATIONS DUE TO DEFORESTATION
Easter Island, known in the native language as
Rapa Nui ("Big Rapa") or Isla de Pascua in
Spanish, is an island in the south Pacific Ocean
belonging to Chile Jared Diamond in his book
Collapse documents the collapse of the ancient
Easter Islanders due to deforestation. The
disappearance of the island's trees seems to
coincide with a decline of the Easter Island
civilization around the 17th-18th century AD.
23
  • COLLAPSE OF SUMERIA
  • Ubaid Period (5200-4500 BC) - settlements in
    southern Mesopotamia. The Sumerian people who
    settled here farmed the lands in this region that
    were made fertile by silt deposited by the Tigris
    Euphrates rivers.
  • Deforestation for agriculture, later increase
    in soil salinity due to poorly drained irrigated
    soils, reduced agricultural yields severely
    leading to collapse. From 2100 BC to 1700 BC, it
    is estimated that the population declined by
    nearly 3/5ths Thompson, W.R. (2004)

24
  • COLLAPSE OF MAYA CIVILIZATION
  • The Classic period (c. 250 - 900) witnessed the
    peak of large-scale construction and urbanism,
    the recording of monumental inscriptions, and a
    period of significant intellectual and artistic
    development, particularly in the southern lowland
    regions
  • In the 8th 9th centuries AD (the "Terminal
    Classic" period) Maya culture went into decline,
    with most of the cities of the central lowlands
    abandoned. Current theories attribute this
    decline non-ecological and ecological
    (Deforestation being one of the major reasons).

25
ROLE OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS IN
CATCHMENT PROTECTION CONSERVATION
  • Public awareness education (Bringing urbanites
    closer to nature/forests instill a sense of
    attachment)
  • Love Our Forests campaign
  • Catchment clean-up via gotong royong
  • Tree replanting campaign
  • Active involvement in eia (e.g. Save Penang Hill
    Campaign Friends of Penang Hill)
  • Carry out activities in forests (e.g. World Water
    Day Penang Botanic Gardens)
  • Lobby for gazettement as Water Catchment or
    National/State Park

26
  • BAGUIO REGREENING MOVEMENT (PHILIPPINES)
  • This programme is successful because it enjoys
    the support from a wide spectrum of the
    community, mass media schools
  • The real threat to Busol Watershed is evident and
    imminent as more and more squatters are
    encroaching into it
  • People here realise that the most important
    factor that may determine the fate of Baguio city
    could be depletion of water supply as a result of
    deforestation Lessons Learnt To establish
    trails for eco-walk through our watershed areas
    in Penang Botanic Gardens or Penang Hill etc
  • Designing eco-education programmes

27
CONSERVATION ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION PARKS
CENTRES
  • MNS' Belum Temengor Campaign - Campaigning to
    turn the area into a park
  • Kuala Selangor Nature Park
  • FRIM-MNS-SHELL, Nature Education Centre
  • BOH-MNS Field Study Centre
  • The Rimba Ilmu (The Forest of Knowledge) Botanic
    is located in University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur
  • Helped set up Endau-Rompin National Park
  • Publications - Malaysian Naturalist and the
    Malayan Nature Journal.

28
  • Sustainable Forest Management Programme
  • Community-Based Conservation In Ulu Padas, Sabah
  • Orang-Utan Man of The Forest
  • Conservation In Tourism
  • Perlis State Park, Frasers Hill, Cameron
    Highlands
  • Forests For Water, Water For Life
  • Other projects undertaken by WWF Malaysia(i)
    Marine Coastal
  • (ii) Wetlands
  • (iii) Species
  • (iv) Education Awareness
  • (v) Policy Advocacy(National Highlands Policy)
  • WWF Malaysias policy advocacy has helped to turn
    ideas into national policies, state parks, forest
    reserves and wildlife sanctuaries.

29
R egional E nvironmental A wareness C ameron H
ighlands
30
(No Transcript)
31
CONCLUSIONS
  • Gazettement of Water Catchments Parks
  • Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM)
  • Integrated Catchment Management Plan (ICMP)
  • EIA should be imposed on all ungazetted water
    catchments (Review EIA requirements)
  • Environmentally Friendly Development In forests
    allow only developments with soft impacts e.g.
    recreation, ecotourism, research, photography,
    rowing, etc
  • Institutional Arrangements - The Forestry,
    Wildlife, Water and Tourism Departments Others
    need to come together to form a committee to
    manage water catchments, which are at the same
    time forest reserves, wildlife sanctuaries and
    attractive tourist spots
  • Cultural Heritage Areas or Indigenous
    Sanctuaries - Special areas within forests where
    significant numbers of indigenous people and
    local communities make their homes should also be
    gazetted as such
  • Work with NGOs Capitatise on their Free
    Labour.

32
WATER CATCHMENTS (WITHIN FORESTS) POSSESS VERY
ECOLOGICALLY ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE
ECOSYSTEMS STRICT CONTROL OF DEVELOPMENT IS
NECESSARY (ALLOW ONLY SOFT DEVELOPMENT)
ECOTOURISM APPEARS TO BE THE BEST OPTION FOR
DEVELOPMENT
33
TERIMA KASIH
www.waterwatchpenang.orgEmail nwchan_at_usm.my
SAVE OUR FORESTS SAVE OUR WATER RESOURCES
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