A Strategy of Care for Malaysia’s Mangroves - Sabah · recent educational series trilogy: Clough, 2013, Ong & Gong, 2013 and Baba et al., 2013. Present Status: ... Being a Ramsar
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A MANGROVE-CENTRIC VIEW OF WETLANDS FOR FUTURE SUSTAINABLE USE IN MALAYSIA
ONG, Jin Eong
The International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems (ISME)
c/o Faculty of Agriculture, University of the Ryukyus
Senbaru 1, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0129,
Japan.
<mangroves@yahoo.com>
“MANGROVE-CENTRIC”?
First, “wetlands” cover a huge range of habitats, so we have to concentrate on mangroves.
Second, this year’s World Wetlands Day theme: “Wetlands for Our Future: Sustainable Livelihood”, seems to place an anthropocentric focus on “livelihood”. However, it is very rare to find human communities (i.e. the real stakeholders) living within the mangroves.
So, this is about the future sustainable use of mangroves.
OUTLINE
1. INTRODUCTION
2. ECONOMICS, POLICY & GOVERNANCE
3. IMPLICATIONS OF SUSTAINABLE USE
4. A STRATEGIC MANGROVE CARE PLAN
5. WALKING THE TALK
1. INTRODUCTION
Mangrove Primer:International Society for Mangrove Ecosystem’s (ISME) recent educational series trilogy: Clough, 2013,
Ong & Gong, 2013 and Baba et al., 2013.
Present Status:
World: 152,361 km2
Malaysia: 7,097 km2
(Spalding et al. 2010)
Half of our mangroves lost in past 50 years.
Time-Series on Mangrove Area(Haywood et al.,2001)
Loss of Mangrove: Merbok
y = -1.10x + 2235.24
R2 = 0.92
0
20
40
60
80
100
1950 1970 1990 2010
Year
Ma
ng
rov
e A
rea
(km
2)
2. THE ECONOMICS OF MANGROVES
On the one hand, mangroves are a “market failure” (i.e. its goods and services have hardly any market value). Even our world famous MatangMangrove is a market failure!
On the other hand, mangroves are rare so mangroves derive great value from its “rarity” (like diamonds).
So, there is more reason than just market failure for governments to provide equity/ protection.
2. POLICY & GOVERNANCE ON MANGROVES
For the past few decades our Federal Government has repeatedly called for a stop to the destruction of our
mangroves, yet mangroves continue to be decimated. It is now clear that the Federal policy is to provide equity/protection for all our mangroves,
BUT . . .
The main problem is that land matters come underState jurisdiction and many States are delinquent.
So, we need to pressure these States.
3. IMPLICATIONS OF SUSTAINABLE USE
To be SUSTAINABLE:
• Conservation for posterity of the
mangroves take precedent over human
use of mangrove goods and services.
• REPLACEMENT use is NOT AN OPTION.
• So this presentation is about Caring to
ensure posterity with prosperity only
as a bonus.
OIL PALM IN MANGROVES
The very rich and powerful Oil Palm Lobby has stated that they do not use mangroves for oil palm plantations.
Rather than debate the veracity of this, we will instead make sure they stick to their words and do NOT REPLACE ANY MORE MANGROVES WITH OIL PALMS.
This issue is particularly relevant for Sabah and Sarawak
“. . . It is worrying that we keep increasing the hectarage of oil palm plantations instead of finding alternative and more productive means of using our land. By any measure, oil palm production has stagnated but we keep on clearing forests for more plantations, perpetuating the colonial economic logic that depended on the availability of land and cheap labour. Nothing entrepreneurial, innovative or technological here.”
. . . Nungsari Radhi (Economist, Prokhas Sdn. Bhd.)
p. 64, The Edge # 1125, 29 Aug. – 4 Sept. 2016
ANY SUSTAINABLE MANGROVE USES?
ECO-TOURISM:
A favorite with decision makers.
Being a Ramsar or UNESCO Sites draw in the tourist$.
Knowing the carrying capacity of each and every ecotourism activity is vital to sustainability.
CARBON SEQUESTRATION:
Blue Carbon trading is benign to the ecosystem, since no harvesting is involved.
BLUE CARBON (Carbon Trading)
Carbon Trading started with the Kyoto Protocol which only traded with harvested carbon. REDD carbon and Blue (i.e. marine) carbonwere modifications that allowed for trading in non-harvested carbon.
We know more about carbon in the mangrove ecosystem than almost all other ecosystems.
Mangrove remains untouched under this scheme so Sustainable Use in the perfect sense.
BLUE CARBON ACCOUNTING
We have allometric regressions for Total Biomass (including below-ground biomass):
Log biomass total = 2.253 logGBH – 1.943
Log biomass below-ground = 2.611 logGBH – 3.454
Ong, J.E., Gong, W.K. & Wong, C.H. (2004). Allometryand partitioning of the mangrove, Rhizophoraapiculata. Forest Ecology and Management 188: 395-408.
4. OURS TO CARE
Given that our mangroves are destined for conservation for our future generations, what would be the best course of action for our present generation to take to ensure posterity with some measure of prosperity (from the servicesmangroves provide)?
4. A STRATEGIC CARING PLAN
• An inventory and conservation ranking
of mangroves in each State.
• Conversion of important/special sites to
International and National status.
• Rehabilitate and monitor the health of
the above sites.
• Undertake the science needed to carry
out all the above tasks.
• Involve all stakeholders
MANGROVE CONSERVATION SITES
• Mangrove National Parks: None in Malaysia
• UNESCO Natural Heritage Site: Langkawi (Kilim) Global Geo-forest Park ?
• UNESCO Biosphere Reserves: Tasik Chini (2009) and Crocker Range (2014)
• Ramsar Sites: 5 of 6 in Malaysia are mangroves: 3 in Johor, Kinabatangan & Kuching Wetlands National Park + Tasek Bera
• Virgin Jungle Reserves: Pulau Kecil (Matang) & Sepilok (Sandakan)
UNESCO (MAB) Biosphere Reserves
“Biosphere reserves are sites established by
countries and recognized under UNESCO's Man
and Biosphere Programme Man to promote
sustainable development based on local community
efforts and sound science.
As places that seek to reconcile conservation of
biological and cultural diversity and economic and
social development through partnerships between
people and nature, they are ideal to test and
demonstrate innovative approaches to sustainable
development from local to international scales.”
SOME OTHER MANGROVE CARING ISSUES(HEALTH/MANAGEMENT)
How do we monitor the “Health” of our mangroves?
• What about the “Rehabilitation” of our degraded mangroves?
• Mangrove Arboreta?
• If we use our mangroves, do we know its “Carrying Capacity”?
• Mangrove Long-Term Ecological ResearchSites (LTERS)?
MANGROVE REHABILITATION
Why Rehabilitation and not Restoration?
Not only is “restoration” a physical impossibility
(no two moments in time are ever the same) but it gives managers/decision makers the false idea that they can restore ecosystems that are destroyed or degraded. The best anyone can do is to “rehabilitate”.
# “Restoration” after Indian Ocean tsunami?
# ISME – SFD Ongoing Rehabilitation Project
# Mangrove Arboretum for education?
MANGROVE ARBORETUM
Arboreta are basically botanic gardens just fortrees.
Ideally, a Mangrove Arboretum requires special conditions (like an environment with a full range of tidal inundation and salinities) so that maximum biodiversity can be achieved.
Questions: Do we want to introduce alien speciesor just local ones or mainly to save endangered species?
Alien species can become invasive species!
INVOLVING STAKEHOLDERS (CARE-GIVERS)?
WHO ARE THE STAKEHOLDERS ?
• The State Governments (Forestry Departments)
• The Federal Government (Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, in particular)
• Mangrove Communities (including e.g. Fishers)
• Environmental Non-Government Organizations
• Ministry of Tourism (and tourist agencies)
• Mangrove Scientists/Researchers
WHERE IS THE SCIENCE ?
A quarter of a century ago, Ong & Gong (1991) suggested that the Merbok Mangroves (where
Universiti Sains Malaysia had a very active mangrove research programme) be made an LTERS (Long-Term Ecological Research Site).
My assessment is that the Sabah Forestry Department is now the best placed in Malaysia to pursue this LTERS goal (to provide the science).
Will the Sabah Forestry Department accept this challenge?
5. LET’S WALK THE TALK
1. Environmental NGOs request the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE) to urgently revive the Malaysian National Mangrove Committee.
2. Urge MNRE to request each State Government to draw up a Strategic Mangrove Care Plan.
3. And, to provide the underpinning science, the Sabah Forestry Department (being the best placed in Malaysia to pursue this) is requested to take up the challenge to establish our first Mangrove LTER Site.
An Economist’s View on the Oil Palm Industry
“ . . . We need to move away from the colonial legacy of plantation economics to something better, not just from the returns to factors of production but more fundamentally, from the perspective of the relationship between the factors of production, their share of returns and the ownership of these factors. This can only be achieved if we free ourselves from the constraints that preserve the existing economic relationship. . . .
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