Sustainable Forest Management and Water Resources Conservation: A Malaysian Case 1

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1 Forests & Water/REF/04 Sustainable Forest Management and Water Resources Conservation: A Malaysian Case 1 Introduction Forestry sector plays a significant role in the economy of the country. Malaysia is one of the major exporters of wood products in the ASEAN region. As reflected in the 10-year development programme, Malaysia is committed to ensure that economic growth objectives are balanced with environmental considerations. Among major environmental and natural resource concerns include improving water quality and conservation of natural habitats and resources. The National Forestry Policy adopted in 1978 and the amendments of the National Forestry Act, 1984 (amended 1993) have accorded greater emphasis to environmental protection and conservation of biological diversity. Forest Resources At the end of 2001, the total area of forests in Malaysia is mil ha or 61.5% of free land area of which mil ha have been designated as the Permanent Forest Estate (PFE). Approximately mil ha of the PFE are production forests with the remaining 3.81 mil ha being protection forest. Under section 10 (1) of the National Forestry Act, PFE is further classified into functional use categories, including flood control forest, water catchment forest and soil protection forest. In forest management practices the forests are classified into three brood forest types, namely Dry Inland Forest, Peat Swamp Forest and Mangrove Forest. The cutting cycle prescribed for each forest type would depend on its stand structure, species composition and stocking. Two management systems are used, namely the Selective Management System (SMS) and the Modified Malayan Uniform System (55 year cutting cycle). Basically, this system entails selection of felling regime based on inventory data, in which volume removed ranging from m 3 /ha (Abdul Rahim, 2001). Water Resources Water, as an important natural resource, is inextricably linked to economic development and environmental protection. Like other countries in the region, there is no single agency or overseeing body is entrusted with the overall responsibility of integrated water planning and management. The various states in Malaysia are responsible for land and water resources. The federal 1 N. Abdul Rahim. Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, Kuala Lumpur ( rahimnik@frim.gov.my)

2 2 government plays an advisory role, which is be enhanced with the formation of a National Water Resources Council (NWRC). In the absence of an over-arching national water policy, current policies on water are sectoral in nature, each covering a different impact of water utilization, resource protection or pollution control. Separate purviews are rested with different ministry or agencies. For example, the Forestry Department conserves forests for flood protection and water catchment for maintaining water quality. At the state level, respective state governments have their own sets of policies regarding water abstraction, licensing fees and watershed management. Administration and management of water resources currently involve a number of departments and agencies who operate independently of one another according to the specific responsibilities assigned them. Conflicts involving water resources allocation, flood management and environment management at large are resolved mainly through inter-agency consultations. Due to population growth, urbanization and industrialization, the projected water demand will be increased at the rate of 12% per year. The current water demand of 12 bil m 3 /year would be increased to 20 bil m 3 by Although the total water availability exceeds the demand currently, water shortages do occur due to variability and uneven distribution of rainfall, especially after a protracted drought period. Issues relevant to sustainable forest management and water conservation 1. Forest logging in hilly areas Currently, most of the logging operations are carried out in hilly areas which essentially constitute catchment areas for downstream uses. Normally, these hill forests are allowed for extraction if they fall within the designated production forests as specified in the National Forest Act. However, forests above 1000 m a.s..l and greater 40 0 slope are not permitted for logging. Adequate regulations and procedures are in place to minimize the impacts of forest harvesting Forest harvesting operation in the inland forest is generally carried out by a combination of crawler tractor-winch lorry. Under this system the crawler tractor skids the logs from the felling sites to the skid trails where the winch lorry takes over the logs to the landings. With increasing emphasis on sustainable forest management, an improved harvesting technique known as reduces impact logging (RIL) is being practiced in a number of forest concession areas, in addition to low impact logging (helicopter logging). In addition, harvesting operation must comply with Standards of Performance Specified under Malaysian Criteria and Indicators. (MC & I). In 1985, the Environmental Quality Act, 1974 in Malaysia was amended to include

3 3 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and the order came into force in It requires any project proponent to prepare a preliminary EIA report on the prescribed activities to be carried out and if the EIA report demonstrates potentially significant impacts on the environment arising from such activities, a full EIA report will have to be prepared by the project proponent. 2. Impacts of forest harvesting on water quality and sediment In forest logging operation, the major cause of soil erosion is usually associated with road construction rather than forest extraction itself. In Malaysia, the amounts of soil erosion arising from forest roads and skid tracks in the first year after logging are 13 t ha -1 and 10 t ha -1, respectively. However, the rate of erosion is drastically reduced to 3 and 2 t ha -1 y -1 in the second year (Baharuddin, 1995), mainly due to the rapid recovery of undergrowth. Selective forest logging in the Berembun catchments, Malaysia, led to minimal increases in sediment yield concentrations and thus sediment yield under both the commercial and the supervised commercial types of logging (Baharuddin, 1988). This was because of the low logging intensity as prescribed in the selective logging system coupled with the institution of conservation measures. The impact of selective forest logging which removed about 40% of the standing trees in the Berembun, Malaysia, resulted in increases of ph, electrical conductivity (EC) and water hardness (Zulkifli et al. 1993). The largest increases were observed for suspended solids and turbidity by 12- and nine-fold, respectively, in the first year after logging. Similar increases in chemical concentrations were also observed particularly for alkalinity, silicate, Fe, K and Na. However, recovery to pre-logging conditions was attained in between three to five years but increases Fe and K tended to be more prolonged. The impacts were most pronounced during and immediately after storms. 3. Impacts from other land uses Sustainable forest management practices coupled with an effective enforcement of prescribed procedures have a direct influence on streamwater quality within forested and upper reaches areas. However, as water travels downstream where vegetation and land use is no longer forest, the above influence may be diminished. The quality of water in those areas are largely affected by adjacent land use activities, including agriculture, livestock, manufacturing and housing development or land clearing activities. In 1998, 43% of the 120 river basins were polluted by ammonia-nitrogen from livestock wastes, 34% by suspended sediment due to earthworks and land clearing activities and 21% due to discharge of agro-based and manufacturing industries. In view of this, an integrated river basin management (IRBM) concept should be adopted in

4 4 managing water resource, which invariably addresses the integration of natural limitation, social and economic demands and administrative processes. 4. Upstream-Downstream interaction Admittedly, there is a strong relations exist between land use and water, between water quality and water quantity, and between upstream activities and downstream activities. Therefore, it is instructive to examine upstreamdownstream interactions and their impacts on biophysical aspects as well as onsite and off-site productivity. Moreover, forest mostly occupies the upper reaches of the watershed while other land uses mostly in downstream. For example, upland rehabilitation and reforestation may be the responsibility of landowners and a forestry agency, but major beneficiaries of erosion control may be a hydropower plant and water resource users downstream. The separation on those who pay from those who benefit should also be quantified to the extent possible so that the costs and benefits could be equitably distributed. This is important as the monetary benefits generated downstream through watershed management measures taken upstream by forest managers would provide the financial incentives for them to undertake watershed management activities which are usually required by them to be carried out. 5. Cumulative effects The cumulative effects arising from forest management practices and other land uses activities at watershed level need to be elaborated and quantified over a certain duration. In this instance, any assessment of cumulative effects must consider the dynamic change over the entire watershed. Hence, criteria and indicators for the qualification and quantification of watershed parameters, and in particular, the cumulative effects from forest practices which may impact on the long-term sustainability of the forest ecosystem need to be developed. More specifically, parameters to be used in delineating forested areas for the protection of soil and water, buffer strips to serve as ecological corridor function and procedures for protecting drainage systems in areas to be harvested, and the extent and spatial distribution of riparian and other watershed protection areas, required in forest harvesting operations be established. This will enable forest managers to better manage the forest resources. Conclusions Forest management practices, by incorporating conservation measures, can be developed and promoted to provide positive environmental, ecological, and social impacts as they can offer an array of economic and environmental benefits to both the forest resource owners and downstream communities.

5 5 However, the development of comprehensive and wide-ranging forest management and watershed practices in developing countries has been severely hindered by the inability to convincingly demonstrate the economic, environmental and social values of such practices. To some extent this shortcoming may be attributed to inadequacy of data and methodology that are needed for rigorous evaluation. Cumulative effects of forest management practices will be only manageable provided the logging cycle is adequately long and an effective enforcement of management procedures during logging operations. References: Abdul Rahim, N Forest logging systems in tropical countries: differential impacts. In Douglas (ed) Causes and consequences of global environmental change, Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change, vol.3, John Wiley, Chichester. p Baharuddin K "Effects of Logging on Sediment Yield in a Hill Dipterocarp Forest in Peninsular Malaysia." J. Trop. For. Sc. 1(1): Zulkifli Y, Abdul Rahim N. and Baharuddin K. 1993,. Selective logging in Malaysia: impacts on streamwater chemistry. Paper presented at International Symposium on Forest Hydrology, Canberra, November, 1993.