Conservation and sustainable use of Tropical Peat Swamp Forest and Associated Wetland Ecosystems

• A note of understanding has been signed with Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) Protected Area and Biodiversity Conservation (PABC) on project activities including staff training, database system development and awareness-raising.
• A book detailing the project's progress and achievements - Malaysia's Peat Swamp Forest: Conservation and Sustainable Use - has been published as the first in a new series publicizing the work of UNDP in Malaysia. The book was launched by Malaysia's Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.
• The project organized a one-day workshop, attended by 16 journalists, on Biodiversity Conservation in Kuala Lumpur in May 2006. One of the workshop's particular aims was to encourage younger journalist to become involved in environmental issues.
• A schools competition, organized in partnership with the Malaysian Nature Society and Coca-Cola Malaysia, was organized in May 2006 in the run up to World Environment Day (June 5). Selected school teams were asked to design a multimedia presentation on 'The Importance of Water Conservation'. The schools were selected under the e-Learning for Life (eLFL) project launched in 2002 by Coca-Cola, UNDP and the Malaysian Education Ministry.

Training

• The current training programme includes: forest fire prevention courses and a structured training course for forestry staff run in partnership with NGOs and the Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia (FDPM) . A proposed national training on wetlands management for middle-management staff will be run with Wetlands International Malaysia.
• Some 100 teachers, including five from each of the project sites in Sabah and Sarawak, participated in a teachers' workshop organized by FRIM, the Malaysian Nature Society, and the Education Ministry (Pekan, July 2005).
• A new national training programme for mid-level forestry staff, developed in partnership with Wetlands International, took place for the first time in June 2006 in partnership with FDPM. The course, which aimed to enhance capacity to mange PSFs and other wetlands and included a field visit to Selangor, attracted 26 participants.

Meetings

• The project was highlighted at the Asian Science and Technology Seminar (March 2006, Penang) which was themed 'Conservation and Use of Ecosystems. The PSF project director presented a paper on the project.
• PSF national experts contributed papers to a seminar on Fire in Peat Swamp Forests organized by the Forest Research Institute Malaysia in May 2006.
• The project co-organized the Conference on Forestry and Forest Products Research 2005 (Kuala Lumpur, November). The conference themed 'Investment for Sustainable Heritage and Wealth' attracted 285 researchers, research officers and academicians from various government and private institutions, as well as industrialists and policy-makers.
• Lessons learnt by the project in developing its management plans were presented at the five-day Malaysian Forestry Conference (Kota Kinabalu, September 2005)
• The importance of mangroves and other coastal ecosystems in protecting against coastal erosion, storm surges and events such as tsunamis was emphasized at the International Society of Mangrove Ecosystems (ISME) Symposium (August 2005, Kuala Lumpur) co-organized by the project, FRIM and Wetlands International-Malaysia. The symposium attracted 13 journalists from major media organizations and resulted in several news and feature reports.
• A paper on the project was presented at the 12th IUFRO World Congress on 'Forests in the Balance: Linking Tradition and Technology' (Brisbane, Australia, August 2005).
• The PSF project participated in the 10th Living Lakes Conference - The Lake and its People: Responsible Stewardship by Lake Communities (Philippines, May 2005).

Selected Project Results - Loagan Bunut

• The project initiated a joint peat soil study with the state Department of Agriculture. The Wildlife Conservation Society is conducting a study of local birds and bats which includes on-going monitoring of their habitats.
• GIS consultants were engaged to establish a base map of the project site showing geo-referenced location and size for lakes, project boundaries, vegetation types, and native customary rights land. The mapping incorporated various layers and information (including recent satellite imagery, land use, administrative boundaries, forest boundaries, topological features) and is used as the definitive map for the project implementation and reporting.
• A two-week Scientific Expedition in Loagan Bunut took place in March 2004, organized jointly with the Forest Department Sarawak and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. Scientists from various institutions and agencies in Sarawak and Peninsula Malaysia participated and a CD detailing the expedition's findings was produced. The complete findings of the expedition were detailed in 'Scientific Journey through Borneo: Loagan Bunut' - a technical series publication -in June 2006. A second book from the expedition - A Pictorial Journey to Loagan Bunut - is due at the end of 2006.
• Two longhouses are taking part in an oil palm pilot project after a report on possible livelihood programmes for the local communities identified oil palm as the preferred cash crop due to its market prices, year-round yield, and the site's close proximity to oil palm mills.
• A meeting was held with local oil palm developers to discuss measures to reduce the impacts of their activities on the lake after reports of soil erosion and a lack of environmental protection. Oil palm developers are now working as partners with the authorities in tackling the problems of sedimentation and pollution affecting the lake.
• Membership of a Special Park's Committee, which helps ensure the involvement of local leaders as co-managers of the park, now includes representatives of the oil palm estates.
• Detailed on-going studies being undertaken in Loagan Bunut NP include one on herpetology and two on soils. The second phase of the detailed herpetology study focuses on endangered and threatened species such as the false gharials and the ecology of turtles, frogs and toads. Samples are also being collected for the continuing study of local soils and data is being collected on soil-borne pathogens. An ethnobotany study has also been conducted.
• Data collection and analysis were also being undertaken to determine basic characteristics of the PSF hydrology and its relationship with the surrounding ecosystem.
• A tree planting and park beautification project has been organized in partnership with Shell and the Sarawak Forest Department.
• The presence of one of the largest and least known crocodilians in the world - Tomostoma schlegelii , the Malaysian false gharial - in the Loagan Bunut NP was confirmed by a reptile study organized by the PSF project and conducted by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.

Community

• Joint workshops for local fishermen have been organized with the Sarawak Forestry Commission and Sarawak Forestry Department to discuss sustainable harvesting and better management of fisheries in Loagan Bunut National Park. A new fisheries management committee was established during the workshop to ensure compliance with the regulations.
• The project has collaborated with the Sarawak Forestries Department in organizing training courses for prospective tour guides. In March 2005 a course on Basic Communication Skills in English attracted 16 participants. It was the second course in a module designed to help obtaining a tour guide license. The first - on boat safety - was run in 2004.
• An assessment has been made of sites suitable for setting up agroforestry crop demonstration plots for the local community.
• The PSF project is working with the Natural Resources and Environment Board to encourage the setting up of nature clubs (PALS) in rural schools near the reserve.

Communications

• Education and awareness raising programmes have been held for locals, oil palm developers, representatives from logging companies, students and teachers. Study tours and ecotourism workshops have also been held.
• •  The launch of the project's 2005 awareness raising campaign was attended by over 200 people including schoolchildren. A workshop attracted 150 participants from local communities, oil palm developers, relevant government agencies, teachers, schoolchildren, and NGOs.
• A professional photographer was commissioned to photograph flora, fauna and the local communities in the LBNP to be used for exhibitions and in the production of project campaign materials.
• Several environmental awareness programmes targeting school children and the local communities - especially those living upstream of the LBNP - have been co-organized by the project with the Sarawak Forests Department.
• A park carnival for the northern region of the LBNP, jointly organized with the Sarawak Forestry Corporation in November 2005 featured activities including boat cruising and forest trekking. The event attracted some 200 participants including the local communities, NGOs, tourists and oil palm developers.

Training

• Ten forest officers attended a refresher course on statistical methods organized by the project in collaboration with the Sarawak Forestries Department. (Kuching, April 2005)
• A three-day basic training course on Global Positioning System (GPS) held in October 2005 was attended by 13 participants including representatives from Sarawak Forestry Corporation, the Natural Resources and Environment Board, the UNDP/GEF Project, Sabah Forestry Department and Sarawak Forests Department.

Selected Project Results - Klias Forest Reserve

• Six gene bank plots totaling four hectares have been established and species of conservation significance selected as 'mother trees' for future seed production.
•   Fieldwork on monitoring the habitats of proboscis monkeys has been undertaken in collaboration with the Forestries Department and Wildlife Department. This initial ecological assessment forms part of the Klias Conservation Plan strategy to provide data on the distribution and feeding habits of the monkeys.
• The DANIDA project completed its hydrological assessments in Klias and prepared a Water Management Strategy (WMS) which was incorporated in the Klias Conservation Plan. Focus group discussions have been held with the Departments of Drainage and Irrigation, Agriculture, Land and Survey and Forestry to explore intervention measures to deal with drainage issues.
• Consultants have completed entomological and ornithological surveys, vegetation classification, and ethno-botanical and ornamental surveys of the Klias Forest Reserve.
• A meeting was held in June 2006 for 40 members of local communities and plantation owners who might be affected by a proposal for the extension of the Klias forest reserve by more than 2,000ha. A wider stakeholder meeting is scheduled before the proposal is put to the state government.

Communications

• A nature-based documentary entitled 'Voyage to the Future 2005', highlighting the Klias ecosystem, was broadcast in November.
• Proboscis monkeys feature as the flagship species in a series of awareness raising materials produced by WWF-Borneo Programme. The posters and related training materials were designed to be distributed to schoolchildren as part of the project's environmental education and awareness campaign. Other posters in the series feature slogans such as 'My home is the peat swamp forest' and 'The forest gives me food'.
• A professional photographer was commissioned to capture various aspects of the project site, mainly the socio-economic activities of local communities. The photographs will be used for future awareness-raising activities.

Community

• Village-level volunteer groups - Community Liaison Groups or CLGs -have been set up to promote conservation awareness and identify alternative livelihood options. The PFS project facilitated the formation of the CLGs and identified government agencies who could supply necessary technical support, assistance and training.
• The PSF project has helped establish a 1.3km nature interpretation trail, part of which runs through the forest reserve. Members of local communities will work as guides on the trail.
• CLGs assisted communities in building a pond to set up a fish farming venture. The PSF project also took 15 members of local communities on a study tour to the Fisheries Freshwater Research Station and to a private hatchery.
• A trial environmental education programme in December 2004 attracted 63 people, mainly children.
• Awareness-raising programmes for villages have focused on environmental education and nature interpretation. Workshops have been held to evaluate community response and feedback.

Training

• The PSF project and Sabah Forestry Department organized a fire prevention and suppression training course for community volunteers in March/April 2006.

Selected Project Results - South-East Pahang Peat Swamp

• Two sets of management guidelines prepared by the project - Agricultural Development and Management Guidelines and Standard Logging Guidelines - were endorsed by the Pahang State Planning Committee in June 2006.
• The Biodiversity Expedition to Sungai Bebar - one of the two main rivers in the region - involved over 150 scientists from different institutions and agencies conducting researches into physical environment, local communities, flora, fauna and ecological zoning (February - March 2005). As part of the programme, the PSF project worked with the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) to organize two day-trips involving about 100 students from nearby schools and other awareness-raising activities.
  
  During the expedition a research team from Monash University conducted a study of fungi and bacteria activity and reported an unexpected discovery of the vital role played by bacteria and fungi in the nutrient cycle of the peat swamp environment. The team also discovered three new genera and four new species of fungi, a new species of algae and a new insect species.
  
  A seminar was held in August to present and discuss the findings from the expedition and launch a book, 'Biodiversity Expedition Sungai Bebar, Pekan, Pahang--Summary Findings'. The 43 papers presented to the 120 seminar participants included aspects of geology, soil, water quality, gap analysis, hydrology, flora and fauna biodiversity and socio-economic studies. Another new publication 'A Handbook on the Peat Swamp Flora of Peninsular Malaysia' was also launched at the seminar.
• Work has begun on a medicinal/heritage garden at Asli Jakun - an idea which came from a Participatory Rural Appraisal workshop. The five-hectare garden will cultivate medicinal plants and other plants important to village handicrafts, livelihood and culture, creating supplementary income for communities and preserving indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants.
  
  The project was officially launched in February 2006 with a community mapping workshop in which 23 participants acquired the skills to map the boundaries of the garden. Since then a site inspection has been carried out, a guesthouse has been built for trainers and visitors and community computer and business classes have been organized.
• DANIDA has completed its hydrological study in Pahang. Draft guidelines on PSF water quality assessment have been submitted and are being prepared in Bahasa Malaysia-version for the state Forestry Department personnel to use in conducting rapid water quality assessments.

• A report on Zonation for Permanent Forest Reserve in the South-East Pahang Peat Swamp Forest (SEPPSF) t hrough remote sensing analysis was presented at the Ninth Project Support Unit Meeting in April 2005. The remote sensing analysis refines forest classifications and produces digital forest zonation maps, taking into account the findings of the multidisciplinary assessment (MDA) and that of the DANIDA Project.
• GIS analysis to determine core protection areas to be excluded from timber extraction; and provide habitat corridors, riparian protection zones and buffer zones, is being undertaken. This will involve the compilation of various digital maps and spatial data modeling to generate maps showing the different forest zones in the SEPPSF project area. The output will be used as an input to the final zoning of the areas for biodiversity protection and conservation purposes.
• At the request of the Pahang State Forestry Department, the project has produced thematic maps in order to initiate the interim forest zoning of the site from a biodiversity perspective.
• Guidelines have been prepared and refined for peatland development, state land logging, and peatland management.
• A Technical Working Group on Harvesting Regime has been established.
• A study on the socio-economic aspect of the PSF's indigenous community involved dialogues and discussions in selected villages to identify potential alternative livelihood programmes to reduce the community's dependence on PSF resources. The study also examined the role of women in resources exploitation, identified potential small-scale pilot projects that would support wise use of the PSF and proposed awareness programmes for local communities.
• New studies on PSF resources include a study on water quality in Sungai Bebar and Sungai Merchong; a study on the economic valuation of selected PSF products and services utilized by local communities; and a study on the contribution on biodiversity conservation and development of timber harvesting guidelines.
• Wetland International Asia Pacific conducted a bird study of the South-East Pahang Peat Swamp Forest which identified 199 bird species, adding 39 bird species new to the area. This brings the bird species list of the area up to 233, or over a third of the whole peninsula's avifauna species. The study confirmed the presence of an additional globally threatened species, Wallace's Hawk-eagle Spizaetus nanus, in the PSF.
  
  The findings of the study and their relation to the eco-tourism potential of the project site, were presented to the media and highlighted in a three-page feature article titled "For peat's sake"

Communications

• Poster brochures on the project contain general information about the importance of PSF as well as site specific information. One brochure contains a poster on the Five Secrets of the Peat Swamp Forest of Pahang, which explains the various significant functions of the forest including storing water, filtering pollutants, and providing food, medicines and building materials.
• The Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) wrote a special feature article on the Asli Jakun Heritage Garden Project after seeing it profiled in the project's Leaf newsletter.

Training

• A National Level Teachers' Workshop was held in Pahang in July 2005 in collaboration with the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) and the Pahang Forestry Department as part of the project's on-going awareness-raising campaign.
• A Training Workshop on Planning Of Forest Resources for Conservation and Wise Use ( Kuantan, October 2005 was attended by 31 participants from Sarawak, Sabah and Pahang
• A four-day Information Database Management System (IDMS) and Remote Sensing Training course attracted 16 officers from Forestry Department Head Quarters, Forestry Department Pahang, FRIM and the project team.
• A training course on Prevention and Management of Peatland Fires was jointly organized with the Pahang Economic Planning Unit (EPU), Forestry Department, and the Fire and Rescue Services Department. A proposal on inter-agency coordination for prevention and management of peat fires is now being prepared.

Community

• Two workshops focusing on women's role and Participatory Rural Appraisal of local communities have been conducted. The women's workshop provided a platform for women to voice their concerns, problems and desires for a better future with respect to conservation and biodiversity resources; while the second gave villagers the opportunity to express their views and raise issues related to PSF resources.
• Day trips were organized to the Pekan peat swamp forest for 99 students from selected schools in Pekan and Triang.

Partners

Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM), DANIDA, Wetlands International-Malaysia, UNDP, GEF

Dedicated project website : http://www.psf-frim-undp.org/

Newsletter - Leaf

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