1. When one speaks of the peat swamp forests many thoughts come to our mind. The acidic water which is of the tea colour. The burning of peats in Sumatera and Kalimantan that caused haze in our country times and times again and many more.
2. Once upon a time there was vast tracts of peat swamp forests in Malaysia. Sabah and Sarawak have more peat swamp forests which are rich in timber produce. Perak has some around Bagan Datok, Selangor has some in Raja Musa FR and Tanjung Karang area which had been converted to oil palm plantations, Johor has some on which pineapples grow and Pahang has some intact and pristine shallow peat swamp forests.
3. While we have lost much of the peat swamp forests, the Forestry Departments of Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia with aids from UNDP came forward to conserve some at Klias, Loagan Bunut and Southeast Pahang, respectively. Dr. Efrasyah was the UNDP Chief Technical Officer, based at FRIM was instrumental in putting a project to conserve those for the generations to come.
4. The instrument put on the laps of our government is called IMP or Integrated Management Plan, discussed and agreed by all the stake-holders in the respective states and the federal government agencies. It is not a perfect document but it is the best template we ever had to give a good governance to managing our national heritage.
5. It is my hope similar set-ups in the country and states would follow this wonderful example. But, there again, a beautiful document does not guarrantee anything better if not followed by the government of the day. I wish the stake-holders would remain to be close to the state government to monitor the management of the peat swamp forests.
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