Mangrove Biodiversity and Audit

1. In the RM9 the government via the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) paid special tribute to the environmental audit and biodiversity in its 5-year plan. We the scientists have been asking for the intregration of the value of the environment and biodiversity in the auditing review for years because we believed biodiversity has economic value and this must be reflected in the national audit.

2. The ecosystem or community biodiversity has been giving us free services via the provision of clean air and water; the mangroves have been filtering many toxic substances from the lands into the sea and vice versa; the forests have been mitigating climate change by fixing and storing carbon, in addition to providing timbers and non-timber products. The beautiful landscapes have been the attraction for ecotourism promotion.

3. The species biodiversity also have been giving us free foods and other benefits. The beautiful and iconic species have been giving us some economic benefits from ecotourism too. At least there were people who paid some money to watch the blooming rafflesias, orang utan, proboscis monkeys and hornbills. Many semi-wild fruit tree species have been providing us with some exotic fruits.

4. The genetic biodiversity is yet to give us economic benefits because our scientists have not been doing the animal and plant breeding very much, possibly the orchids are the exceptions.

5. On Tuesday 7th October I gave a 2-hour lecture to the auditors of Malaysia and Indonesia at the Sutera Harbour Hotel, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The auditors from these two countries met to discuss the economic value of the mangroves on both sides of the Straits of Malacca. In spite of what were reported about the threats of the extreme nationalists, we mingles with each other as brothers!

6. Since the 1980s I had carried out some researches on the taxonomic composition, biomass and economic value of the mangroves of Pulau Langkawi, Sungau Merbuk (Kedah), Matang (Perak), Kuala Selangor, and some of my co-reseachers like Dr. Wan Juliana Wan Ahmad & Dr. Norhayati Ahmad had done some works at Sungai Pulai, Johor and Sungai Linggi, Melaka. To say the least we have some useful data on the mangroves of Malaysian side of the Straits of Melaka that benefit the auditors.

7. One of my previous PhD students, Dr. Haliza Abdul Rahman, now a lecturer with Universiti Sains Malaysia at Kubang Kerian did look at the legislative protocols, policies and regulations affecting the management of the mangroves in Selangor. She found out that there are conflicts between the Federal policy and plannings with the State and also the local governments. This did not augur well with the process of auditing of this important green asset in Selangor. In spite of the strong calls by the Federal government to preserve and conserve the mangroves; the state and local governments utilised and exploited the mangrove swamps for aquaculture, oil palm plantation and housing.

8. To be fair I am not sure whether there were similar studies on the mangroves on the Sumateran coasts, the other side of the Straits of Melaka. If there were either I don't know about them or the informations were not published in journals. And I believe there are more mangroves on the other side.