Kota Kinabalu: Besides climate change, badly constructed drains and poor upkeep across Sabah has put important wetlands at risk and causing floods everywhere.
“Covering a total land area of some 73,904 km² (7,390,400 hectares), the drainage and degradation challenges facing Sabah are particularly acute given the scale of development pressures on its remaining natural ecosystems,” said Sabah Forestry Research Centre head Dr Joseph Tangah.
Joseph was among speakers at for Session 2: Wetland Fire - Regime/Wetland Urban Interface of the 5th International Symposium on Conservation and Management of Wetlands at the Sabah International Convention Centre, recently.
He said major towns in Sabah face drainage and degradation issues due to various factors, including clogged and poorly maintained drains both earth drains and concrete drains, waste pollution and land subsidence.
“Can you name one of our drainage systems that are properly constructed?” he said during his talk on drainage and degradation (Oil Palm Conversion Aquaculture and Reclamation), where he spoke about the important relationship between land use patterns and wetland health.
“Addressing these issues requires a shift from a blaming game mentality to developing proper maintenance culture and maintenance drive.
“The high cost of fixing drain systems properly leads to soil washing away and people blaming each other when floods happen,” he said, citing the recent flooding in Penampang and Beaufort.
He said Sabah’s total forest cover as of 2024 stands at some 4,633,465 hectares, while the total non-forested area covers 2,756,935 hectares.
“Within the State’s forest reserves, the total forested area comprises 3,575,035 hectares, consisting of inland forests covering 2,956,984 hectares, mangrove forests spanning 308,824 hectares and peat swamp forests encompassing 43,155 hectares.
“Sabah has lost 15 per cent of its forests since 2004 because of oil palm and other land changes, with an additional 1,058,430 hectares of forest cover located within non-forest reserve areas facing continued pressure from development.
“Tree cutting has led to more dirt and sand flowing into rivers and harming wetland areas downstream,” he said.
He said drainage and degradation issues are closely related to the type of land use in Sabah, including human settlement, agriculture, oil palm estates and other types of land reclamation carried out in the name of development and livelihood prosperity.
However, Joseph said turning land into oil palm farms and fish farming are not bad in themselves.
“Oil palm conversion, it is not a negative thing, it is a positive thing. We want to prosper. We want to eradicate poverty in Sabah.
“The challenge lies in finding the right balance between economic development and environmental protection,” he said.
He said currently, temporary unstock areas in Sabah are divided into two main categories, namely Plantation Forest featuring species such as Neolamarckia cadamba, Eucalyptus pellita and Acacia mangium covering some 183,634 hectares and Plantation Agroforestry areas mainly comprising oil palm and rubber plantations, which cover about 82,438 hectares.
He said the challenge is finding the right balance between making money and protecting nature, especially since around eight out of the 10 poorest districts in Malaysia are in Sabah.
“The best approach in addressing these delicate issues is to work with the community,” Joseph said, noting that the Sabah Forestry Department is actively engaged in restoration work, including planting hundreds of mangrove seedlings on muddy areas created by development in highland areas.