The importance of sustaining natural watershed areas related to biodiversity in Malaysia-with special reference to Negeri Sembilan and Malacca.

The importance of forest land-use strategic planning and management under circumstances of sustainable development, restoration of forested watersheds and wetlands and biological diversity conservation as well as increasing population is emphasized. There is a need for a holistic and integrated management of natural resources associated with forested land and water to ensure their sustainability. There is one commonality in nearly every scheme of land development, that is, an increased demand for water. Higher economic development has been observed to invariably bring about higher water use. Therefore, integrated and holistic management of water resources is essential component of sustainable development. In this connection also, water is the best index of watershed as well as wetland management and water is an excellent monitoring mechanism related to biodiversity of the environment. As at the end of 2006, the State Governments of negeri Sembilan and Melaka have gazetted and set aside a total area of 51,020 hectares respectively in the permanent reserved forests (PRF) watershed areas. The country`s National Economic Plan (NEAP) has highlighted to classify land use priorities under the Land Capability Classification (LCC) to reflect the true economic value of water catchments, wetlands and protected areas and stricter conditions adminitered for land use activities on steep land. In this context, among the forestry issues stipulated are gazettement of forests on steep land be done under section 10 of the National Forestry Act 1984 include wetlands such as mangroves and nipah forests at river estuaries be classed as Soil Reclamation Forest because of the erosion function they serve and their sensitivity to disturbances. Equally important, soil conservation planning and watershes as well as wetland management have been incorporated into development projects for integrated land, water, and forest resources development aimed at sustainable utilization of the resources. It is imperative that the values of forests for watersheds and wetlands, biodiversity as well as environmental protection commonly exceed their values as source of timber or recreation because the forests of the future are located in the hilly and mountainous steep terrain. Watershed and wetland considerations, including cumulative impacts upon soil structure, water resources and residual stand damage are being summarized. There is also a dire need to prevent the occurence of mass soil movements and landslides and to predict natural disasters. The demands on water resources have placed added resposibility and challenges on the practicing foresters, land managers, geo-technical engineers, environmentalists and other interest groups who must maintain and protect both the quantity and quality of water coming from forest ecosystems. Among the challenges of public forestlands are to maintain ecological diversity in perpetuity. All the stakeholders must understand and accept biological complexity and follow the basic principle of maintaining or restoring genetic , structural and spatial complexity. Without doubt, the importance of wetlands is significant for the ecological and hydrological functions, especially for their roles in water supply, water purification and flood control. Hence, as envisaged by the World Conservation Strategy (IUCN/UNEP/WWF 1980) conservation of living, renewable natural resources such as forests (including wetlands) is that aspect of management "which ensures that utilization is sustainable and which safeguards the ecological processes and genetic diversity essential ecological processes and life support systems, preserve genetic diversity and utilize species and ecosystems such as wetlands in sustainability.