A mangrove-centric view of wetlands for future sustainable use in Malaysia

This short talk is about the long-term sustainable care of our mangroves. Although mangroves are a market failure, their rarity (and some of the major services they provide) has convinced the Malaysian Government to provide equity/protection. However, since land matters come under State jurisdiction, many States still need to be persuaded to support the Federal policy. There is essentially a range in the degree of preservation of the conservation sites, from an almost off-limits preservation for posterity (as in National Parks and Heritage Sites) to the more liberal combination of posterity and prosperity. In particularly the UNESCO Biosphere Reserves that are not only science based but also subject to checks and balances. Our mangroves continue to be decimated and many will be gone within a decade, especially by replacement uses (particularly, real estates and oil palm plantations) so we suggest replacement uses to be completely banned. On the other side of the coin, it is suggested that we look into realizing the two major services that our mangroves offer (ecotourism and blue carbon trading) to obtain some prosperity without losing posterity. For the long-term care of our mangroves for us and future generations, it is suggested that each State should have a Strategic Mangrove Care Plan (that includes, inter alia, a mangrove inventory, rehabilitation, establishing more conservation sites, reviving the Malaysian National Mangrove Committee and even educational mangrove arboreta) so that all stakeholders can care more for the future sustainability of our mangroves. To ensure that the future of sustainable mangrove use is science based, we proposed that, as a start, the Sabah Forestry Department take up the challenge to establish the first Malaysian Mangrove Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) Site.