Inter-sectoral planning as a prerequisite tool for biological diversity conservation: a case study of South-East peat swamp forest, Pahang.

A holistic approach has been called upon and agreed by all in promoting biological diversity conservation and addressing the sustainability of forest resources and its associated ecosystems. Within this context, all management actions and related decisions making at the operational level often goes beyond the boundary of the forests and other land-uses, therefore, it requires a full swing of inter-sectoral coordination which should begin from the planning level. The paper illustrates an adopted approach embarking into a participatory fashion to develop an intergrated management plan (IMP) for the four peat swamp forest reserves (PSF) in South-East Pahang, claimed to be the largest remaining intact PSF in mainland Asia. The IMP should take into account the need for biological diversity conservation and sustainable timber production from forest as wella as the livelihood of the Jakun community nearby. In a lenghty consultative planning process, all relevant issues on resources, threats and different interests and their implication to current land-use were discussed and eloborated by the stakeholders and then the mitigation measures and new zonation were agreed on consensus basis to facilitate state decision-making process. This holistic approach is found to be more effective in promoting better appreciation towards coordination among key players, common understanding and perception over the complex issues, thereby increasing the rate of success and legitimacy of the IMP. Particular attention on landscape perspective and ecosystem approach were also emphasized such that the overall planning developed were adopted as an integral part of the Rancangan Tempatan Daerah (Local District Plan), in line with the requirements under the National Physical Plan. Higlighted in this paper are some lessons learnt as well as the impacts of developing an intergrated management plan. It demonstrates that the reconciliation of views, consensus building and level of stakeholders` commitment are crucial during this process. The Pahang State Forestry Department, State Economic Planning Unit and Town and Country Planning Department played a key0role in this initiative supported by UNDP/Gef Peat Swamp Forests Project (MAL/99/G31) under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Malaysia.