Bigger plans afoot for Pulau Kukup

I REFER to the recent developments involving Pulau Kukup, of which the latest is that the federal government stated that it wanted the island to remain as a forest reserve and expressed hope that the Johor government would accept this decision.

Pulau Kukup is situated about one kilometre offshore and is one of the world’s largest uninhabited mangrove islands. Known to be among the very few intact sites of this type left in South-East Asia, it hosts about half of the world’s true mangrove species.

The island was gazetted as a national park under the Johor State Park Corporation Enactment 1989 on March 27, 1997, and as a Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention 1971 on Jan 31, 2003.

The Ramsar Convention is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

Pulau Kukup supports species listed as threatened, vulnerable or near-threatened under the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red Book and is also categorised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by Birdlife International. It is a breeding ground and feeding habitat for commercially important fishes, prawns, crabs and other seafood species.

The area is also important for flood control, physical protection (as a wind-breaker, for example) and shoreline stabilisation as it shelters the mainland from storm events.

The strait between Pulau Kukup and the mainland is a thriving industry for marine cage culture. The mud flats are rich with shellfish and provide food and income to local people. The island is also a tourist attraction, and the government supports ecotourism activities there.

Recognising its location at the southern tip of peninsular Malaysia in the Strait of Malacca, one of the busiest waterways for international navigation, environmental concerns have also been raised over the survival of the ecosystem and livelihood of the local communities in the area due to the increasing number of ships passing through the channel.

Not many people know that efforts are being put into place through cooperation between the federal and state ministries and agencies for the area to be adopted as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

The Malaysian proposal for Pulau Kukup and Tanjung Piai Ramsar sites in Johor to be adopted as PSSA was submitted to the IMO Marine Environment Committee Meeting (MEPC) in July 2017.

The ongoing efforts and future work to enhance protection for Pulau Kukup by declaring it a PSSA would be hampered if it loses its status as a national park.

A PSSA is an area that needs special protection through action by the IMO because of its significance for recognised ecological or socioeconomic or scientific reasons and which may be vulnerable to damage by international maritime activities. The IMO is the United Nations specialised agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of pollution by ships.

The IMO also supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 14 to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

To date, there are only about 17 areas in the world that have been adopted as PSSAs, with only one in this region, the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park in the Philippines, which was adopted in 2017.

Other areas include the Great Barrier Reef (Australia), Torres Strait (Australia and Papua New Guinea), Western European Waters, the Baltic Sea area (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden), the Strait of Bonafacio (France and Italy), Canary Islands (Spain) and the Jomard Entrance (Papua New Guinea).

The international guidelines for declaring an area as PSSA include:

1. Ecological criteria such as unique or rare ecosystem, diversity of the ecosystem or vulnerability to degradation by natural events or human activities;

2. Social, cultural and economic criteria such as significance of the area for recreation or tourism; and

3. Scientific and educational criteria such as biological research or historical value.

Pulau Kukup fulfils almost all of these criteria. When an area is approved as a PSSA, specific measures can be used to control the maritime activities there, such as routing measures, strict application of discharge and equipment requirements for ships, and installation of Vessel Traffic Services (VTS).

Wetlands are classified as among the most valuable areas that need to be preserved due to their multi-functions, ecosystem services and vitality in providing sustainable ecosystems for human welfare.

Pulau Kukup contributes directly to the national and local economies through revenues generated from ecotourism activities, fishery and aquaculture sectors, and as one of the only few remaining intact wetlands of international importance.

Coordinated and joint efforts at all levels should be continued to effectively protect and conserve the vulnerable ecosystem and resources in Pulau Kukup now and in the future.

CHERYL RITA KAUR Head, Centre for Coastal and Marine Environment Maritime Institute of Malaysia