Pressure on Setiu Wetlands
In Terengganu, village folk harvest kercut for weaving mats. But what happens if it disappears, together with the shrinking wetlands in which it thrives?
IN the northern corner of Terengganu where the district of Setiu sits, a type of sedge which locals call kercut grows wild in swampy areas. Villagers harvest the long- stemmed grass for weaving mats. But as gelam forest – the water- logged areas in which the sedge thrives – diminishes, the sedge may become scarce in future.
Should that happen, it would put an end to the tradition of kercut weaving. And that is just one of a myriad of changes that could happen here as the land undergoes massive transformation.
Most visitors are drawn to this part of Terengganu by its endless stretch of palm- lined beach, such as the one in Kampung Penarik. But scientists are excited about this place for a different reason.
Streams that flow from the hinterland into the coast, and the sea that washes ashore, have carved a unique coastal terrain; the most fascinating feature being a finger of sand spit that encases a lagoon. Within this 14km- long inland sea are over 10 mangrove- and nipahclad islands. Further inland, several types of vegetation, gelam forest being one of them, cloak the land.
What makes this a special place? Scientists point to its unusual fea- ture of having nine interconnected habitats – the sea, rivers, sandy beaches, estuaries, islands, mudflats, a lagoon, freshwater swamps and mangroves. The mosaic of habitats, collectively known as Setiu Wetlands, work together to safeguard water resources, regulate water flows, support wild species, sustain fisheries and provide raw materials.
This is why, since 20 years back, many have called for this, the largest and most intact coastal wetlands complex in the east coast, to be protected. This has yet to happen. In the meantime, the landscape is changing rapidly under the pressure of a population of some 54,000. To improve livelihoods in a district deemed as the poorest in Terengganu, the state government has given out land for agriculture and aquaculture – land that is mostly fragile wetlands.
Land- use changes
World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia executive director Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma knows Setiu well. He had researched into the terrapins there between 1993 and 1996. “The river banks then were filled with natural vegetation. Years later, a lot of it is no more. Gelam forest, seen as non- productive land, has been carved out and given away. So you see farms, plantations and people rearing cattle there.”
A WWF study found that the natural vegetation – mangroves and gelam forest in particular – has shrunk by 20% between 2008 and 2011. They have been cleared to make way for paddy fields, rubber and oil palm plantations, watermelon farms, livestock farming and shrimp aquaculture ponds, among others. Infrastructure development such as building bunds, straightening river channels as well as constructing breakwaters and water gates to prevent flooding have also destroyed the original vegetation cover.
The forest there is not protected, so they continue to dwindle. The most recent threat is a silica mine in gelam forest. This is a type of freshwater swamp that is dominated by the Melaleuca or gelam tree. Terengganu has the largest expanse of this forest- type which scientists say has conservation importance but has long been ignored.
Aside from kercut, the loss of gelam trees also means a decline in traditional gelam honey collecting. Setiu is famed for the fragrant honey, harvested from hives built on old gelam trees. With few mature gelam trees left to support the hives, gelam honey is now in short supply.
Rich in animal life, Setiu
Wetlands harbours 29 mammal species, 161 bird species as well as 36 reptilian and amphibian species but most importantly, it is home to the critically endangered painted and river terrapins.
In fact, the painted terrapins here are deemed to be the world’s last viable population of the species as their numbers in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Thailand are a lot smaller. But in Setiu, both terrapin species are slowly losing their habitat as riverine vegetation diminishes, sand banks are mined, and rivers are marred by discharges from aquaculture ponds and runoffs from plantations.
In the past, four species of marine turtles nested on Setiu beaches but today, only green turtles come ashore to lay eggs. It is feared that noise and light from a shrimp nursery could disturb nesting turtles on Telaga Papan beach which has high numbers of nesting turtles. Managing water
Four rivers feed the wetlands – Setiu, Chalok, Bari and Merang – and all are being siphoned away to irrigate the ever- expanding farmland. This has caused a freshwater lake to shrink and will eventually change the hydrology of the downstream wetlands.
A recent survey found low levels of dissolved oxygen in the lower stretches of rivers, especially near plantations. This puts the survival of aquatic organisms at risk, according to Daria Matthew, senior manager of the freshwater programme at WWF.
Sharma says the hydrology of the area – how water flows and is distributed – has not been fully studied. “People don’t understand that water from upstream passes through the gelam forest before feeding into the lower catchment. Gelam forest holds water. If it is cleared, there will be runoffs which can lead to floods.”
He says the emptied gelam forest will dry up and become fire- prone as it often has an underlying layer of peat.
“And if peat plumes ( peat runoffs), with their high acidity, get into the lagoon, there will be consequences for the fish culture there. People should be concerned about this. If the lagoon is not allowed to receive the freshwater and salt water it is supposed to, the salinity of the water gets messed up.”
Yet another worry is that the lagoon will get shallower by the day due to high sedimentation. Sharma says bare earth is washed into the lagoon when there are no gelam trees to hold the soil. The creation of a new river mouth in the sand spit two years ago to give fishermen quicker access to the sea made things worse.
“Fishing boats frequently get stuck in the shallow water. So the DID ( Department of Irrigation and Drainage) is perpetually dredging the lagoon, and spending lots on it. The coastline is dynamic, constantly changing. You cannot control nature. The river will decide where it wants to go out,” asserts Sharma.
The area is also facing the wrath of sea level rise. Last year, strong waves breached the sand spit, destroying fish cages in the lagoon. And now, sand that is dumped to seal the opening is being washed into the lagoon, creating yet another problem.
In an area of seabed smothered by sediment instead of the usual mud, marine biologist Dr Nursalwa Baharuddin of Universiti Malaysia Terengganu ( UMT) finds snails hibernating when they should be grazing. “When they don’t feed, they cannot grow or reproduce,” she says, explaining her concern.
Supporting livelihoods
The local inhabitants may be exerting pressure on the wetlands but they are also dependent on it. The local economy revolves around materials found in the wetlands, such as kercut for the weaving business, as well as fish, shellfish and other seafood for making products such as budu ( fermented fish sauce), fish crackers and belacan ( shrimp paste). Setiu is also a major source of baby groupers for the country’s aquaculture industry, while caged fish culture is done in the lagoon and rivers.
A UMT study puts the economic value of mangroves in Setiu at between RM1,452 and RM10,700 per hectare, through uses such as fisheries, coastline protection and carbon absorption.
“The community is largely dependent on the fisheries sector. If natural resources from the wetlands are depleted, it will affect economic activities,” says Matthew.
Terengganu recently declared plans to turn 400ha of the wetlands into a state park. However, the proposed park covers only the lagoon and islands whereas conservationists want protection for a larger area.
“We’ve always advocated for protection of Setiu Wetlands catchments, to include the ( upstream) Hulu Setia and Gunung Tebu forest reserves since whatever happens there will affect the wetlands,” says Dr Wan Faridah Akmal W. Jusoh, who heads the WWF programme for Setiu Wetlands. “This wetlands consists of nine inter- connected ecosystems. If you remove one ecosystem, what will happen to the others?”
The rapidly- changing landscape of Setiu threatens to jeopardise the ecological and economic roles of its wetlands. The plan for the state park mainly involves building typical tourism infrastructure such as an information centre, boardwalks and jetties.
But what is really needed is a comprehensive plan to improve management and protection of the area. This has to include zoning the land according to priority uses. Only then can we be sure that Setiu Wetlands will continue to provide beneficial goods and services.
PATCHES of forest with sparse and shrubby vegetation is a feature of the coastal area around Setiu, Terengganu. They lack the thick foliage of mangroves or the rainforest. This is the little- known gelam forest, one of the rarest types of wetland in Malaysia.
Having less plant diversity than the other types of forest has earned it the name hutan miskin or poor forest. But a walk through a tract of this woodland in Kampung Bari with Dr Jamilah Mohd Salim@ Halim shows otherwise. Not only does it host unique flora, it plays a key hydrological role.
Parts of the Setiu coastal plain consists of beach ridges interspersed with swales, commonly known by its acronym, BRIS. While the ridges remain dry, the swales ( depression areas) are seasonally waterlogged and form freshwater swamps. The gelam putih tree or Melaleuca cajuputi grows well in BRIS areas, forming gelam or Melaleuca forest.
Jamilah, a plant ecologist from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu ( UMT), says gelam forest is not widespread. Patches are found in Pahang and Johor but the only sizeable gelam forest in the east coast is in Terengganu, where it extends from Kemaman to Besut.
“The soil is sandy, being the deposit of materials from the ocean. Being poor in nutrients, it supports unique species. The plants are adapted to dry and sandy conditions, so they tend to have thick, waxy leaves.”
Jamilah plucks a leathery gelam leaf, crushes and smells it. I follow suit. The scent is refreshingly fruity. “Gelam is in the same family as the Australian tea tree but is not exploited for its oils because the content is not high enough to be commercially viable,” she explains.
In such forests which have poor soil, plants tend to clump. When something takes root, other vegetation will grow around it because that spot will be richer in organic matter ( such as from decaying leaves of the main plant). So we see orchids growing under the shade of a gelam merah, which has reddish, papery bark.
Also seeking refuge under main trees are pitcher plants, fan ferns ( Schizeae dichotoma) and mas cotek ( mistletoe fig, Ficus deltoidea), a folk remedy for use after childbirth. Gelam forest is also not devoid of fauna – a whip snake sitting on a gelam tree branch gives us a scare. The swampy spots often harbour ornamental fish
Jamilah ventured into gelam forest research in 1998. “The tropical forest has been studied by many people but not this ecosystem. There is much that we don’t understand about it such as how the nutrients flow, how the plants withstand drought. That attracted me to study this area.”
Useful plants
Although BRIS soil has low plant diversity, Jamilah says it is still an important ecosystem as it supports adapted plants which may hold useful genetic materials. “To deal with the extreme conditions, the plants have to adapt. So most species here have high antioxidant compounds.
“Their tissues commonly contain high secondary metabolites used to defend themselves from pests. As soil and water resources are scarce, their tissues are heavily fortified with chemical defences. There is vast potential in the genetic materials of plants adapted to arid conditions. The hardy plants here might help us develop drought- tolerant plants.”
The notion of gelam forest being scrubland with little worth has led to it being cleared for other uses. Jamilah says Setiu has lost about half of its gelam forest. “It used to be common but is now uncommon as people do not appreciate it and cleared it.”
A silica plant is coming up next to the forest where we stand. The sand, which has high silica content, will be shipped out for processing. A long jetty is being built for this.
“The area to be mined is not large but what if they move to this forest after they’ve finished mining the first site? And when the access road is built, people will start exploiting this place,” says Jamilah.
Suggesting what can happen in future, she points to a stump in the ground – all that’s left of a cucur atap ( Baeckea
frutescens) plant. It has tiny leaves and gnarled trunk and branches, and so is sought after by bonsai hobbyists.
Jamilah says the invasive acacia tree poses another problem. This hardy tree with Australian origins is sprouting all over the country and can easily dominate the gelam forest.
Gelam forest also plays a hydrological function. “The vegetation stabilises the soil and prevents erosion by wind. It also holds water. Floods in Setiu are getting worse. With the wetlands converted, the water has no place to go,” adds Jamilah.
Currently, there is no protection for gelam forest. In fact, it is not even a forest classification. “We’re hoping to save a bit of the area to represent the natural ecosystem we have. We’re suggesting that the state government protect it for people to appreciate this natural landscape that cannot be found anywhere else,” says Jamilah.
Mangrove rarities
The mangroves of Setiu are equally rich. On Pulau Layat, a mangrove- covered island in Setiu lagoon, we plough through mud, wade through streams and duck under tree branches to reach a stand of the rare Bruguiera hainesii – one of three on this island. Another tree is on a sand bar. UMT field botanist Muhamad Razali Salam made the discovery about two years ago.
In the IUCN Red List of Threatened species, this tree is listed as naturally rare, with small and scattered distribution. So far, only 200 trees are known to exist: 80 trees in Malaysia, 120 in Papua and three in Singapore. Locals call the tree berus
mata buaya because of the large respiratory cells on its trunk.
Razali alerts us to the numerous calyxes, the sepals of the flowers, which have dropped on the ground. With no chance for the flowers to develop into seedlings, it is no wonder the tree is so rare. Nevertheless, we did see one seedling on the tree.
On Pulau Rhu, ant plants hang from almost every tree. Sometimes, as many as four or five adorn a single branch. “I usually don’t see ant plants in such abundance in other places,” says Razali.
Ant plants live in a mutualistic association with a colony of ants. They provide nectar and space for the ants, which in return protect them against herbivores.
Plant ecologist Dr Wan Juliana Ahmad of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia says the presence of rare plants indicates the health of Setiu mangroves. She is mapping the rare trees in order to determine the areas important for conservation.