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Calling all volunteers EARTHSHIP
looking for partners Water shortage in a Rainy
place: Malaysia
There has been a large amount of unplanned and unsustainable development in the highland forests in Malaysia, including inappropriate road building and excessive highland resort development. Excessive clearing of forests has led to the siltation of rivers and contamination of the water supply. Forest clearance has resulted in frequent occurrences of soil erosion and landslides. The quality of water gradually deteriorates due to siltation and pollution from the construction work of the highland roads, while poorly constructed roads contribute to soil erosion and water pollution. In the first three months of this year Klang Valley received more than average rainfall. Yet we are hit with a water shortage. Levels at the dams continue to fall. It is quite obvious that poor management of our water resources is one of the main reasons for the crisis. El Nino has had little to do with it this time. The catchment areas no longer retain water, as they should. Many reasons can be cited, probably all arising from lack of coordination between the state agencies. While one agency designates the catchment areas as reserves, another approves logging concessions on them. Yet others allow the development of forest-depleting golf courses and quarrying in catchment areas. Industries with potential to contaminate rivers that feed reservoirs are allowed to operate upstream. It is time to take a hard look at the utilization of land in and around catchment areas and come up with a clear and sensible policy. Inexpensive drinking water could be obtained in coastal areas by installing low-cost water-treatment plants that use solar energy for the desalination of seawater. Countries like Saudi Arabia, already reap the benefits from this abundant natural source of energy. Seawater can be desalinated near coastal areas, and untreated water thrown back into the sea or the salt zone, and the treated water supplied to small towns and villages by pumping stations. This process not only ensures the availability of abundant drinking water, but also provides employment to the locals. The salt obtained from this process can be used in commercial and industrial applications. The use of treated seawater may, in the future, save many lives in times of drought. The generous use of drinking water and leakage in pipelines and taps are among the major causes of water wastage, amounting to millions of gallons per day. The use of drinking water in gardening, car washing and toilet flushing also add to the wastage of drinking water. Brackish water or treated sewage water can be used as substitutes for potable water for these purposes. Another cause of the problem is the mishandling of wastewater from raw sewage, industrial waste, and agriculture runoffs, which increase the contamination in natural sources of fresh water. Sewerage water, therefore, ought not be allowed to fall into the sea or rivers, but should be treated properly, and stored outside the cities or villages to be supplied back to the residents for use. The recycling of sewerage water and its storage outside the cities will raise ground water levels, and the treated solid waste is a natural fertilizer. While recycling sewer water and its accumulation may create waterlogging in some areas and increase the salinity of the soil, in most cases it will raise the water level and result in fertile soil. Waterlogging and salinity may be controlled through the use of modern scientific technology. Over the past few years, the Malaysian environment has continued to deteriorate. The rapid growth prior to the economic crisis and the present economic recovery, whilst raising the GNP and incomes, has had a toll on the environment. Uncontrolled growth with scant regard for ecological principles continues to be the order of the day. Whale Watching in
Newfoundland Q. What pleases you or bothers you about commercial whale and dolphin watching as it is today? A. I see unskilled captains/sailors as a problem. I have seen whales intensely harassed by experienced skippers who are very unfamiliar with how a whale moves/perceives its environment. These people can be very difficult to train. I am pleased with some of the efforts going into environmental education and basic data gathering. There is almost no whale research being done in Newfoundland and Labrador. Tour companies can collect useful data in a reliable and systematic way. Q. What could be done to improve whale watching tours in your area or in other areas you're familiar with? A. Train some of the captains! Q. What could local, provincial/state or national governments (such as tourism & environment ministries) do? A. In Newfoundland, Canada they could take an interest in working with industry. The federal Department of Fisheries studies harp seals and other seals because of harvesting and/or parasite issues ...plus concerns about competition with the fishing industry. Basic population data about whales is not collected....or if government does any work it makes no effort to consult with or share with the industry. Q. What can operators do to make whale watching more educational, scientific and conservation-oriented while remaining fun? A. Many operators do a wonderful balancing act with this. Q. What concerns do you have about the future of whale watching tourism in general in your area and/or other specific areas that you are familiar with? A. Overcrowding is a problem in many parts of the world. In Newfoundland we still need to stop some folks from harvesting endangered harbour porpoises for food. There is NO effort put into educating fishermen. Complaints are dealt with in a manner that could charitably be called frustrating. Q. Are whales and dolphins being watched in a safe manner safe for passengers? Safe for whales and dolphins? Do you see problems ahead if the numbers of boats and passengers increase? Do you have suggestions for how to address future problems if and when they develop? A. Usually the animals are treated well by experienced operators. In Newfoundland, lots of people work on the water. Tour operators travelling with educated, sophisticated, interested clients are not as big a problem as recreational users who neither understand or respect safety zones around a whale or flock of seabirds. Q. Do you have any thoughts on possible future conflicts between whale watching and whaling/ dolphin hunting? A. It happens now as we encounter many subsistence hunters who enjoy bottled jumper (dolphins). Our company works to give rural people an appreciation of the cash value of live whales and dolphins. Q. Do you have any comments on the Earthwatch/Tethys/Ecovolunteer model in terms of raising research and conservation funds? How can it be improved, perhaps extended to more people, or does it only appeal to a limited "core audience" of cetacean enthusiasts? A. We have used our own version of an earthwatch model for over a decade. Sadly we have seen a very limited appeal to studying/censusing/researching whales. One former scientist who now engages guests in supernatural/spiritual/cosmic encounters with whales does very well. We hope our orca expedition 2002 will prove more successful from a business point of view. We do know of one orca that was shot to death in our study area 5 years ago....so we see lots of potential conflicts...and some wonderful learning opportunities. Details are on our website, http://www.wildlands.com Calculating Carrying
Capacity Unfortunately, there is not any standardized way of calculating "carrying capacity" of different resources since we cannot isolate individual resources from each other (unlike abstract environment). However, there are different methodologies has been used by different professionals to calculate capacity or sustainable productivity rate for different renewable resources (Fishery, grazing, coal mining etc.). , Regardless to methods these calculations mostly have to rely on predictions. So, determining ecological or ecotourism carrying capacity of the individual area also have to heavily rely on scientific predictions. Trend in this area seem to be to look into the past land (or resource) use activities and trying to forecast a mean capacity according to these past activities. What we should always remember is that the usage of these resources for any purposes should be sustainable. Mean that they should be able to continue their operations in this particular area with a persistent productivity throughout the time. (This requires prevention of any decline in this particular resource). Thus, ecotourism operations should also calculate their maximum (enduring) usage capacity of the particular resource in order to achieve sustainable operations. I can list certain key issues that should be taken into considerations when carrying capacity assessments for certain activities take place. These key issues can be expanded according to Individual resource`s characteristic: 1. Analysing the past trends to determine future capacity; 2. Usage utilization for the area; 3. Land (or resource) size; 4. Availability and annual expansion rates of the resource; 5. Calculating potential negative effects of ecotourism operations on the resource; 6. Predicting potential negative effects on the resource from other sources (such as urbanization of the area, land clearings for farming, global warming, etc.); 6. Accessibility of the resource; 7. Giving a space for unexpected development. When the carrying capacity for a certain resource and certain place has been determined, we should re-evaluate this carrying capacity rate periodically. Monitoring ecotourism operations rates and their effect on the resource is crucial for amending the carrying capacity rates for certain commercial operations in particular areas. Points to remember at an Indian National Park. There are many points to remember while visiting a National Park, than just ten. A few of them are as under: 1. National Park is a protected forest / region
for the conservation of the ecosystem along with its flora and fauna. It is
managed by the Forest Department which works under the Ministry of Environment
and Forests in India. Park upgraded in Vietnam Xuan Son Nature Reserve in Vietnam's northern province of Phu Tho has been upgraded into a National Park. Xuan Son Nature Reserve is part of Vietnam’s special- interest forest system with an area of 15,000 ha and a buffer zone of 18,600 ha. Its promotion as a national park will help preserve its ecology, especially its limestone mountain forests, besides helping study its unique network of caves. Scientific research and training, ecological tourism and a rational use of land and natural resources are expected to get a boost with this change. The Tallest Rhododendron Tree
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S.A. All Rights Reserved. |
As
populations grow and water use per person rises, demand for freshwater is
soaring. Yet the supply of freshwater is finite and threatened by pollution.
Agenda 21 states that effectively integrated management of water resources is
important to all socio-economic sectors. Malaysia is tropical and lush with
enough water for its needs on an annual basis but tap water shortages occur and
water cuts are part of everyday life. Opposition leaders protested earlier this year
when the government announced water price hikes of between 20 percent and 75
percent in the Kuala Lumpur region. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said the
increase, the first in a decade, "was unavoidable" because of rising
water costs and new projects. The opposition accused authorities of inefficiency
and poor conservation campaigns. The bottom line is people do not want to suffer a repeat of the 1998 crisis, which
also forced many hotels, restaurants and laundries to close down.
The world's tallest Rhododendron tree is
located in Nagaland & is recorded in the Guiness book of records. It is located
at an altitude of 2550 mtrs and the height of the tree is 110ft. It is called the
Scarlet rhododendron. Recently we, the Nagaland Tourism Association (NTA) organised an
expedition to
the spot.