(MY) save seahorses

[Guest guest]

Do: Save our seahorses-New Straits Times*30 Sep 2006*

DEBRA CHONG <debrachong

 

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*Seahorses are fast disappearing and not just into the cooking pot. DEBRA

CHONG joins the Save Our Seahorses brigade for a day and learns what's at

stake.

*

" THERE used to be seahorses a-plenty here. We used to catch and sell them to

Singapore, 50 sen for one. Now, you'd be lucky to see even one. "

 

So said the weather-beaten fisherman from Tanjung Kupang, Johor. He was also

our hired boatman for the day, charged to ferry us from the rickety wooden

jetty in his seaside village to the Straits of Tebrau, roughly 2km

downstream of Sungai Pulai estuary.

 

Beneath the murky, mucky waters is an incredible world that is home to

diverse marine lifeforms including the endangered dugong, Green turtle and

Spotted seahorse.

 

For a few hours some days a month, this magnificent world becomes accessible

to the intrepid human visitor, when the tide is at its lowest.

 

As if by magic, the waters part and a carpet of emerald green unrolls before

one's eyes. At 1.8km long (and up to 200m at its widest), it is Malaysia's

single largest tract of seagrass bed.

 

" In the middle of the Johor Straits, you're standing on a green carpet

filled with life. It's amazing, " said Choo Chee Kuang, 28, programme

coordinator of Save Our Seahorses, SOS for short.

 

A local non-profit organisation, it was formed last year to create and

enhance community awareness and co-operation for marine conservation

particularly in the vicinity of Sungai Pulai estuary.

 

In an effort to educate the local community, it roped in students from the

nearby SMK Gelang Patah to help conduct on-site research.

 

For the teenaged Geography Club members, it was an eye-opening experience

being able to walk on the sea, hold a 'live' seahorse in one's hand and even

taste dugong food, Halophila ovalis, a round-leaf seagrass favoured by the

shy sea mammal.

 

Sungai Pulai estuary is possibly the richest marine bio-diversity spot in

the country.

 

" It's very rare for an estuary to have a seagrass bed, mangrove swamp and

coral reefs so close to each other, " said Choo, who also lectures in Marine

Science at the University College of Science and Technology, Terengganu.

 

In 2003, Sungai Pulai basin, one of three in Johor, was gazetted a Wetland

of International Importance.

 

The status is not lightly awarded. In plain speak, the ecosystem is

recognised as being greatly valuable to the whole world.

 

Coral reefs and seagrass beds breed myriad marine species of fish and other

seafood.

 

According to a World Wildlife Fund fact sheet updated in March this year,

Southeast Asia is considered the global epicentre of marine diversity.

 

In the Straits of Malacca, the yield from coral reefs is thought to be worth

US$563 million (RM2.139 billion).

 

After the Dec 26, 2004 tsunami that affected much of Asia, many governments

are waking up to the role of mangrove swamps in protecting against coastline

erosion.

 

Flora and fauna in these wetlands also filter pollutants and make the water

clean and clear again. The rising tide over the seagrass was miraculously

crystal — we could see through to the bottom of the bottom of the Johor sea!

 

Naturally, they have their limits. That is why Ramsar sites are closely

monitored to ensure that any development will not harm the natural

environment or life forms contained within the area.

 

Unfortunately, that particular tract of seagrass bed we visited lies just

outside the boundaries of the Sungai Pulai Ramsar site. That means, it is

unprotected.

 

Since 1995, increased human activity has endangered the balance of this

delicate marine environment.

 

Motorised fan blades from boats and ships that ply the narrow channel shred

the seagrasses.

 

Seagrasses are very much like land grasses. The only noticeable difference

is the former grows on soil underwater. They still depend on sunlight and

nutrient-rich soil to grow.

 

Rapid construction of industrial plants and housing developments create

pollutants that choke the life out of the seagrasses, as do encroaching

seawalls.

 

Choo is fearful. An adjacent plot was destroyed the same year the Ramsar

Bureau in Switzerland conferred the honour on Sungai Pulai, Tanjung Piai and

Pulau Kukup.

 

His goal is for the policy-makers to designate the seagrass bed a

fully-protected area.

 

" Seahorses, seagrasses, mangrove swamps and coral reefs are closely-related.

In order to protect the seahorse, we need to protect its habitat. "

 

That day, Lady Luck smiled on us. We spotted two seahorses at the fringe of

the seagrass bed. One was female, the other a male which had just given

birth.

 

 

 

*How to help*

 

* Join the SOS volunteer programme

Mapping the seagrass bed and surveying wildlife is hot, sweaty and dangerous

(spiky sharp sea urchins) work but rewarding if you are the incorrigibly

curious and love poking about outdoors. You need to be at least 18 years

old, physically fit, and hold SPM/GCE qualifications.

 

* Sign the petition

All you need do is cut out the petition form on the page in the printed NST,

glue it to a postcard, fill up your details, add stamp and post.

 

* Donate to the Save Our Seahorses fund

It needs financial assistance for research, education and conservation work

in three major areas:

 

* Purchase of satellite images of the seagrass beds.

This will enable the experts to detect changes in size and dimension of the

seagrass beds over time.

Estimated cost: RM8,000 per image

 

* Construction of an on site research station.

Estimated cost: RM7,000

 

* A three-to-five-metre boat and outboard engine.

Estimated cost: RM6,000

 

Cheques can be made out to SUARAM KOMMUNIKASI.

 

Send to:

Suaram

Save Our Seahorse (SOS)

Action Committee

8A, Jalan Ronggeng 11,

Taman Skudai Baru,

81300 Skudai, Johor,

Malaysia

 

For further details, visit

www.sosmalaysia.org.

 

 

* The writer's field trip was courtesy of Ford Motor Company, Malaysia,

which awarded SOS the Ford Conservation and Environmental Grant worth

RM10,000 last year.