(MY) our seahorses in peril

[Guest guest]

Friday, August 10 2007 - The Malay Mail

Save the sea horses

 

Dear Editor,

 

 

 

IT is a shame to learn that the local authorities have kept silent to

pleas from local environmentalists, and people worldwide, who have

called to save the sea horses in the Sungai Pulai estuary in Pontian,

Johor.

 

 

The proposed 913ha industrial estate to be built on a cleared mangrove

area, comprising heavy chemical industries with a chemical incinerator

and facilities to process toxic and hazardous waste, is a matter of

grave concern.

 

Mangroves provide an important habitat for wildlife and it maintains

the health of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

 

Broad scale clearing will undermine sensitive ecosystems, even those

far from the cleared land.

 

Clearing of these inter-tidal wetland areas will result in loss of

nursery habitats and the removal of filters for sediments, nutrients

and pesticide run-off.

 

As humans alter the mangrove ecosystems to meet their needs, they

affect the habitat of the animal communities that interact with one

another.

 

They run the risk of disappearing even before we can recognise the

full extent of its presence. The sea horses have been overlooked and

no study has explored the impact of man on this unique species.

 

Mangrove habitat loss could destabilise the food chain leading to the

destruction of many other species due to their interdependency.

 

And likewise, this will lead to other negative consequences.

 

This looming crisis has not fully dawned upon the authorities.

 

There seems to be a lack of political will in stopping a mushrooming

chemical industrial estate.

 

The clearing of large mangrove areas must be reconsidered and among

the factors taken into consideration are: whether the long term

benefits will balance the losses suffered by the destruction of this

pristine mangrove area with ecological effects on the whole

environment; whether the cost of rehabilitation after such damage will

be smaller or greater than the profits obtained; and whether the local

people will benefit directly than if this area is maintained intact.

 

The ecological crisis is still viewed and approached from the angle of

human self-interest and not from the feeling of responsibility for the

well-being of the environment.

 

As such, Malaysia cannot afford to lose its highly endangered and

vulnerable sea horses.

 

Already heavily traded for the aquarium and traditional medicine

trade, they are also exploited for its souvenir value and as food.

 

The Federal Government and Johor State Government are urged to put off

development plans for the Pulai River estuary.

 

Instead, an integrated coastal management plan should be implemented

with participation from policy makers, biologists, business

entrepreneurs, local communities and non-governmental organisations to

come up with plans encompassing the whole estuary.

 

Don't destroy what we as humans, can't replace.

 

S M Mohd Idris

Sahabat Alam Malaysia