Malaysia’s mangrove forests are intrinsically tied to human wellbeing, providing habitat for valuable fisheries along with protection from storms and flooding. Despite their enormous value, they continue to disappear at a rapid rate. The FAO warns that mangrove ecosystems may even face extinction in the near future. Development policies that encourage deforestation to make way for export-oriented aquaculture (like shrimp farms), coastal residences and port complexes are the culprits. Local residents are hardest hit. Their livelihoods and sustenance are destroyed when mangrove forests in and around their village are eliminated. Mangrove forests enhance water quality, act as sinks for carbon dioxide, support nutrient cycling and serve as wildlife habitat. They hold dense populations of fish stocks that meet commercial and subsistence needs. They yield a wood-based fuel and construction material that local people can harvest in sustainable quantities. Finally, they can generate significant ecotourism revenue. By one reliable estimate, Malaysian mangrove forests provide multiple ecosystem services worth as much as $7,000 per hectare, making them some of the most valuable in the world. The Malaysian government has been trying to protect the sprawling Sungai Pulai Estuary system in the Iskandar region near Johor Bahru. This mangrove ecosystem was designated as a protected site under the Ramsar Convention—an international agreement aimed at protecting wetlands of global importance. However, less than a mile away, a port complex known as Tanjung Pelepas is on a fast track to becoming the world’s quickest growing port. Can the government of Malaysia protect its Ramsar sites, while simultaneously encouraging rapid development in the immediately adjacent area?

DUSP PhD candidate Ms. Kelly Heber Dunning has spent several years studying coastal ecosystems in Malaysia and Indonesia as part of MSCP. Her dissertation explores the advantages and disadvantages of locally-oriented vs. nationally-oriented efforts to protect and restore coastal ecosystem services.