It has been identified that the only issue plaguing the Putrajaya Lake and Wetlands was pollution and decrease of water quality, said the supervisor of the UNESCO ecohydrology demonstration site, Dr Rahmah Elfithri.

Causes:
Institute for Environment & Development (LESTARI), which has been studying the situation at the Putrajaya Lake and Wetlands from the beginning of its participation in the UNESCO programme, found that the most prominent form of pollution were the rubbish littering the lakesides. The volume of rubbish would multiply every time an event involving a number of participants or visitors were held in the area.
Other than that, the main contributors of the turbidity are the recreational and business activities that are often held at Putrajaya Lake, such as water sports programmes. 

Images posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram can give away animals location by downloading digital data attached to the images, will reveal their location.

Many cameras and smartphones record the time and location where images are taken. This data is transferred when photographs are uploaded

Poachers are scouring social media looking for leads on where to find endangered species

Consequence
Publicity could either generate financial and political support to prevent the species from becoming extinct or it may backfire when publicity creates threats that were previously absent

Issues:
1. Expanding timber industry (logging) has turned the water a milky brown as rain washes the soil from the logged hillsides into the river.
2. The flood triggered by heavy rain washed mud and sand downstream, swamping Sri Lovely's rice fields and destroying the crops.
3. Logging creates access for the poacher and hunter.
4. Despite rising anger from NGOs and the state of Penang, which accused Kedah of “gambling” with the water supply by continuing to log, local authorities insist there has been no effect on water quality.

Cause:
1. Most of the logging is being legally done. 

Although the federal government imposed a ban on logging in the reserve in 2003, local authorities have allowed commercial logging to increase over the past decade.
2. Examining audit reports, maps and satellite imagery for a report on Kedah forestry, logging in the state was “highly dependent” on primary forest, that there had been “recent, heavy logging” in water catchment forests, as well as land clearing and logging at elevations above 1,000 meters.

A total of six water related problems were identified namely:

In term of causes, the respondents highlighted seven causes of water problems namely:

As conclusion, this paper identified the water related issues by local opinion. With rapid urbanization in Cameron Highlands, problems related to water and other resources are expected to intensify. Cameron Highlands needs to be managed in an integrated and holistic manner such as through the Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) which treats a river basin as a geographical unit. 

Tourism activities caused damage to corals in Marine Park (Pulau Perhentian Besar & Pulau Perhentian Kecil) 

 

Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu, is famed for its marine life and clear waters which is an ideal combination for great diving and snorkeling. It is made up of a cluster of islands which are known as Pulau Perhentian Kecil, Pulau Perhentian Besar and a few smaller islands to the north. Great snorkel and dive sites can be found at reefs with names like Coral Garden, Sugar Wreck, Tiger Rock and Tanjung Besi. Over the last five years, the amount of living corals has stayed largely consistent. Surveys done by conservation group Reef Check Malaysia from 2007 to 2010 showed that live corals coverage is between 35% and 48% of the reef and this coverage can be considered fair. 

 

Issue: 

Hard coral species at dive sites in Pulau Perhentian Besar and Pulau Perhentian Kecil are in danger of being completely destroyed by divers and snorkelers due to less awareness such as stepping on corals while diving and snorkeling. Most of the amateur divers and snorkelers caused some of the dive sites corals damaged, such as Genus Acropora hard coral when some divers stepped on the corals posing for their pictures. 

 

Mostly it was caused by discovery divers or first-time divers whom taking on a diving course. Meanwhile in shallow reefs, snorkelers stepped on the hard corals with their flippers due to excitement to stay buoyant. Seasoned divers mostly appreciate the beauty of the coral and they are more knowledgeable about corals compared to amateur divers and snorkelers. 12 popular dive sites coral reefs was obviously damaged when the fish and crustaceans was no longer abundant. Besides that, oil leakage from boating activities and non-degradable waste by visitors also can harm the coral reefs community. 

 

Solution: 

Dive operators need to educate their staff and customers about the importance of corals and apply sustainable eco-tourism. Divers or locals can monitor the reefs and report to the authorities if they find any illegal activities. 

Recreation and tourism areas can be confined to specific zones, and if properly designed and controlled, can be significant assets to the Marine Park by facilitating education, providing cultural exchange and generating revenue. Zonation also renders protection from damaging activities to sensitive habitats, confines intensive use to sites that can sustain it, and separates incompatible activities. Zones can also be used to limit a certain number of people in a particular area so that adverse impacts from their activities are minimized or avoided. 

The tour operators shall submit the total number of their guests before they conveyed into the park and they must know which island area that they can go. By doing this, it can balance the distribution of visitors in the island so that they do not concentrate in a certain area or an island. Through this effort, the distribution of visitor can be controlled.

https://www.nst.com.my/lifestyle/sunday-vibes/2017/09/275779/careless-people-damaging-our-corals

1.   In Klang and Kuala Langat specifically, water quality of coastal waters was at a decline.

2.   Polluted rivers also had adverse effects on plants and living organisms as well as the country’s economy.

3.   The cost of treating polluted water was high and with severely polluted waters, treatment for consumption was not even possible.

Causes
1.   This, he said, was due to increase in waste dumping into upstream river ways, especially from housing and industrial areas, as well as from discharges from human activities such as farming and land development.

2.   Rapid economic growth has exerted severe constraints on present water utility infrastructure, especially in areas with high economic growth like the Klang Valley.

3.   An increase in the population leads to higher demand for water supply which leads to a higher discharge of waste water.

4.   “Waste water from residential, commercial and industrial areas causes foul smell, especially with the presence of garbage that deteriorates the quality of storm water and pollutes the existing river system,” Sharma explained in a statement today.

Issue: 

1. The ammonia content in Sungai Johor as in Oct 2017 has reached an excessive level.

2. It is believed that this serious river pollution was caused by agricultural-related activities especially the fertilizer industry.

3. The fertilizer farm nearby that believed to be the main reason causing the ammonia pollution in Sungai Johor, this year.

4. An illegal fertilizer processing plant located near Layang-Layang in Kulai which also contributed to the pollution.

5. A nearby poultry farm which had caused ammonia pollution in the same river twice (December 2016 and August 2017).

 

Impacts:

1. The high ammonia content has caused a temporary shut-down of the operation plants at Sungai Johor, Semangar and Tai Hong. 

2. The disrupted water supply has caused inconvenience to the consumers in several area in Johor including Kulai, Iskandar Puteri, Kota Tinggi and Johor Bahru.

- However, El- Nino during 2016 makes cause the case to be worse where the dry rate speeds up.

- This is due to states council gives permission for boer goat farm to operate in Hutan Simpan Pondok Tanjung which is a water catchment area for Bukit Merah.

- Bukit Merah lake is filled with muds and runoff from projects at Hutan SImpan Pondok Tanjung.

- Opening of the farm caused illegal farmers to operate illegal palm oil and orange plantation.

- There is no action from states authority until today eventhough NGOs have reported the illegal activities.

- States govenment have to spend lots of cost to recover the lake
Muhamad Fahmi Bin Isa
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