Source : The Star, Malaysia, 24 Feb '05
By : Audrey Edwards
  

“The Paya Indah Wetlands Sanctuary is an example of something good gone wrong. It was the greatest thing that happened when it was opened. There was great potential,” said Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Science and Technology Faculty dean Prof Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Mohamad yesterday.

“If we have an NGO (non-governmental organisation) with the technical know-how and is not interested in making profits but in conservation instead, some good will come out of it.

“The NGO can then have a board of trustees, which could procure the money to run the place in the interest of the public.”

Dr Abdul Latiff also said technical expertise was needed to understand the ecology of the area such as how the system can attract the birds, wildlife and nature enthusiasts.

Wetlands International Malaysia director Dr Sundari Ramakrishna said it was important to identify the functions of the park.

“It is important to identify whether it is for tourism, education or recreation. Maybe they lacked the methods and funding to sustain themselves.

“There should also be those with the technical capabilities who know the risks involved in managing such a place,” she said.

She also said that in terms of managing a wetlands park, especially one with a peat swamp, understanding the entire water system was important in maintaining the area.

She said bringing in species such as hippopotamuses and water hyacinths, foreign to the ecology there, could also have adverse effects.

WWF-Malaysia executive director Datuk Dr Mikaail Kavanagh Abdullah said money allocated for the sanctuary would probably have been better spent on protecting natural wetland habitats.

“Perhaps the money would have been better spent on protecting natural wetland habitats of which we can all be proud (of), rather than in the creation of an artificial version,” he said in a statement, adding that WWF-Malaysia was sorry to learn of the troubles at the sanctuary.

He added that a natural system would likely have been more sustainable ecologically and “a lot less expensive to maintain.”