Soil Erosion In Cameron Highlands

Preface Here in front lies the organization review on REACH. It provides information about the aims of the organization and in which way the committee runs it. Furthermore, recommendations are made to help REACH in improving their organization. This review forms the starting point for the research carried out for REACH, described in the report “Soil erosion in Cameron Highlands; an erosion rate study”. The research supports the objective of the organization. Working together with such a group of committed volunteers with a lot of care for the environment in Cameron Highlands was a privilege. Thank you! Brinchang, 23rd July 2006 Renata Fortuin Saxion Hogeschool Deventer, The Netherlands Faculty of Spatial Planning and Built Environment Study on Environmental Technology Contact: Phone no: E-mail:

+31624888799 [email protected]

R.E.A.C.H. needs support and assistance from individuals who can contribute their expertise or help in carrying out its activities. R.E.A.C.H. needs a helping hand – YOURS!

Table of contents Page 1. R.E.A.C.H. …………………………………………………………… 1.1 Aim, objectives and believes ……………………………… 1.2 R.E.A.C.H. logo …………………………………………………… 1.3 R.E.A.C.H. office …………………………………………………

3 3 3 4

2. Organization structure ………………………………………… 2.1 The committee …………………………………………………… 2.2 Sub-committees ………………………………………………… 2.3 Decision making …………………………………………………… 2.4 Membership …………………………………………………………

5 5 6 6 6

3. Activities ……………………………………………………………

8

4. S.W.O.T. analysis …………………………………………………

10

5. Recommendations ………………………………………………

11

Appendices ……………………………………………………………

12

Appendix 1: Location Brinchang ……………………………………………… Appendix 2: Location REACH office …………………………………… 14 Appendix 3: Organization chart ………………………………………………

13 15

1. R.E.A.C.H. Several residents of the Cameron Highlands officially registered Regional Environmental Awareness Cameron Highlands (R.E.A.C.H.) on The 6th of September in the year 2001. They discovered a huge landslide near Gunung Brinchang. They went up to see what could have caused this. When they got to the source of it, they saw it was caused by illegal agricultural activities taking place on the mountain hills. They highlighted this to the local authorities and the farmer was compounded RM 500 by the district office. Later he was charged in the Magistrate Court and they gave him a penalty of RM 4,000, which was later increased to RM 10,000 by the High Court. After this occasion the local residents established REACH because they were concerned about the quality and rate of development in the Cameron Highlands. They have seen that the illegal clearings caused water pollution and other degradation of the natural environment and they wanted to do something about this problem. On the 6th of September in the year 2001, REACH was born.

1.1 Aim, objectives and believes Aim The preservation, restoration and maintenance of the Cameron Highlands as an environmentally sustainable agriculture and hill resort with quality drinking water, maintaining the natural resources and the natural heritage within a permanent nature reserve. Objectives (a) To maintain a balance between environmental protection and development and to safeguard water catchment areas as a vital resource both for supply to the highlands and the lowlands as well as for hydroelectric power. (b) To promote and support projects, including raising funds, in pursuit of the aims and objectives of the Society, with the prior approval of the authority concern. Believes REACH believes that in order to achieve its objectives, participation and support from the Cameron Highlands' community is needed. REACH runs its activities by cooperating with the Local Authorities, Schools, Business entities, the public and YOU!!!

1.2 R.E.A.C.H. logo The logo is circle in shape and inside there is a single flower representing the orchid Dendrobium brinchangense, which is yellow in color. Its background is a mountain range set against the blue sky. Above the circle is the abbreviation R.E.A.C.H. with the full name of the society “Regional Environmental Awareness Cameron Highlands” written below the circle. The logo is made up of four main colors. The representation of symbols and colors are as follows:

Flower -

Dendrobium brinchangense was first recorded in Gunung Brinchang. It is an endangered orchid species that is endemic to the Cameron Highlands. The flower is fragile as well as delicate and this symbolizes the fragile ecosystem of our highlands.

Petals -

Each petal represents nature, culture, heritage, socio-economy and development.

Yellow -

Represents the ray of sunlight that is essential for the continuation of life. The lighter tone used serves as a sign of warning that it might diminish if not taken care of.

Green -

Represents the highland forests and its biodiversity. The highland forest has a wealth of recorded and unrecorded treasures yet to be discovered.

Blue -

Represents the cool clean air and water of the highlands and the importance of our highland forest that serves as a water catchment.

Orange -

The central focus of the society is to maintain a balance between all of the elements to achieve a sustainable future.

R.E.A.C.H -

The acronym encircling the logo signifies that the society will take the lead in addressing environmental issues while creating awareness among the community.

1.3 R.E.A.C.H. office The R.E.A.C.H. office is located on the main road in Brinchang in the Cameron Highlands.1 You can find the Cameron Highlands in the state Pahang of Peninsular Malaysia. The committee members meet each other on Wednesdays in the office to discuss the activities and other topics. There is a library section, which contains all relevant documents to the REACH organization. The room also contains some display facilities while it also has a storage function. The office includes computer facilities with possibilities to use the Internet, to print documents and to scan files.

R.E.A.C.H. Office No. 1, Jalan Besar, 39100 Brinchang, Cameron Highlands, Pahang Darul Makmur, MALAYSIA. Mobile number: Office number: E-mail: Website:

1

For exact location see appendix 1 and 2

+6012 - 589 8684 (Hotline) +605 - 491 5832 [email protected] http://www.reach.org.my

2. Organization structure 2.1 The committee The Society is a community-based organization, managed by elected committee members on a voluntary, non-profit basis. They are elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) once in every two years and they are called the office-bearers of the society. The committee members must all be fulltime Malaysian citizens above 21 years old. The committee members comprising of local community representatives meet weekly at the society’s premises to plan, organize and implement various activities including talks, exhibitions, camping trips, slide shows for the general public and members. The committee consists of: - A President The President shall during his term of office preside at all general meetings and all meetings of the Committee and shall be responsible for the proper conduct of all such meetings. He shall have a second and casting vote and shall sign the minutes of each meeting at the same time they are approved. He shall, in conjunction with the Secretary and Treasurer, sign all cheques on behalf of the Society. - A Vice President The Vice-President shall deputize for the President during the latter’s absence. In the case when both the President and the Vice-President are absent the Committee may appoint a proxy to chair the meeting. - A secretary The Secretary shall conduct the business of the Society in accordance with the rules, and shall carry out the instructions of the general meeting and of the Committee. He shall be responsible for conducting all correspondence and keeping of all books, documents and papers except for the accounts and financial records. He shall attend all meetings and record all proceedings consisting of details such as name and membership number. In conjunction with the President, he or the Treasurer shall sign all cheques on behalf of the Society. - An Assistant Secretary The Assistant Secretary shall assist the Secretary in carrying out his duties and shall act for him in his absence. - A Treasurer The Treasurer shall be responsible for the finances of the Society. He shall keep accounts of all its financial transactions and shall be responsible for their correctness. In conjunction with the President, he or the Secretary shall sign all cheques on behalf of the Society. - Nine (9) Ordinary Committee Members - Three (3) Ordinary Committee Members to be appointed by the President The Ordinary Committee Members shall carry out such duty as directed by the President or the Committee. For an organization chart on REACH, see appendix 3.

2.2

Sub-committees

All 16 members within the REACH committee are divided over following subcommittees: Water resources committee This sub-committee will focus on the river water quality and increasing awareness among people on this topic. This is done by organizing talks and by taking water samples to test the water quality. Also Adopt-A-River project and CSI (Community Stream Investigation) is under their responsibility. In these projects groups of volunteers can test the water quality of a certain river in Cameron Highlands. CSI is only one testing event while Adopt-A-River is more about monitoring. These volunteer groups can be students, community people, tourists, REACH members or other interested people. Recycling committee This sub-committee is brought into existence because of the indiscriminate dumping of trash in Cameron Highlands. This sub-committee creates awareness among local residents on recycling. Their slogan: “Thrown together it is trash. Separate it is cash.” When people separate soft plastic, hard plastic, glass, paper and aluminium cans they can get money for it when they bring it to collection centers. At this moment REACH is trying to build a compactor site and together with increasing awareness among people by having talks; they try to contribute something in order to solve the waste problem. Reforestation committee Reforestation is all about planting tree samples on cleared areas to reduce soil erosion rates. Talks on this topic are given to all kinds of groups and volunteers are taken to the reforestation sites to plant trees. This increases awareness on land clearing problems in Cameron Highlands and on possible mitigation measures. On average in the period between February and July 2006, there was a reforestation day every month. Merchandise committee As the name gives away: REACH has merchandise to sell to interested people. Selling t-shirts, postcards, caps, car stickers and key chains provide REACH with some income while most of the income is gained from donations. Exhibition committee Also exhibitions are held in Cameron Highlands organized by this committee. Posters and pictures displayed in a public place and explanations are given to visitors to increase awareness on issues in Cameron Highlands.

2.3

Decision making

Every first and third Wednesday of the month all committee members gather at the REACH office in Brinchang. During these meetings topics are discussed following the minutes from last meeting. All organized activities are discussed together with ideas for new activities. Although REACH already has around 400 members, numbers are still rising. Every meeting new memberships are discussed because they have to be approved by the committee.

The function of the committee is to organize and supervise the day-to-day activities of the Society and to make decisions on matters affecting its running within the general policy laid down by the general meeting. The committee may not act contrary to the expressed wishes of the general meeting without the prior references to it and shall always remain subordinate to the general meeting. It shall furnish a report to each biennial general meeting on its activities during the previous year. For meetings, at least half of the committee members must be present for valid proceedings and constitute a quorum. At least half of the members of the Committee must indicate whether they are in favour or against a proposal before it can be approved. Decision-making within the REACH organization is taken by voting. A proposal by one of the committee members during a meeting must be approved and then seconded by another committee member before a decision is taken.

2.4

Membership

REACH has currently around 400 members, which can be divided over different memberships, namely: Full member Membership shall be open to all Malaysian citizens born, residing, working or own property in the Cameron Highlands above 18 years of age or; Group Membership may be opened to lawfully constituted Body not less than ten members duly registered with the Registrar of Companies Malaysia, operating in Cameron Highlands. Associate member Any other individual as stated under “full member” or any other concerned individual or group may choose to become an “Associate member of the Society” without any voting rights and they shall pay half the subscription of full members. Associate members do not have voting rights. Outstation member Outstation Membership shall be open to all Malaysian citizens above 18 years of age who live outside of Cameron Highlands. Student member Student membership shall be opened to all people under the age of eighteen and full time students. Full time students over eighteen years old shall be required to produce proof of studentship. University or University College students shall not be admitted as members without the prior written permission of the Vice Chancellor concern. Students below the age of eighteen must obtain prior written permission of their parent(s)/guardian before they are admitted as members. Student members do not have voting rights.

3. Activities In order to achieve the objective of the organization, many activities are organized. Underneath all activities carried out this moment within the REACH organization are explained. Environmental monitoring and surveillance This activity is carried out by REACH members and is not an activity for outside volunteer groups. The members go round in Cameron Highlands to spot changes in the landscape that are further aggravating the environmental situation. Sometimes the press is called to do an item on the situation in Cameron Highlands, but most of the time the problems are highlighted to local authorities. Some of the focuses of monitoring and surveillance:






Illegal land clearing and hill cutting Use of heavy machinery to clear land Indiscriminate water tapping Indiscriminate dumping of waste Illegal collection of plants and intrusion into forest reserves

Data collection and educational activities To increase awareness on the situation in Cameron Highlands, data has to be gathered and talks have to be given. REACH already has identified over 600 species of orchids, 150 species of ferns and 250 species of birds in Cameron Highlands. Furthermore educational talks on all kind of topics about the environment are given to very diverse kind of groups such as farmers, tourists, school children and the general public. Nature walks with explanations of ecology concepts are also organized to show the natural environment, the heritage REACH tries to protect. Insect talks are given with emphasis on the role of insects in the ecological system. Also specific talks can be given on demand on topics as fern identification and botanical illustration for example. Reforestation Reforestation is initiated in partnership with the Forestry Department and is one of the REACH core activities. Volunteer groups are brought to the reforestation sites to let them plant trees. Two different techniques are used to provide the cleared areas with a new forest cover. In the first process indirect planting is applied where soil and seedlings are collected in order to nurture the seedlings at the nursery before they are planted. After planting the seedlings are monitored to see if they survive. The second technique of reforestation is direct planting. In this process holes are dug and lined with organic base. Seedlings are gathered from the vicinity and replanted in the holes. Species like Geruk spp., Eugenia spp., Symingtonia spp., Rhododendron spp. And Medang are planted. A new reforestation project is the planting of Tree Ferns along the roadside. This fern is typical for Cameron Highlands and is planted to increase awareness among people on reforestation projects because the roadside is a place where they can see the activity. Another reason for initiating this project is because of local authorities. They are planting palms along the roadside, which do not survive well because they are not indigenous to highlands. To show the good example, the beautiful montane species is planted by the direct planting technique.

Recycling Cameron Highlands generates about 30 tonnes of solid waste daily. REACH realizes that this is another area where community participation will generate better awareness of the solid waste problem. REACH tries to get more people involved with recycling by telling them they gain something from it. Not only economical gain, but also environmental gain will be explained to them. To achieve this objective, firstly awareness is raised by giving practical demonstrations and by having talks. Health and economic motivation is provided and pointed out, collection centers are maintained, recyclables are transported and a compactor side is build under guidance of REACH. Furthermore, every week eco-runs are held by two dedicated REACH committee members to collect all plastic bottles and aluminium cans they encounter. This contributes greatly to increasing awareness among people. Between October 2004 and December 2005, a total of 76,697 kg recyclables and RM 18,669.45 (€ 4058.58) were generated from the recycling programme. Exhibitions Currently REACH is planning a photographic exhibition entitled “Memories of Cameron Highlands” which will feature over 250 black and white photographs from the ‘40’s-‘60’s. Other topics of exhibitions can be:





Beauty of the highlands Indiscriminate land-clearing and its consequences Water problems in the highlands Indiscriminate dumping of waste

4. S.W.O.T. analysis Here a SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats) analysis is presented on REACH to provide more insight in the organization. Strengths
Volunteer based; great dedication to solve environmental issues
Community based; locals know about what they are talking
Knowledgeable on many topics because of people with different expertise
Many connections to other parties; press, NGO’s, etc.
Respected and recognized as one of the highland protectors Weakness
Volunteer based; so dependant of willingness of the community
Economic uncertainties as for donations can fluctuate
Volunteers are only specialized on their topic of interest Opportunities
With current economic resources, new projects can be initiated
Become more scientific orientated
Increase returning volunteers to join activities
Professionalism can increased by intern schooling of committee members Threats
Carrying out activities is not equally spread among committee members
Member loss due to insufficient stimulation
Member loss due to insufficient information on activities

5. Recommendations To help REACH improve their organization, following recommendations are made:
Build a shelter on the reforestation site on Gunung Brinchang Reforestation projects have been carried out frequently the last few months. During this time the equipment necessary for sample planting activities was left unprotected on the site. This reduces the lifespan of the spades drastically. Another problem on the reforestation site are the dry seasons in which samples cannot survive without water. A rainwater vessel should be placed next to the shelter for the spades. This makes it possible to water the samples in dry periods to give them chances to survive.
Efforts to run activities should be divided more equally on committee members At this moment some committee members spend more time than others in managing activities. The difference in efforts is alarming and poses a real threat to the future of REACH. Committee members can be trained to become more knowledgeable, which gives them the opportunity to run activities themselves. When everything is more equally divided, REACH can run more activities at the same time. The latter will speed up the process of increasing awareness and gives Cameron Highlands a better chance to be saved.
Current R.E.A.C.H. members should be stimulated Losing members will be bad for the organization. To keep members interested to extend their membership the next year, only environmental motivation from their side is not enough. Members should be stimulated to join activities or to suggest new ones. Keeping them posted on progress of REACH and activities can do this.
Volunteers should be encouraged to come back For example the IKEA and Mind Science group have more than one time volunteered for REACH reforestation projects. Other volunteer groups should be encouraged to come back for any kind of activity. Keeping them informed on possibilities in activities is the key.
Become more scientifically orientated Until now REACH already received several University students to do research for them. When REACH becomes more scientifically based, this will attract more researchers. Attracting students can also lighten efforts of committee members to run activities because they can help. Students can contribute in increasing awareness among people by doing research and giving talks about it. Connections must be made between REACH and Universities in Malaysia and other countries. Also increasing cooperation between REACH and NGO’s and environmental organizations for example can help to attract more students.
Invest in new initiatives Given the current financial situation, REACH can afford to spend more money on new projects to increase awareness. The committee should discuss possibilities on this topic.

Appendix 1: Location Brinchang

Appendix 2: Location R.E.A.C.H. office

Appendix 3: Organization chart

President/ Vice-president

Secretary

Water Resources Committee

Recycling Committee

Treasurer

Reforestation Committee

Merchandise Committee

Exhibition Committee

"The threat of nuclear weapons and man's ability to destroy the environment are really alarming. And yet there are other almost imperceptible changes - I am thinking of the exhaustion of our natural resources, and especially of soil erosion - and these are perhaps more dangerous still, because once we begin to feel their repercussions it will be too late." (P144 of The Dalai Lama's Little Book of Inner Peace: 2002, Element Books, London)

6. Preface Here in front lies the report ‘Soil erosion in Cameron Highlands; an Erosion Rate Study of a Highland area’ written in assignment of REACH, in cooperation with Saxion Hogescholen. The problems on the topic of soil erosion in highland areas will be addressed based upon fieldwork and literature research. This report is written in order to create more awareness among the local people about the soil erosion problems. Furthermore the information given in this report supports the objectives of the REACH organization. The research necessary to produce this report was executed between the 13th of February and the 21st of July in the year 2006. The executed fieldwork was made possible by George Theseira by helping me making my first soil erosion plot and providing me with the equipment and materials. I want to thank Tom Bruinsma for helping me making the second and third soil erosion rate plot and giving me mental support. Kumar I want to thank for helping Tom on the third soil erosion rate plot. Many thanks go out to Dr. Liau for being there if I had questions about my research and also for guiding me within the REACH organization. Words of gratitude are meant for all REACH committee members for making this internship possible, for their great care about the environment in Cameron Highlands and for their great hospitality. Last but not least, special thanks go out to Kali, Francis and Kumar for helping me whenever I needed help and for taking me around teaching me a lot about Cameron Highlands’ natural environment. REACH: Please keep up the good work! Brinchang, 22nd July 2006 Renata Fortuin Saxion Hogeschool Deventer, The Netherlands Faculty of Spatial Planning and Built Environment Study on Environmental Technology Contact: Phone no: E-mail:

+31624888799 [email protected]

7. Table of contents Page

Summary

5

1. Introduction ………………………………………………………… 1.1 Scenario ……………………………………………………………………… 1.2 Objective ……………………………………………………………………… 1.3 Main Research Question ……………………………………………… 1.4 Research Methodology ……………………………………………… 1.5 Organization of the report …………………………………………

6 6 6 7 7 7

2. Cameron Highlands ………………………………………………. 2.1 Physical environment ………………………………………………… 2.1.1 Topography…………………………………………………… 2.1.2 Geology ……………………………………………………… 2.1.3 Soils …………………………………………………………… 2.1.4 Climate ………………………………………………………… 2.1.4.1 Temperature ………………………………… 2.1.4.2 Climate Change …………………………… 2.1.4.3 Humidity ……………………………………… 2.1.4.4 Rainfall ………………………………………… 2.1.4.5 Sunshine and Solar Radiation …… 2.1.4.6 Surface Wind ……………………………… 2.1.4.7 Evaporation ………………………………… 2.1.5 Hydrology and Water Resources ……………… 2.1.5.1 Water catchment area ………………… 2.1.5.2 River water Quality ……………………… 2.1.6 Hydropower Development …………………………… 2.2 Biological Environment ……………………………………………… 2.2.1 Flora ……………………………………………………………… 2.2.2 Fauna …………………………………………………………… 2.3 Socio-Economic Environment …………………………………… 2.3.1 Population …………………………………………………… 2.3.2 Tourism ………………………………………………………… 2.3.3 Land Use ……………………………………………………… 2.3.4 Agriculture …………………………………………………… 2.3.5 Road System ………………………………………………

9 9 9 9 9 10 11 11 12 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 16 14 14 16 16 16 17 17 18 20

3. Soil Erosion …………………………………………………………… 3.1 Soil erosion processes ………………………………………………… 3.2 Types of soil erosion …………………………………………………… 3.2.1 Tillage erosion ……………………………………………… 3.2.2 Water erosion ………………………………………………… 3.2.3 Mass movements ………………………………………… 3.3 Factors influencing soil erosion …………………………………… 3.3.1 Factors directly influencing soil erosion ……… 3.3.2 Factors indirectly influencing soil erosion …… 3.4 Consequences of soil erosion ……………………………………… 3.4.1 Flooding ………………………………………………………… 3.4.2 Sedimentation and hydropower generation …

21 21 21 22 22 24 25 25 27 29 29 29

3.4.3 Pollution of water resources ………………………… 3.4.4 Landslides ……………………………………………………… 3.4.5 Forever-lost forests ……………………………………… 3.4.6 Global warming …………………………………………… 3.5 The extent of soil erosion …………………………………………… 3.5.1 Global extent of soil erosion ………………………… 3.5.2 Soil erosion in Cameron Highlands ……………… 3.6 Soil erosion in the future ……………………………………………… 3.6.1 Soil erosion prediction of Cameron Highlands 3.6.2 EWARNSTM …………………………………………………… 3.7 Soil erosion prevention and mitigation ……………………… 3.7.1 Agriculture ……………………………………………………… 3.7.2 Land clearing ………………………………………………… 3.7.3 Highland management ………………………………… 3.7.4 Research ………………………………………………………… 3.7.5 Awareness ………………………………………………………

30 30 31 31 31 31 32 35 35 35 36 36 38 39 40 40

4. Research strategy ………………………………………………… . 4.1 Principles on Soil Erosion Rate Plot’s ………………………… 4.2 The three research Plots ………………………………………………

42 42 42

5. Results …………………………………………………………………. 5.1 Soil Erosion Rate Plot 1 ……………………………………………… 5.2 Soil Erosion Rate Plot 2 ……………………………………………… 5.3 Soil Erosion Rata Plot 3 ……………………………………………… 5.4 Comparing results ………………………………………………………

44 44 45 45 45

6. Discussion ……………………………………………………………… 6.1 Finding suitable locations for the Soil Erosion Rate Plots 6.2 Measurement results ……………………………………………………

47 47 47

7. Conclusion ………………………………………………………………

49

8. Recommendations

51

………………………………………………….

Definitions ……………………………………………………………….. ..

53

Literature ………… ………………………………………………………

54

Internet sites …………………………………………………………….

56

Appendixes Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix

………………………………………………………………. 57 1: 2: 3: 4: 5:

Location Cameron Highlands …………………………………… Cameron Highlands Map …………………………………………… Climatic conditions at Cameron Highlands and Ipoh … Location Upper Telom Catchment ……………………………… Landslide Events in Cameron Highlands ……………………

58 58 60 61 62

Appendix 6: Soil Erosion Rates Map Cameron Highlands ……………… Appendix 7: Sub-catchment Map Cameron Highlands ………………… Appendix 8: Future Soil Erosion in Catchment Areas ……………………

63 64 65

8. Summary Cameron Highlands is located in Peninsular Malaysia on the main range in the state of Pahang and the total area counts about 71,000 hectares. This highland area is very popular among tourists because of its unique features. Tourists can mainly enjoy nature-based and agro-based activities for their entertainment. Soils found in Cameron Highlands have excellent drain ability and are generally poor in nutrients due to steepness of the terrain. The climatic conditions are very different from the situation in lowland areas in Malaysia. Temperatures are lower, rainfall intensities are higher, sunshine hours a day are lower, humidity is higher and evaporation is lower. Cameron Highlands is an important water catchment area, which provides fresh drinking water to households in both highlands as lowlands. The water is also used by hydroelectric power stations to generate electricity for the almost 30,000 people living in Cameron Highlands. Some of the flora and fauna in these highlands are considered as rare and/or endemic and are totally different from lowland vegetation types. These species occur in the still forested part of the highlands, which is 79% of the total land area. The biggest land use after forestry is agriculture with 16.4%. Land clearing resulting in increased soil erosion due to rainfall events is the major threat to Cameron Highlands’ natural environment. Tillage erosion, water erosion and mass movements occur and are primarily caused by land clearings. Also unsustainable development and agriculture, mismanagement and lacking policies contribute to increasing soil erosion rates. This results into problems as flooding, sedimentation, hydropower generating problems, pollution of water resources, loss of biodiversity, global warming and landslides, which can cause serious losses. On global scale already 15% of all ice-free land surface is deteriorated from which 56% is due to water erosion. In Cameron Highlands, the Upper Telom and Upper Bertam catchment have critical water erosion risks (>150 ton/hectare/year). Fieldwork pointed out, the cleared slip near the power lines on Gunung Jasar have high erosion risks (±140 ton/hectare/year) that can eventually cause one of the power lines to come down. Research proved this erosion risk could be reduced on slopes between 10-20° with 88% when the bare soil would be fully covered with vegetation. Predictions on high erosion risks can be made using the EWARNSTM system that can warn people before dangerous situations occur. To tackle the problem of soil erosion in Cameron Highlands, preference has to go out to source directed approaches instead of end-of-pipe solutions. Soil losses can be significantly be reduced when farmers adopt sustainable farming methods such as mulching, intercropping, cover cropping and introducing perennials instead of annuals. Rain shelters and proper drainage systems can also contribute greatly to reduce soil erosion rates. Next to this, land clearing must be properly planned, managed, executed, mitigated and monitored. Also management in Cameron Highlands must be improved. To start with, guidelines and policies on sustainable development of highland areas should be formulated and implemented. Authorities must be educated on highland issues and more manpower must be made available to the enforcement department. To contribute to increasing knowledge and new possibilities in preventing soil erosion, more research have to be carried out. Awareness among people has to be increased as the key to all changes in land clearing problems in which REACH can play a vital role.

Finally, recommendations were made to REACH on how to help prevent increasing soil erosion rates. This includes research activities, increasing awareness and monitoring and highlighting illegal land clearing. If no action is taken to solve these serious environmental problems, Cameron Highlands’ heritage will not be here to pass on to the next generation.

1. Introduction 1.1 Scenario Cameron Highlands is one of the major tourist destinations in Malaysia. At the same time, it is also one of the significant agricultural areas producing not only for the domestic market but also for export. The population of Cameron Highlands counts about 30,000 heads in an area of about 71,000 hectares. All development in this hill resort is concentrated in the western part. All major townships; Ringlet, Habu, Tanah Rata, Brinchang, Tringkap, Kuala Terla and Kampong Raja are connected by one main road which simultaneously is the access road from the lowlands. As the name says it, Cameron Highlands is located in the highlands of Peninsular Malaysia where the temperature is lower and terrain is steeper compared to lowlands. The latter causes a great deal of concern to the local organization R.E.A.C.H. (Regional Environmental Awareness Cameron Highlands). This community based organization works on volunteer basis while they try to protect Cameron Highlands’ natural heritage by increasing awareness on the environmental issues. The terrain steepness of Cameron Highlands contributes greatly to increasing environmental problems. The blame of environmental problems the highland is facing can be shifted solely on development. When no people are present, no deterioration of the environment will take place except for natural processes. Environmental problems begin when lands are cleared for the sake of development. Actually, development is not the reason for the problems; it is caused by unsustainable development. In Cameron Highlands lands are cleared on slopes and left unprotected, which gives the soil the opportunity to move down slope due to rainfall events under influence of gravity. This process is called soil erosion. In highlands areas with steep slopes this problem will be even more severe. With increasing soil erosion events can occur such as landslides endangering people’s lives and the natural environment. It also causes siltation of river streams, which can trigger flooding events. Lands are cleared in Cameron Highlands mainly to make new farming areas, to build houses and to construct roads. Farming areas are contributing to the increasing environmental problems. The farmers use fertilizers and pesticides on their lands and when erosion takes place due to unsustainable farming practices, the polluting chemicals are washed away and end up in the river system. Not only farmers are polluting the rivers, also indiscriminate dumping of waste is a problem here in the highlands. When waste is thrown down slope as people do in certain areas, it will also enter and pollute the river system. Furthermore, sewage is not connected to a treatment system but they also end up in the river system. Given these environmental problems, and the main problem namely soil erosion, this report was prepared in order to provide REACH with more knowledge about soil erosion processes in Cameron Highlands. Incorporating this information in the talks they are already giving can increase awareness among local residents, farmers, students and tourists on this issue.

1.2 Objective Obtain insight in the soil erosion problems in the Cameron Highlands while contributing to the increasing awareness of the local population in Cameron Highlands about the present situation of this problem and present recommendations how to improve the soil erosion problems in assignment of REACH

1.3 Main research question What is the extent of the effects of land clearing on the soil erosion problems in Cameron Highlands and how to improve them while comparing sites with different vegetation types on soil erosion rate and building in a component that contributes to the increasing awareness of the local population?

1.4 Research methodology To study soil erosion in Cameron Highlands first an orientation round on the area took place. It was quite a coincidence a reporter from TV3 came to Cameron Highlands to highlight the environmental problems on the topic water quality. The president of REACH guided the reporter around to show all assets of the problems the highlands are facing. Joining them opened up the opportunity to see all Cameron Highlands’ environmental problems in only two days. After the orientation phase, a literature study combined with supporting fieldwork was conducted. As for literature, available information present at the REACH office was consulted. This includes policy documents, biodiversity studies, EIA reports, research reports on sustainable development in highland areas, compilations of seminars on environmental issues and other relevant data. Next to studying available documents, information was also gathered by having informal talks to local experts. Going around in Cameron Highlands was another way of information gathering. This showed whether the visual situation was the same as the written one. Internet resources were also used but on small extent. The supporting fieldwork consisted of three Soil Erosion Rate Plots (SERP’s) that have been brought into existence to measure actual erosion rates. These SERP’s are based on the principle of rainwater running down the slope resulting in dislocation of soil particles. Measurements of soil amounts as well as rainwater amounts will be taken. One SERP will measure erosion rates on bare soil as the other two will concentrate on partially vegetation cover and full vegetation cover. Taking these measurements will point out in what extent vegetation cover is important to soil erosion problems. The measurements were taken for periods of four weeks at each SERP. After conducting the literature study combined with the fieldwork activities, this report was written and presented to REACH in order to give them more insight in soil erosion problems and giving them the opportunity to increase environmental awareness.

1.5 Organization of the report This report is organized in such a way to make it user friendly to all kinds of users within the organization of REACH. Some readers may only be interested in Cameron Highland information or in the soil erosion problems the highlands are facing, while others may only be interested in solutions for these soil erosion problems.

Some words inside this report are underlined, which means the word is included in the definition list on page 53. In chapter 2 the characteristics of Cameron Highlands are discussed. The physical, biological and socio-economic environments are hereby described. It is meant to give brief background information important to soil erosion problems. Chapter 3 is about soil erosion in Cameron Highlands. Soil erosion processes and different soil erosion types are explained followed by factors influencing this process and the consequences. Further mentioned is the extent of soil erosion on different scales where special attention will be given to the present situation in Cameron Highlands. Not to be forgotten the future scenario on soil erosion based on predictions will be looked at. Providing prevention and mitigation measures to soil erosion problems in Cameron Highlands will conclude this chapter. In the following chapter, the research strategy is discussed. Why a certain approach was chosen will be explained and the theoretical background on the fieldwork will be given. Chapter 5 reveals the results of the executed fieldwork on all of the three Soil Erosion Research Plots while chapter 6 will discuss these results. Chapter 7 is all about conclusions. The conclusions of the fieldwork combined with the literature research will be given and to conclude this report, chapter 8 will present recommendations. The recommendations are directed to REACH and they provide information about how to tackle the problem of soil erosion in highland areas, especially in Cameron Highlands.

2. Cameron Highlands 2.1 Physical environment 2.1.1 Topography The front-page title already points out the focus of this report is aimed at the Cameron Highlands. This cool hill resort can be found in South-East Asia in Peninsular Malaysia in the State Pahang. Inside the State Pahang the Cameron Highlands forms the smallest district, which can be found in the North-West of Pahang in the upper left corner2. This hill station is located on the main mountain range of Peninsula Malaysia. This main range stretches out from Thailand in the north to Negeri Sembilan in Malaysia in the south. From the whole main range 45 % of the area is between 305 m – 610 m and 28 % between 610 m – 914 m. The main range forms the West border of the Cameron Highlands, which is simultaneously the border between the states Pahang and Perak. Cameron Highlands ends in the north when the border of the state Kelantan is crossed (WWF Malaysia, September 2001). Within Cameron Highlands, the highest point would be the Gunung Irau at 2109 m. Other mountain peaks are the G. Brinchang (2062 m), G. Berembun (1812 m), G. Jasar (1670 m), G. Perdah (1551 m) and G. Mentigi (1535 m). Not only mountain peaks but also townships can be found in this highland area. From the north to the south: Blue Valley, Kampong Raja, Kuala Terla, Tringkap, Kea Farm, Brinchang, Tanah Rata, Habu, Bertam Valley and Ringlet. Al these townships are connected by one main road, which simultaneously is the highlands access road3. 2.1.2 Geology The Main Range was formed by the collision between the oceanic Indo- Australian and continental Eurasian tectonic plates. The convergence forced the heavier oceanic plate below the lighter continental plate. The descending plate melted into magma upon reaching a depth of 100 km. The magma was less dense then the surrounding mantle rocks. Therefore the magma slowly rose to intrude the continental crust. When the magma reached the surface it cooled down and crystallized. This process repeated itself over time while slowly creating a line of mountain peaks that forced themselves through the crust. The Main Range was formed from this mountain building episode and its granite bedrock is derived from such crystallized magma. Nowadays the Main Range is not subject to any uplift anymore. The bedrocks of Cameron Highlands consist of acidic intrusive granite rocks formed in the Late Triassic period. These granites are over 200 million years in age. The depths of the bedrocks can vary from approximately 5 m to over 25 m (WWF Malaysia, September 2001). 2 3

See appendix 1: Location Cameron Highlands See appendix 2: Cameron Highlands Map

2.1.3 Soils In Cameron Highlands the area is mainly steep and forested. In many mountain valleys, shallow beds of peat occur although much of the forest grows in a mat of organic soil with little root penetration below this surface. Large areas are also covered with sandy soil mixed with peat while others are studded with granite boulders. Others are covered with loamy soils and beds of clay. In some places where granite is decaying, quartz fragments occur in a uniform soil but are generally absent in the upper layers that usually look like loam. The colour of decaying granite varies from deep red, yellow to almost white in some places. The weathered overlying soil also varies from deep red, light yellow and even pink. On logging tracks or on places where they conduct road cuttings, these colours can easily been seen. The fertility of soil derived from granite is variable but generally low. This soil characteristic is of great importance of farmers in Cameron Highlands. Given this low soil fertility (and slope steepness and high rainfall intensities), farmers are forced to use fertilizers on their lands. When granite rocks weather under the climatic regime in Malaysia, they produce kaolinite rich tropical red clays. These soils have good drainage characteristics and do not significantly swell nor significantly change their engineering properties. The high permeability of the surface soils together with steep slopes, which are common in the highlands, has enabled these soils to be unsaturated on most occasions. In general, the soils along the Main Range are expected to be highly weathered to substantial depths in excess of 25 meters; and be deeper at joints and faults. The weathered surface soils are of about 50% sand and 30% silt/clay. The water retention capability in the top most organic layers are generally good; whilst the lower weathered residual soils possess excellent drain ability and moderately good strength characteristics. The soils are poor in nutrients, which is normal under tropical rain and cloud forest cover. Because of the constant high temperatures and humidity and the luxuriant vegetation growth, the soils have more similarities than differences despite their different origins. These soils are normally acidic (pH 4.5 – 5.5) and leached of silica and basic ions, leaving a reddish-brown sandy clay loam rich in sequisoxides. With increasing altitude the soils become more yellow and less clayey, with a trend towards podsolisation at the upper end of the range (WWF Malaysia, September 2001). 2.1.4 Climate4 Tropical rainforests, like those in Malaysia, are totally dependant on a continuously warm, wet climate. The tropical zone of the world is defined by the geometry of the globe in its orbit. The earth is a roughly spherical planet circling the sun in an elliptical orbit. It receives energy radiated from the sun over a wide spectrum, some of which we perceive as light. Some (mostly short wavelength radiation) is absorbed by the earth’s surface, which is warmed and in turn emits long-wave radiation thus heating the lower atmosphere and initiating convection. During convection, warmed air of the lower atmosphere rises while cooler air moves in to replace it. The effects of convection, directed by rotational forces of the spinning globe, drive the weather systems of the world. Warm air rises by convection around the meteorological equator, creating a lowpressure zone. As it rises, the air cools down and hence loses carrying capacity for water vapour, which condenses and falls as rain. Rotational forces divide the rising 4

See appendix 3: Climatic conditions at Cameron Highlands (highland) and Ipoh (lowland)

airflow, which moves pole-wards at high altitudes before descending again at subtropical latitude north and south, creating surface high-pressure zones. Since air flows from high to low pressure areas, low-level winds return towards the equator. Their convergence defines the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ). Seasonal climatic events in the tropics are dominated by the annual progression of the ITCZ, which moves north and south, following the sun. The ITCZ zone makes sure there are monsoon seasons. The northeast monsoon blows between October and March while the southwest monsoon blows between May and September (Cranbrook and Edwards, 1994). The climate of the Highlands is different from the climate in the Lowlands because of a difference in elevation. Because of this difference the temperature in the Highlands is lower compared to the Lowlands, the relative humidity is higher and the solar radiation is lower. Climatic data can be derived from the meteorological station in Cameron Highlands near Tanah Rata on the way to Gunung Jasar. This is the only weather station on the Mountain Range with a long-term record of the full range of weather and climate data. 2.1.4.1 Temperature When the altitude increases, the temperature decreases. An estimation of this decrease can be made using data from other weather stations in lower areas. Reduction rates of 0.549°C, 0.613 °C and 0.711°C per 100 m can be used to give reasonable temperature estimates of the minimum, mean and maximum temperatures respectively of a site in the Highlands. In Tanah Rata the average temperature measured is about 18°C. The mean maximum temperature is around 22°C while the mean minimum temperature is about 15°C. These temperatures do not fluctuate much from month to month. When looked at the temperatures in Tanah Rata during the last 50 years, they show fluctuating trends. From 1930 until 1960 there is an increasing trend while between 1960 and 1970 the temperature sharply drops after which the temperature shows an upward trend. The temperatures have been increasing since 1975 (WWF Malaysia, September 2001). 2.1.4.2 Climate Change Forty years ago the streets of Brinchang were covered in mist in early mornings and when going outside a sweater must be taken along. Nowadays a t-shirt is sufficient when going outside and morning mist is only experienced a few times a year in Brinchang. The local residents who have been here all their lives can feel the difference in temperature and they can see the difference in climate. Although global warming is a natural process, the speed of the process continues to go faster and faster because of increasing human activities. In this process greenhouse gasses are released into the atmosphere. In general carbon dioxide is produced when fossil fuels are used to generate energy and when forest are cut down and burned. Methane and nitrous oxide, which also contribute to the climate change, are emitted from agricultural activities, changes in land use, and other sources. Industrial processes release artificial chemicals called halocarbons and other long-lived gases such as sulphurhexafluoride. Automobile exhaust fumes generate ozone in the lower atmosphere indirectly. As for Cameron Highlands, only industrial processes are not contributing to the increasing temperatures experienced in the towns. Highland areas do not include industrial areas and because of this, everything has to be transported from the lowlands.

The rising of greenhouse gases can cause climate change. Computer generated climate models predict that the global temperature will raise by about 1 to 3.5°C by the year 2100. Evidence suggests that the climate may have already started responding to past emissions (Sabri Yusof, 2000). According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and based on what is known as the Global Climate Models (GCM), it is expected that by the year 2100, global temperatures could increase between 1 and 4.5°C. With such changes in temperatures and rainfall, sea levels are expected to rise between 13 and 94 cm within 100 years. In Malaysia, forecasts have been made based on climate modeling using 14 GCM’s, which show that Malaysia could experience temperature changes from + 0.7 to + 2.6°C. Precipitation changes can be ranging from - 30 to + 30%. Climate changes will affect many sectors within Malaysia. It will influence the agriculture industry by rainfall fluctuations. As for water resources flooding is the biggest worry when climatic circumstances change. Within the forestry division forest fires and other ways of deforestation are a great risk to the countries rainforest (CEMD and NRE, 2005). 2.1.4.3 Humidity

In Cameron Highlands the average relative humidity is around 90%. February is the month with the lowest humidity during the year (88%), while October is the month with the highest humidity during the year (93%). This can be explained by rainfall patterns in Cameron Highlands. February is dry compared to the wet October month. Also because of lower temperatures compared to the lowlands, the evaporative demand will be lower, thus humidity will be higher. In lowlands areas the average humidity will be around 82% and fluctuates not much from month to month (WWF Malaysia, September 2001). 2.1.4.4 Rainfall As humidity is higher and evaporation lower in Cameron Highlands compared to lowlands areas such as Ipoh shown in appendix 3, the number of rain days and the amount of rainfall are higher. Cameron Highlands receives an average annual rainfall of 2,800 mm and on average 2 out of 3 days are raining. January and February are the driest with rainfall amounts of 100 mm per month while October and November are the wettest with rainfall amounts of 350 mm per month. Normal monthly rainfall will be between 150 and 250 mm (WWF Malaysia, September 2001). Also must be noted that rainfall amounts in the months January and February 2006 were extremely high compared to normal amounts. Almost every day a rain shower could be experienced. 2.1.4.5 Sunshine and Solar Radiation In general highland areas are cloudier compared to lowland areas. The average daily sunshine duration of Cameron Highlands is 4.5 hours while lowland areas have about 6 hours of average daily sunshine. During the northeast monsoon, lower sunshine duration periods and higher intensities of rain and cloud cover are experienced. The fact that highland areas are cloudier contributes to the lower average daily solar radiation of 14 MJ/m2 in Cameron Highlands while lowland areas receive about 1617 MJ/m2. 2.1.4.6 Surface Wind

In Cameron Highlands, the average wind speed is considered as low with 2 m/s, the same as lowland coastal areas. The monsoon not only influences sunshine durations, but also wind directions. During the northeast monsoon the wind direction is mainly easterly and north easterly while during the southwest monsoon the wind direction would be westerly and north westerly. 2.1.4.7 Evaporation These rates are much lower in highlands areas. The average daily evaporation in Cameron Highlands is a little bit above 2 mm while lowland areas have rates of 4 mm. This can be explained due to decreasing size of leaves together with an increasing altitude and because of the steepness of the slopes what causes a higher speed of run-off from water. 2.1.5 Hydrology and Water Resources 2.1.5.1 Water catchment area Most of the earth’s surface is covered by water. From all this water, 97% is salty water while round about 3% is locked away in ice caps and glaciers or are hidden deep underground. It is estimated only 0.003% from all the water on earth is actually available to use as freshwater. Because mankind depends on water for their survival, it is extremely important to protect this rare resource. Estimations project by the year 2050, as many as 65 countries with 60% of the world’s population, will face water shortages. In Cameron Highlands local residents also suffer from water shortage during tourist peak-seasons. Not tourism but illegal tapping of water by farmers and river pollution are the main factors why there are water shortages. Mountains, forests and water are linked with each other in the water cycle. Picture 1: Water cycle

As shown above in picture 1, mountains intercept moisture-laden air to cause rainfall. Mountains are also the source of most of the worlds freshwater because they form the water catchment areas. The forested mountain areas also serve as a water

distributor as they collect and transport water to the lowlands using rivers to do so (Murray, 2002). From the 71,200 hectare Cameron Highlands counts, about 68,000 hectare is designated as Water Catchment Area. The biggest water catchment, the Upper Telom catchment, counts 22,298 hectare. As seen in appendix 4, the catchment area is extremely close to the built-up area and thus sensitive for expanding development (WWF Malaysia, December 2001). 2.1.5.2 River water quality Waste disposal in Cameron Highlands means dumping waste downhill into a valley where a stream is running past it. While most of the water intake points for drinking water are located downstream, this way of dumping is seriously threatening the water quality. In Cameron Highlands, mainly the Bertam, Telom and Lemoi rivers drain the areas. TSS Total Suspended Solid has increased dramatically over the years. TSS caused by soil erosion events, causes siltation in the Sultan Abu Bakar Dam near Ringlet. TSS is the main source of pollution in most of the rivers in Cameron Highlands. Sungai Ringlet and Sungai Telom form the headwater catchment for water supply yet table 1 shows these two rivers are heavily silting up. Also many rivers downstream has to deal with the consequences as they originate from Sungai Telom and Sungai Bertam which are facing siltation problems too. The highland problems are causing lowland problems. Not only siltation but also the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers by farmers are causing a deterioration of the river quality. Table 1: Amount of Suspended Solid in the rivers of Cameron Highlands

Rivers

Suspended Solid (SS) mg/l 1996

Sg. Sg. Sg. Sg. Sg. Sg. Sg.

Ringlet Bertam Habu Burong Tringkap Terla Telom

75.0 28.0 10.0 5.0 65.5 17.0 25.5

1997

1998

1999

21.0 69.0 22.0 5.0 71.0 29.0 32.0

54.5 141.0 285.0 6.0 72.0 111.5 157.5

4056.0 760.0 416.5 49.0 615.0 133.5 1469.5

Source: (WWF Malaysia, December 2001)

2.1.6 hydroelectric power Cameron Highlands harbors two main power stations, the Sultan Yusuff power station with an installed capacity of 100MW and Habu with an installed capacity of 5.5 MW. Also four small hydroelectric power plants can be found on location; namely Robinson Falls (0.9 MW), Kampong Raja (< 3 MW), Kuala Terla (< 2 MW) and the Sungai Plan’ur diversion from the State of Kelantan (WWF, September 2001). The main power station at the Ringlet Lake faces problems of siltation and rubbish. This forces the power plant to stop its activities once in awhile because rubbish gets stuck in the system. Siltation is causing reduction of the river water flow what also can be pointed out as a problem for the hydroelectric power plants.

2.2 Biological Environment

2.2.1 Flora “Mountains are an important source of water, energy and biological diversity. Furthermore, they are a source of such key resources as minerals, forest products and agricultural products and of recreation. As a major ecosystem representing the complex and interrelated ecology of our planet, mountain environments are essential to the survival of the global ecosystem.” – Agenda 21, Chapter 13 – In Malaysia, less than 30% of the surface land area exceeds the 300-meter contour. Less than 7% exceeds altitudes of 900 meters above mean sea-level (amsl). The altitude of 900 meters is taken to point out mountain areas because this is the point where significant biological differences can be observed between lowland and mountain species. When looking at vegetation zones on the main mountains of Peninsular Malaysia, the following observation can be made: Table 2: Vegetation zones

Elevation (m)

Forest Formation

Floristic Zone

0 - 300

Lowland

Lowland dipterocarp

300 - 750

Lowland

Hill dipterocarp

750–1200

Lower Montane

Upper dipterocarp

12001500

Lower Montane

Oak-Laurel

15002100

Upper Montane

Montane ericaceous

Important groups

Dipterocarpus spp., Shorea spp. and Dryobalanops aromatica As above + Shorea curtisii Shorea platyclados, S. ciliata, S. ovata, Dipterocarpus retusus Fagaceae and Lauraceae

Coniferae, Ericaceae and Myrtaceae Source: (Perumal, 2003)

With increasing elevation, the vegetation composition changes drastically. In Lowland rainforest more different plant species are present compared to highland forest where biodiversity is found to be lower. This is due to poorer and thinner soils found in Highland areas where nutrients and soil particles can easily run off the steep slopes. When altitude increases, the size of the flora decreases due to poor soil conditions and lower temperatures. The number of epiphytes increases with altitude where namely bryophytes and fern species abundantly can be found. Although biodiversity may be lower compared to lowland areas, highland areas can be considered as biodiversity isles. Because mountains are geographically isolated from it surroundings, the flora found here is very different from lowland areas. Even floristic characteristics on the species level between two mountains can be very different. Every mountain has its own specific geographical and environmental conditions that cause the differences between two locations. A preliminary checklist of highland plant species has been made by Perumal & Lo in 2000. First must be pointed out this is an inventory rather than a complete list of all species. Not much research has been conducted on highland plant species until so far. By mentioning statistics from this research, the fact that more species occur in Cameron Highlands must not be forgotten.

In Cameron Highlands, 23.8% of all the highland plant species occurring in the peninsula can be found here. Cameron Highlands also has its share in endemic plant species. A total of 145 endemic plant species have been counted. These species only occur in Cameron Highlands and nowhere else in the world. A total of 52 species of plants have been pointed out as rare species while 16 plant species where endemic and rare. The highest number of endemic species (32) was found in the family Orchidaceae (orchids), which suggests that Cameron Highlands supports a good percentage of orchid species that are restricted only to Peninsular Malaysia (WWF Malaysia, December 2001).

Picture 2: Tree fern

One other good example of rare vegetation occurring in highland areas such as Cameron Highlands is the Tree fern (Cyathea excavata). This remaining relic from the ancient times of the dinosaurs is the only species from the group Fern and Fern Allies included in the 1997 IUCN (World Conservation Union) Red List of Threatened Plants. This Tree Fern is also listed in CITES, so the trade of this species is closely controlled and it requires export permit for international trade (WWF, December 2001). This Tree fern can still be found abundantly in Cameron Highlands. 2.2.2 Fauna At Cameron Highlands, a total of 56 mammals, 199 birds, 43 reptiles and 16 amphibians have been recorded. This means Cameron Highlands includes 26%, 31%, 20% and 18% respectively of the total Peninsular Malaysian fauna for each taxon. Focusing on highland fauna species, Cameron Highlands has 67% of known highlands mammals, 74% of birds, 83% of reptiles and 53% of amphibians. Endemism is very well known in Cameron Highlands as it houses several animal species that are endemic to Peninsular Malaysia. The mountain peacock pheasant, Malayan whistling thrush and Butler’s wolf snake are a few good examples. Furthermore, this highland area includes one of the “Endangered” species in the IUCN Red Data List of Threatened Species, namely the serow (Capricornis sumatrensis). Also there are some “Totally protected wild animals” in Cameron Highlands like the Malayan sun bear, flying lemur, leopard, leopard cat, siamang, giant squirrel and some civet cat species (WWF, 2001). Although never mentioned in literature, tigers and elephants also live in Cameron Highlands. On the northern border of Cameron Highlands elephant dung can be found although spotting the animal will be difficult. Also many local residents talk about tiger spotting in the forested areas of Cameron Highlands. A few generations back in time, it was not safe to walk home alone when your house was on the border of the forest because tigers could attack you in the back. Nowadays tigers are no longer spotted in built-up areas as for the last spotting was 40 years ago. Sometimes tigers travel through Cameron Highlands in search for food in mountain habitats such as the Gunung Brinchang area (a mountain near the township of Brinchang). In Cameron Highland’s deep virgin forest, the penetrating smell of tiger can be experienced and the footprints can still be found although the occasion is rare.

2.3 Socio-Economic Environment

2.3.1 Population The population in Cameron Highlands increased from 15,635 in 1970 to 28,050 in 2000. In the period between 1970 and 1980 the average growth rate was 3.42 percent while it was only 1.14 percent in the period between 1991 and 2000. The population is rather small when compared to the total residents in the State of Pahang, which inhibited 1,231,176 people in 2000. The projected population in 2020 will be 34,567 for Cameron Highlands. There are 26 Orang Asli settlements in Cameron Highlands with a total population of 4,868. These are the original inhabitants of Malaysia who still live a basic life in the tropical rainforest. The local residents are mostly elderly people as for most of the teenagers move to bigger cities outside Cameron Highlands in order to study or find a job. 2.3.2 Tourism Next to agriculture as the primary source of income, tourism is the second major economic force. Cameron Highlands offers nature- and agro based tourism. The appealing cool climate attracts a lot of people who wants to escape the high temperatures in Malaysia’s lowland areas. Tourists can book tours to see the farming lands, which includes crop growth and tea plantations or they can enjoy one of the jungle trails that start from Tanah Rata. Tours to see the ‘mossy forest’, where moss is abundantly growing on every tree and where endemic plant species can be found, can be booked in almost every hotel and with local tour operators in Tanah Rata. Along the main road going through Cameron Highlands, many tourist attractions can be visited such as strawberry farms, honey bee farms, cactus valley, butterfly gardens, rose gardens and insect farms. 2.3.3 Land Use Cameron Highlands counts roughly 71,000 hectares of land from which 79% is still forested, which makes 21% developed. These percentages do not include illegal cleared lands. Mainly farmers clear land deep inside the forest to expand their farming activities. At those locations accessibility is stopping enforcement officers to go there to do their job. In reality less than 79% of the total land area of Cameron Highlands is still forested. To make estimations on the actual percentages is extremely difficult. Agriculture is the second major land use after forestry with 16.4% of the total land area (table 3). Round 26% of the terrain of Cameron Highlands is steeper than 25 degrees and 60% of the land is steeper than 20 degrees (table 4). According to legislation permission on land use changes is highly dependent on slope steepness and elevation of a proposed highland area. Table 3: Land Use for the catchment areas in Cameron Highlands (hectare)

2003

Land Use Types Forest Grassland, shrub forest and shifting cultivation Market gardening and mixed agriculture Tea and orchards

53,929.9 79% 1,890.7 8,582.9 12.6% 2,594.6

3.8% 801.3

Residential / estate buildings and associated areas Mining

13.1

Agriculture experimental station

40

Water body Clear / open land

345 47.7 68,245

Total Source: Department of Agriculture (2000)

Table 4: Terrain Class Area for Cameron Highlands

Terrain Class

Hectare

%

0 - 5˚ 5 – 10˚ 10 – 15˚ 15 – 20˚ 20 – 25˚ 25 – 30 ˚ > 30˚ No data Total

3733 2251 5660 15,762 21,789 11,399 6232 1322 68,147

5.5 3.3 8.3 23.1 32.0 16.7 9.2 1.9 100.0

Source: Department of Agriculture (2000)

On National level, monitoring the implementation of the National Physical Plan (NPP) on the monitoring of land use changes is the responsibility of the Director General of the Department of Town and Country Planning (DG DTCP). The implementation of the NPP will require the support of the various federal and state agencies that have a legal duty to adhere to the policies of the NPP. Because land matters are a state business, the district land office has to provide them with information on land conversions approved in its district on regular intervals. The NPP also provides a few constraints in land use changes because Cameron Highlands is gazetted as a “Special Management Area”. NPP 21 stated that future urban and agricultural development in highland areas is only permitted in these Special Management Areas. However, future agriculture development shall only be permitted in areas with slopes of 25 or below. Furthermore, NPP 18 stated that the management of Environmental Sensitive Areas (ESA) should be guided by certain criteria. ESA Rank 1: all areas above 1000 m contour, catchment of existing and proposed dams and all protected and potentially protected areas. ESA Rank 2: all areas between 300 m – 1000 m contour and all other forests, corridors linking important protected areas and buffer zones around Rank 1 areas. ESA Rank 3: all areas between 150 m – 300 m contour, all areas with erosion risk above 150 ton/hectare/year and catchment for water intakes. Cameron Highlands can be placed in all three ESA ranks what means that proper management should be conducted in order to adhere to the policies stated in the NPP. The following criteria should be followed:

ESA Rank 1: No development, agriculture or logging shall be permitted except for low-impact nature tourism, research and education. ESA Rank 2: No development or agriculture. Sustainable logging and low-impact nature tourism may be permitted subject to local constraints. ESA Rank 3: Controlled development where the type and intensity of the development shall be strictly controlled depending on the nature of the constraints (NPP, 2005). 2.3.4 Agriculture Temperate agriculture is the major economic activity in Cameron Highlands followed by tourism. It is also the most important temperate agricultural area in the whole country of Malaysia. The total land use for agriculture is 7,340 hectare (16.4%) in Cameron Highlands. On farming lands tea, cabbage, cauliflower, spring unions, lettuce, celery, French beans, carrot, strawberry, chili, orange, tangerine and flowers are cultivated. Tea and vegetables are the main crops in Cameron Highlands with 2,309 (31%) and 2,720 (37%) hectares respectively in the year 1999. Vegetables are not only distributed in Malaysia but also exported to Singapore where 20 percent of Cameron Highlands’ yields are sent. Some of the vegetables are unique because they are only commercially cultivated in Cameron Highlands and nowhere else in Malaysia. In 1998, it was estimated that revenue from the total annual vegetable production in Cameron Highlands was RM 135 million. It is estimated that 89 percent of all the farmers in Cameron highlands operate on lands smaller than 1 hectare, which results to a poor annual income. The Structure Plan projected there will be an extra demand for round about 700 hectare of land by the year 2020 in this highland area. The District Counsel adopted recent policy that prohibits any opening of new land for agricultural activities (WWF Malaysia, December 2001). Agricultural activities have a lot of constraints in highland areas. The soils are poor on nutrients; heavy rain can easily wash away the soil together with the nutrients. The terrain is also very hilly and therefore steep which makes farming practices more difficult. Flat areas have to be created in order to do some farming activities while this will cause the soil to erode easily and will reduce the soils fertility. Already about 30 percent of the areas used for cultivating crops are above 25˚ in steepness while this was prohibited in NPP 21 (paragraph 2.3.4). As the President of REACH pointed out in many talks, no suitable areas for agriculture are left within the Cameron Highlands District. Given the low soil fertility, steep terrain and heavy rain in Cameron Highlands, high levels of manuring are recommended on vegetable farming lands. The general range for manuring recommendations is between 5 and 10 tons of organic manure (chicken dung is mostly used) and between 0.75 and 1.5 ton of chemical fertilizers per hectare per season. Most of the time farmers apply more than the recommended manure on the farming lands in order to increase productivity. Actually, increasing manure application limits productivity due to accumulations of phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and calcium. Furthermore new soil is taken from slopes in the forest and placed on the topsoil layer of the agricultural land because Cameron’s heavy rainfall washes away nutrients and the soil itself. Pesticides are also extensively used on agricultural land because demands go out for high cosmetic values of crops (WWF Malaysia, September 2001). Many of the farmers in Cameron Highlands operate with a TOL systematic, issued by the State Authority, as land issues authorities are the State’s business. This system provides farmers with licenses that are usually renewed annually and does not

provide them with long-term security. These results in poor farming practices that leads to increasing soil erosion. It is a sure thing this will continue until farmers own their land. Only then it is worth the effort to invest in good farming practices (WWF Malaysia, December 2001). The farmers with TOL licenses that are renewed on yearly basis carry out the clearings and earthworks randomly without any surveyed or engineering plans. Because most of these areas are outside the gazetted Forest Reserves, farmers encroach areas larger than what they applied for. In the Gunung Brinchang area a farmer illegally cleared a large piece of land in 1999/2000, while half of this land was State Land and the other half was gazetted as a Forest Reserve. This indiscriminate clearing resulted in heavy soil erosion leaving only bare rocks at some places nowadays. 2.3.5 Road System Because all towns in Cameron Highlands are located on one line and in one area, one main road connects the five urban centers, namely Ringlet, Tanah Rata, Brinchang, Kuala Terla and Kampung Raja. There is one access road from the South, the Tapah– Cameron Highlands road. From Tapah, Federal Road 59 leads to the hilltops of Cameron Highlands, first passing Ringlet and continues all the way up North to Kampung Raja. From the North there are two access roads leading to Cameron Highlands. The Simpang Pulai – Kuala Berang highway is one of the three roads in Malaysia connecting the East- to the West Coast. Cameron Highlands is accessible from both directions as the highway makes a connection to Kampung Raja located in the North of the Hill Resort. At this moment a road is constructed from Bertam Valley in the South of Cameron Highlands near Ringlet to Kuala Lipis outside Cameron Highlands. This road was proposed in order to reduce the distance to Kuantan, the main capitol of the State of Pahang in which Cameron Highlands is located. This construction can possibly give new opportunities for logging activities in the pristine rainforest surrounding the new road. The Highland Resort Road was a proposed road, which should have connected the highlands areas Fraser’s Hill, Genting Highlands and Cameron Highlands. The proposal was to construct this road following the spine of the main range on which the Hill resorts are located. If this proposal were executed, it would have done a lot of damage to the surrounding environment and it would have caused serious damage to Malaysia’s water catchment areas. Because of a lack of financial resources this proposal was postponed as for the costs will run in the billions.

9.

3. Soil Erosion

3.1 Soil erosion processes Soil erosion is the detachment, entrainment and transport of soil from their original location due to water, wind and man under the influence of gravity. Soil erosion will occur when the original situation of the ecosystem is changed. Any condition that enhances rainwater runoff on hill slopes will cause soil erosion. The forest ecosystem provides a system to protect the soil from erosion. The canopy together with the surface vegetation and litter layer prevents raindrops from falling directly on the soil surface. The surface vegetation and litter layer are indispensable when protecting the forest floor against erosion. The channeling of rainwater by leaves, twigs and branches in the forest canopy produces through fall water-drop sizes larger then the original raindrops. When raindrops fall down from the canopy onto the bare soil on the forest floor, the soil particles can be easily disrupted. These particles will move down slope causing soil creep and the beginnings of soil erosion. Furthermore the tree roots make sure the soil is stabilized while they also partially absorb the runoff. Runoff may occur for two reasons. Firstly, if rain arrives with too high an intensity for it to infiltrate: the resulting runoff is then known as infiltration excess runoff, or Hortonian runoff. Secondly, runoff may occur if the soil has already absorbed all the water it can hold. In this case, the soil is either fully saturated or the soil is frozen. The presence of leaf litter and a root mat at the forest floor inhibit the process of erosion. Soil erosion is therefore affected by three groups of factors (Cranbrook and Edwards, 1994); I. Those determining the quantity of water runoff
Rainfall amount and intensity
Hill lope angle
Infiltration rate depending on the soil type II. Those controlling sediment supply
Desegregation and disruption of soil particles
Transportability of soil particles III. Type and amount of vegetation and litter at the soil surface One more important factor in soil erosion is the soil depth. Soil erosion rates increase with soil depth. When more soil is washed away by rainwater, deeper layers are exposed which will lead in to higher levels of erosion rate (Shimizu and Ohnuki, 2004).

3.2 Types of soil erosion Soil deterioration can be divided into two categories, namely soil displacement and in situ deterioration. Soil displacement occurs mainly due to water and wind erosion. While wind erosion is not significant in Malaysia, water erosion removes the topsoil and results in terrain deformation. In situ deterioration consists of chemical and physical soil degradation. Chemical degradation of soils is the loss of nutrients and organic matter, while it also includes acidification, salinisation and pollution. Physical compaction includes compaction, crusting and sealing, water logging and subsidence of organic soils (Lim et al, 1996). 3.2.1 Tillage erosion Tillage erosion is the redistribution of soil that occurs within a landscape as a direct result of tillage activities. Primary tillage loosens the soil and mixes in fertilizer and/or plant material, resulting in soil with a rough texture. Secondary tillage produces finer soil and sometimes shapes the rows. It can be done by a using various combinations of equipment: plough, disk plough, harrow, dibble, hoe, rotary tillers, subsoiler, ridge or bed forming tillers or roller. Soil loss and soil accumulation are caused by variations in the amount of soil that is moved by tillage. The movement of soil by tillage is called tillage translocation. The variability in translocation is affected by the design and operation of tillage implements and by the topographic and soil properties of landscapes. Typically, tillage results in the progressive down slope movement of soil, causing severe soil loss on upper slope positions and accumulation in lower slope positions (picture 3). Picture 3: Variability of translocation in hilly landscapes (up slope – down slope tillage)

Source: (Li, 2006)

It may not look like much soil is moving down slope, but a loss of only one millimetre per hectare of topsoil is equal to 10 tonnes and is not sustainable over the long run. Furthermore, at places where soil loss occurs, the topsoil layer will be completely vanished over the long run. The subsoil layer located underneath the topsoil layer is more vulnerable to soil erosion, already pointed out in paragraph 3.1, so the soil erosion rate will be higher when more tillage activities are taking place (Li, 2006). 3.2.2 Water erosion


Rainsplash erosion

Picture 4: Types water erosion

Rain splash erosion is the detachment of soil particles under influence of raindrops falling on the soil surface under influence of gravity. The force of falling raindrops can easily dislodge soil particles. Thus this is the most direct form of soil erosion caused by rainwater. The process of dislodged soil particles can only take place when the rain falls with sufficient intensity. When a raindrop hits the bare soil, their kinetic energy is released and can detach soil particles and move them for a short distance. Cameron Highlands is an area where rainfall intensities are very high so rain splash erosion is more severe compared to lowland areas where rainfall intensities are lower. The steepness of the terrain and the poor coverage of soil surfaces during and after construction are contributing to a higher rate of rain splash erosion during high intensity rainstorms (Favis-Mortlock, 2006).


Sheet erosion This type of erosion takes place when uniform layers of soil are loosened or detached and transported down slope caused by rainwater under influence of gravity. Smaller particles are moved down slope by suspension in the shallow layer of flowing water while larger particles are rolled down. As runoff moves downhill, it is at first a thin diffuse film of water, which has lost virtually all the kinetic energy, which it possessed as falling rain. Thus it moves only slowly, has a low flow power, and is generally incapable of detaching or transporting soil particles. When it happens in steep hilly areas the situation is different. Increasing slope steepness results in increasing flow power and increasing detaching or transporting of soil particles. Naturally sheet erosion is interrupted by vegetation growth but on bare soils it can occur rapidly during heavy rain. Same as any kind of water erosion, soil erosion rates will be higher after removal of the topsoil. In subsoil layers it is proven to be very difficult to re-establish vegetation growth due to a lack of nutrients and higher rates of soil erosion. At places where the slope surface is not even, turbulence may cause incision and this initiates the process of rill erosion (Hashim, 2005).
Rill erosion Rill erosion is triggered by rainwater running down slope. While runoff through rainfall moves soil indirectly, small rills are formed which are actually small channels that can be up to 30 centimetres deep. Although the rill formations can be meters long, they can still be flattened by tillage. Rill erosion can take place in two different ways. Firstly, rills can be formed at the most vulnerable locations in the soil when sheet erosion takes place. Secondly, rill erosion can be the result of depressions. If heavy rainfall occurs, water will gather at the lowest point creating some kind of small pond, a micro topographic depression. This will reduce the impact of raindrops on the soil as the kinetic energy is absorbed by the water surface. This process results into increasing depths of the depressions when rainfall continues. Eventually rainwater will overtop the micro topographic depression giving the released runoff more flow power as a result of its kinetic energy. Now the runoff can detach or transport soil particles leaving rills on the soils surface. Generally runoff moves faster in this type of small channels because the water concentration is higher, making the rills deeper and wider until they become gullies (Favis-Mortlock, 2006).


Gully erosion Picture 5: Big gully Gullies are incised channels and they often begin as rills. The process in which they are formed is similar to rill erosion only gullies are a more severe form of soil erosion. The depth, width and extent of the gully formation(s) are a good indicator for the severity of erosion (Hashim, 2005). Shown in Picture 5, is a very severe case of soil erosion taking place on an uncovered, not drained road, cutting through a part of the rainforest in Cameron Highlands. This gully formation continues until the road ends. The size of gullies makes it impossible to remove them solely by tillage.
Tunnel erosion Tunnel erosion is based on the infiltration principle. Rainwater infiltrates the soil but when reaching an impermeable layer the infiltrations stops and the water will move down slope. This down slope movement in the subsoil acts like a natural pipe and it creates underground tunnel erosion formations while fine particles are carried away. Eventually, when the tunnel system grows bigger, its roof may collapse as for there is no supporting layer of soil present to prevent it from happening. Collapsing tunnel systems create new surface gullies with increased infiltration because gutter systems accelerate the process (Hashim, 2005).
Stream bank erosion

Bank erosion is the detachment and transportation of soil particles from the banks of rivers due to the flow of river water. When more water reaches the river system, water levels will rise. This water can saturate the riverbanks, which can eventually collapse and bring more sand into the water. 3.2.3

Mass movements

Mass movements involve the down slope movement of a significant mass of soil. There are two dominant types of mass movements within the Cameron Highlands, namely shallow landslides and deepseated landslides.


Shallow landslides

Picture 6: Mass

movements

This type of mass movement occurs normally on steep slopes alongside rivers or in the bottom of valleys. The soil and the weathered material slide of the underlying bedrock as a consequence of heavy rainfall. This rainfall saturates the soil at depth whereby the effective strength of the soil is reduced. The slope will collapse on a rapid speed. Normally these landslides can be 5–50 m wide and 20–100 m long (picture 6 above).


Deep-seated landslides

Shallow landslide

This type of landslide concerns the more dramatic one (Picture 6 underneath). In this one a whole section of a hill slope slides down along a curved plane of failure deep within the bedrock. On one occasion the moving mass remains intact while it slides down the slope. On other occasions it may disintegrate into a flow of debris. This type of landslide is the consequence of water pressure inside the bedrocks. This event may not be due to one particular storm. Movements like this may last from a few minutes to many tens of years. These landslides also vary in size. Before a whole mountainside comes down the pressure must have been build up inside the bedrocks, which would have taken a long time to do so (Cranbrook and Edwards, Deep1994). seated

3.3 Factors influencing soil erosion

landslide

3.3.1 Factors directly influencing soil erosion Soil erosion occurs when the soil has the opportunity to relocate itself. This will happen in the Cameron Highlands when the land use of a certain area is changed. When a forest area is fully cleared, only the bare soil is left. The soil has no more protection against the raindrops. The canopy, the ground litter and the tree roots are removed so they no longer posses the preventive function against soil erosion. In the highlands they change the land use in order to create more farming land for example, to build more houses or to construct new roads for a better accessibility. Soil erosion problems have a bigger extent in mountain areas compared to flat areas. Soil erosion will increase when slopes are getting steeper. The combination of land clearing and heavy rainfall on the steep barren slopes will be causing soil erosion problems of big extent. Purely development is not causing erosion; it is the manner in which they are developing.


Land clearing Land clearing combined with the heavy rainfall patterns in Cameron Highlands is directly influencing soil erosion rates. In Cameron Highlands, lands are cleared in order to create new agricultural land, to start new development projects and to construct roads. The slash and burn technique is often used by farmers when forested areas are illegally cleared. First an area to clear will be chosen and afterwards the vegetation is cut and allowed to dry. The bark of large trees will be removed in order to let them die by themselves so no cuttings are necessary here. Useful vegetation will be removed from the forest before the dry vegetation area is burned. Normally this type of agricultural land will be used for about 5 years before it is abandoned. This is because the soil fertility declines very fast and weeds invade very easily. This type of clearing can only be sustainable when the area is big and the population density is low. This is not the case in Cameron Highlands what makes the slash and burn technique a serious threat to sustainable soil erosion levels. When an area is cleared, used and abandoned, another area is cleared in order to continue agricultural activities. Soil erosion rate levels will increase together with more land clearing. Picture 7: New farming land

Even in the situation when land is legally cleared with permission from the Land Office, there are many problems with controlling the soil erosion rates. Most of the developers do not consult engineers or earthwork professionals. They bulldoze the approved area, remove the vegetation and superfluous

soil from the site and then hill cutting and landfill activities begin. Hill cuttings and landfills are conducted to create flat areas on which development can take place. Steep sides bordering the flat areas can still be found on the sites designated for development as seen in picture 7. Those steep sides are very sensitive for soil erosion during rain showers because no soil cover is provided after clearing and during development. In many cases no proper soil erosion prevention and/or mitigation measures are introduced during and after construction. In cases of landfills, soil is transported from other locations and brought to the construction area. By doing so, dynamic soil processes are interrupted and will result in poor soils. This might be a problem when the area is planned for agricultural activities as for farmers are forced to use a lot of fertilizers from the beginning on. For farming lands this way of land clearing and construction is not sustainable. For other development purposes, such as housing and road construction, the increasing rates of soil erosion, which can lead to landslides, are threatening the safety of people in that particular area. Picture 8: Kuala Lipis Road

While agriculture is the major source and development projects such as housing is the second, road construction is the third major source causing soil erosion in Cameron Highlands. The now being constructed road from Bertam Valley near Ringlet to Kuala Lipis cuts through a pristine rainforest areas where only Orang Asli people live. Hills were cut, lands were filled and soil was detached and transported down slope until it reached the river down below resulting in water pollution. Picture 8 shows only a plastic sheet partially covering the slope was used as mitigation measure against soil erosion, which can initiate landslides. In the future more development will take place along this road when construction is finished. When there is a road, there will be development as for people can get to that place. Lands will be cleared for farming activities, houses will be built and more soil erosion will take place when not conducting sustainable development.


Agricultural activities

The ways farmers handle their agricultural activities in Cameron Highlands are far from sustainable. On about 37% of all farming lands in Cameron Highlands, farmers cultivate vegetable crops, which make it the biggest group in agriculture. Many of the annual vegetable crops have a short crop cycle so that farmers can harvest that particular type a few times a year. There are a few times during a crop cycle when the soil is more sensitive to erosion. When the crop is planted there is no cover to protect the soil against rainfall. Even when the crops are small and left in the open, the soil has no protection at all against raindrop impacts. With increasing crop growth, soil erosion rates will be reduced until it is harvesting time. When harvesting vegetable crops they are pulled out to remove them from the soil. This practice disturbs and loosens the soil, which will

increase erosion rates because rainfall needs less kinetic energy to detach and transport the soil particles. This crop cycle process seriously affects farming lands on steep slopes where rainwater can easily transport soil particles down slope. Not only steep slopes but also pieces of flat farming lands will be affected when crops are grown on elevated rills because rainwater will eventually run down slope where the farming land stops. On the steep slopes bordering the farming land, soil erosion will take place. Not only short crop cycles are increasing soil erosion rates, also the lack of drainage systems, improper soil covering and absence of rain shelters on farming lands contribute to this problem. Cameron Highlands farming lands are seldom worked for more than 15 years, which means constantly new cuts are made in valley sides approved by officials. Plots are also periodically resurfaced with fresh soil from slopes, sometimes even as frequent as every 22 weeks, which all contributes to increasing soil erosion rates (Barrow, 2006). With agriculture as the main source for the serious soil erosion problems in Cameron Highlands, unsustainable practices of farming are contributing a great deal to the highlands problems. Because agriculture is the major source for soil erosion problems, these problems go hand in hand with water pollution. When soil erosion takes place, not only the soil particles are detached and transported but also the nutrients located in the soil. Thus if soils erode, nutrients are also washed away which forces the farmer to add fertilizers on his lands. This not only causes environmental degradation, but it will also increase costs for the farmer to sustain its practices. If more erosion takes place, even more fertilizers have to be applied and more polluting chemicals will be moved down slope. Most of the time it will reach a river system where it can no longer move down slope. From here the soil particles and chemicals from the farming lands will be transported by the river system. 3.3.2 Factors indirectly influencing soil erosion


Global warming Pointed out in picture 9 is the relationship between changes in land use (land clearing) and rising temperatures. Land-use change patterns follow the same increasing trend as temperature changes showing the link between these two factors as they go hand in hand with each other. Picture 9: Relationship between changes in land use and rising temperatures

Source: (Hassol, 2004)

Not only land clearing leads to an increasing global warming effect, global warming is also influencing soil erosion processes in an indirect way. One of the effects of rising temperatures on earth are fluctuating weather conditions. When temperatures rise, the cold and warm sea currents controlling the weather system on earth are disturbed. As a result of this disturbed weather system, rainfall patterns will change. These patterns will be highly fluctuating and it will be difficult to predict weather conditions in the future. When rainfall patterns fluctuate, it causes more severe storms from time to time, which will increase soil erosion rates. There will also be occasions when rainfall intensities are low. Fluctuating rainfall patterns cause extreme weather conditions. These high intensities of rainfall combined with low intensities of rainfall patterns will result in more soil erosion compared to average rainfall patterns.


Policies First of all, the absence of a clear policy and comprehensive guidelines on highland development is indirectly causing accelerated soil erosion. Another problem is the scarcity of data on sustainable development. Developers and planners are not equipped with the right knowledge (Komoo and Othman, 1996). Existing policy documents can be confusing sometimes. The Land Conservation Act 1960 for example says land administrators can take action against landowners who are responsible for causing soil erosion and damage to the land. Land administrators only have this authority when the State government adopts this act. This makes this act ineffective because the State government can repeal it. The land administrator also looses its authority when an area is not gazetted as ‘hill land’ because in this case, everybody can do everything with the land. The Ruler in Council or the Yang Di Pertuan Negeri can declare any kind of land as ‘hill land’.

The Environmental Quality Act 1974 does not control soil erosion nor does it enhance soil conservation. However, this act does include the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) system. The EIA is required for certain categories of land development and land use. One of the applying categories for soil erosion is the category in which an EIA is required when more than 50 hectare of forested area will be logged in a hill land area. The boundary of 50 hectare seems to be very high as highland areas have very sensitive ecosystems (Lim et al, 1996). Another problem lies in the EIA guidelines, which say environmental aspects only have to be considered inside the proposed plan area. The environmental damage of the surroundings, such as lowland areas in cases of water pollution does not have to be taken into account. Even though it is a good thing there is are boundaries as for example the 50 hectares mentioned earlier, in reality EIA procedures are not strictly followed. A good example would be the EIA on the proposed rehabilitation of the Ringlet Reservoir in Cameron Highlands (TNB, 2004). In every EIA environmental impacts must be considered and mitigation measures must be taken whenever suitable. In this EIA the suitability of selected sites to function as the future disposal area were discussed. Several factors were included, such as the size of the area, capacity, and steepness of the slopes, current land use, accessibility and distance for transportation. All these factors are based on economic motivation rather than the environment. As a fact, the environmental impacts were not included as a factor to discuss the suitability of the future silt deposit site. As a result, a piece of 100 hectare of virgin rainforest was cleared, which can result in the siltation of the Jasik River due to soil erosion. The Jasik River is located in the middle of the approved disposal area and it leads to the Ringlet Reservoir that is located downstream. When the 100 hectares of forest are not properly cleared, the objective of the rehabilitation of the Ringlet Lake will be missed. The Malaysian NPP has one big antithesis to the present situation in Cameron Highlands that is not helping to solve soil erosion problems. NPP 19 urges the importance of connecting the central forest spine located in the middle of Peninsular Malaysia to other forested and wetlands areas. However in Cameron Highlands a new road from Bertam Valley (near Ringlet) to Kuala Lipis is under construction and will run through a lot of hectares protected forested (NPP, 2005).
Management in Cameron Highlands For all built-up areas in Cameron Highlands, the MDCH is the local authority. On other land matters, the District Office and the Land Office are the authorities to be approached. Future land uses are still under jurisdiction of the State government. Applications for TOL land for farming activities for example have to be applied to the District Land Office. One problem of big extent is the lack of professionalism in this kind of matters. The District Officers are most of the time from lowland areas and not familiar with highland issues. They are able to give approval for land clearings in unsuitable areas. Also specialists as engineers, town planners, architects, geotechnical specialist and enforcement officers are lacking. The mismanagement in Cameron Highlands is further aggravating the situation (WWF, 2001). Furthermore, the penalties on serious offences in environmental issues are generally low and those affected by harmful activities cannot recover their loss they have suffered. Yet it is not a lack of legislation Malaysia is suffering from, but rather a lack of enforcement of these laws. The reason for this can be found in their insufficient resources, the lack of competence and expertise among law-enforcers and not to be forgotten corruption and interference by politicians in the affairs of the enforcement agencies (Kader and Faiez, 1996). When there is little enforcement, uncontrolled development resulting in higher soil erosion rates will continue to take place because there is nobody to stop it.

Also in EIA management many things are lacking as discussed above. Although the legal part on EIA is there, the DOE (District Office of the Environment) does not have the human, nor financial resources to ensure that the EIA objective is reached. There is no clear mechanism from other governmental bodies to inform the DOE about future projects. Sometimes the DOE finds out by reading the newspaper or watching the news. This problem leads to the escape of many projects to EIA obligation. In situations where an EIA was approved with attached conditions, it can be rather difficult for the DOE to monitor whether the mitigations measures are being executed. The question if the mitigation measures would have the desired effect if another thing (Lim et al, 1996).

3.4 Consequences of soil erosion 3.4.1 Flooding In April 2001 there was a big flooding event that affected 3,300 villagers. The water level rose nearly a meter from the river level. This event was triggered by an earth levelling and clearing activity to upgrade one of the highland roads. When areas are cleared and erosion takes place, the steep slopes transport the soil to the rivers in the valley down slope. This will cause a reduction of the river’s drainage capacity that in its turn will cause flooding eventually. 3.4.2 Sedimentation and hydropower generation Sedimentation in the highland rivers is also caused by soil erosion. The extent of the problem grows bigger as the Sultan Abu Bakar Dam near Ringlet shows. This dam is used to generate hydroelectric power. Water is transferred from the Sungai Telom and Sungai Bertam through a system of tunnels to the Ringlet Falls reservoirs and afterwards released to the main hydropower plants at Jor located in the headwaters of the Sungai Batang Padang scheme in the State of Perak, outside Cameron Highlands. The Sungai Telom and Sungai Bertam are both tributaries of the Sungai Pahang and as was pointed out in table 1, those rivers are heavily silted. The sediment coming from these rivers will accumulate at the dam site causing decreasing capacity of the lake. In 1997, TNB (Tenaga Nasional Berhad) had said they spend about RM 2.2 million that year to clean up the dam as rubbish and siltation had obstructed water flow that caused reduced power generation. Even so, sediment removal has changed into an ongoing process at the Ringlet Lake. This action can be compared to removing water while the crane is still open. Next to the Ringlet Lake an areas has been created where the silt from the lake is transferred in order to let it dry. After the drying process, the remains are brought to the silt deposit near Ringlet. This new silt deposit area has been created to solve the problem of storage, but in order to do so they cleared 100 hectares of virgin forest. Another thing, the Telom tunnel has been partially filled with sand, which has significantly reduced its flow, also causing reduced power generation. The Ringlet Lake used to be blue coloured in earlier times but nowadays only the brown, muddy colour remains. 3.4.3 Pollution of water resources As mentioned before in paragraph 2.3.4, 16.4% of Cameron Highlands consists of farming land. Because of the steep slopes combined with heavy rainfall, soil erosion easily takes place. Not only the soil, but also the chemical pesticides and fertilizers are transported to the rivers down slope. Research pointed out that a rain shower

washes a lot of the applied chemicals away right after application. This results in increasing application of chemical pesticides and fertilizers by farmers, which also increases the concentration of these chemicals in river water. Next to sedimentation, unsustainable farming activities are causing the deterioration of water resources. This indiscriminate pollution can be easily seen after a rainfall event as shown in picture 10. Both pictures were taken in June 2006 to illustrate the visual difference. Picture 10: Parit Fall before and after rainfall

3.4.4 Landslides Soil erosion in severe forms can result into landslides and mudslides, which are often called mass movements. This will happen when soil looses it carrying capacity and simply falls down. In Cameron Highlands, events of big-scale landslides endangering lives or blocking access roads are graved into people’s mind5. Often is forgotten that small-scale landslides occur all the time along roadsides and on agricultural land. These small-scale landslides are just as much contributing to environmental problems such as siltation and pollution as do the big-scale events. 3.4.5 Forever-lost forests When no action is taken to prevent further erosion, the process is allowed to continue until only bare rocks are left. At first, erosive rainfall will remove the top layer of the soil, after that it will remove the layer underneath. This will take place at an accelerated speed while removing all nutrients until the bedrock is reached. Forest cannot re-establish itself on bare rocks nor can it on soils lacking nutrients. When beginning soil erosion takes place and preventive measures are taken to prevent further erosion, plant and animal species have a chance to re-establish themselves. Hereby must be noted that the forest will never be the same again due to climatic and other environmental changes. 3.4.6 Global Warming In the worst-case scenario, cleared areas are left in the open. This is when soil erosion can easily take place while the soil has no protection at all. The clearing of forests that results into soil erosion and leaving bare soil out in the open, are contributing to the global warming effect. 5

See appendix 5: Landslide events in Cameron Highlands

Mark Nearing, a member of the ISCO (International Soil Conservation Organization) said that soil erosion affects climate changes because the process of soil erosion releases carbonium ions into the air, while carbon dioxide is the primary cause of global warming. There has also been proved a connection between clearing forest and rainfall. The more forest is cleared, the less rainfall will occur, creating ‘dry spots’ because tree canopies intercept moist from clouds. On the other hand, bare soil or bare rock areas contribute to increasing temperatures. Thus land clearing creates dryer, warmer areas. This is due to the fact that bare soil or bare rocks absorb sunlight, which will result in the warming of the earth’s surface. If increasing soil erosion is contributing to the global warming, this will result in more extreme fluctuating climatically conditions. Periods of drought and periods of extreme rainfall events can be predicted. The latter will cause more accelerated soil erosion, making the circle round.

3.5 The extent of soil erosion 3.5.1 Global extent of soil erosion Nowadays there is no good data about the global extent of erosion as a result of water impact. The data on the severity of the occurring erosion is often limited. While limited data is available on global scale, the worldwide erosion problems are increasing. The GLASOD study estimated that all forms of land degradation affect around 15 per cent of the Earth’s ice-free lands. Of this, accelerated soil erosion by water is responsible for about 56 per cent and wind erosion is responsible for about 28 per cent. This means that the area affected by water erosion is, very roughly, around 11 million kilometres square, and the area affected by wind erosion is around 5.5 million kilometre square. The area affected by tillage erosion is yet unknown. Picture 11 gives an overview of the global problems of soil degradation. This does not only include soil erosion severity but also chemical and physical soil degradation. Although more than 99% of the world's food comes from the soil, experts estimate that each year more than 10 million hectares of crop land are degraded or lost as rain and wind sweep away topsoil. An area big enough to feed Europe – 300 million hectares, about 10 times the size of the United Kingdom - has been so severely degraded it cannot produce food, according to United Nation figures (Radford, 2004). Because soil is formed slowly, it is essentially a finite resource. The severity of the global erosion problem is only now becoming widely appreciated because soil formation cannot keep up with the high soil erosion rates (Favis-Mortlock, 2006). Societies in the past had collapsed or disappeared because of soil problems. Easter Island in the Pacific is a famous example. Ninety per cent of the people died because of deforestation, erosion and soil depletion. Another example includes Iceland, where about 50% of the soil ended up in the sea. Icelandic society survived only through a drastically lower standard of living.

Picture 11: Soil degradation on global scale

Source: (From UNEP-GRID)

3.5.2 Soil erosion in Cameron Highlands Agricultural activities generate most of the eroded soils in Cameron Highlands. Next is urbanization, followed by road constructions. Appendix 6 shows soil erosion rates in the whole area of Cameron Highlands. The left side of this area is where all the townships, farming lands and other developments are located. It is at those locations where soil erosion rates are highest. Thus soil erosion rates increase together with development (Hashim, 2005). Kampong Raja was identified as the area with the highest soil erosion risk in Cameron Highlands because it receives the highest rainfall and has highly erodible soils. Underneath in table 5 the soil erosion rates of each sub-catchment6 in Cameron Highlands can be seen. On average, the Upper Telom and Upper Bertam catchments are high erosion risks areas according to the classification for soil erosion risks for highland areas shown in table 6. Those two catchment areas make up 26% of all catchment areas. Around 44% of Cameron Highlands catchment areas have moderate erosion risks and only 30% has low erosion risks. Hereby must be noted these statistics are all averages. The Upper Telom catchment has an average soil erosion risk of 140 ton per hectare per year. This means some areas in this catchment will have higher erosion risks and some areas will have lower erosion risks. In the Upper Telom and Upper Bertam catchments, areas with critical soil erosion risks can also be found. Table 5: Soil Erosion Rates in the sub-catchments in Cameron Highlands.

Sub catchment Upper Telom 6

Hectares

Soil Erosion Rate (Tonnes / hectare / year)

10,033

140

See appendix 7: Sub-catchment map Cameron Highlands

Amount soil removed from top layer / hectare (mm) 14

Lower Telom Upper Bertam Middle Bertam Lower Bertam Lemoi

19,423 7,858 10,100 9,433 10,988

84 103 86 17 14

Total

67,835

74

8.4 10.3 8.6 1.7 1.4 7.4 Source: (Hashim, 2005)

Table 6: Classification for Soil Erosion Risk for Highland Areas

Soil Erosion Loss Range (ton/hectare/year)

Classification (Risk)

< 50 50 – 100 100 – 150 >150

Low Moderate High Critical Source: (Roslan and Tew, 1995)

This data on soil erosion risks is based upon soil erosion theory to include all factors influencing soil erosion. According to the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), the factors to predict the Soil Erosion Loss (A) include the Rainfall Erosivity (R), Soil Erodibility (K), Slope Length and Steepness (LS) and Land Use Management Factor (CP), which includes vegetation cover. A = R * K * SL * CP The Rainfall Erosivity ranges between 650 – 1000 MJ.mm/ha/hr/year (>25 mm/hour is already erosive rainfall, rainfall is proved to be really erosive in Malaysia) and the Erosivity is generally higher towards the western and southern sections of the catchment. These data can be derived from local weather stations such as the one near Tanah Rata and by using that data to fill in the following formula. R = 28.5 + 0.35 * Pa

(Where, Pa = annual rainfall)

Soil Erodibility ranges between 0.05 - 0.45. Soils in the northern section record higher Erodibility compared to the rest of the areas in the catchment. Soil Erodibility information is gathered by using data on soil characteristics and can be derived from the following equation. 100 * K = 1.0 * M1.14 * (10-4) * (12 - a) + 4.5 * (b - 3) + 8.0 * (c - 2) Where,

M = (% silt + % very fine sand) * (100% clay) a = % organic matter b = soil structure code c = permeability class

Slope length and steepness ranges between 0 – 20 with the middle and northern sections recording higher values compared to other areas in the catchment. This information is extracted from terrain and slope maps of Cameron Highlands and using the following equation. SL = (λ / 22.13)m * (0.065 + 0.46 * S + 0.0065 * SS)

Where,

λ = slope length (m) S = slope in % m = 0.2 for S < 1, 0.3 for 1 < S < 3, 0.4 for 3 < S < 5, 0.5 for 5 < S < 12 and 0.6 for S > 12%

The Land Use Management Factor (CP) is stated in table 7 where the vegetation cover is also included. This factor is determined based on research work and observations carried out to suit the local conditions (Tew and Faisal, 2006) and (Hashim, 2005). Table 7: Land Use Management Factor, CP

Land Cover Forest Grassland Recreational Agricultural Bare Land Construction

CP Factor 0.010 0.015 0.100 0.250 0.8 – 1.0 1.0 Source: (Roslan and Tew, 1996)

As table 7 points out, there is a relationship between land use (CP factor) and soil erosion loss (A). Soil erosion losses increase together with increasing CP factors. This factor is found highest on construction and bare land areas, thus soil erosion losses are also highest on these types of land uses. Underneath, table 8 provides information on the relationship between land use and soil erosion rates. Hereby Soil Erosion Rate Plots (SERP’s) are used on areas with slope steepness of 9 degrees unless stated otherwise. Background information on SERP’s will be given in chapter 4 where the research strategy is discussed. As can be seen, providing a rain shelter for the vegetables in Cameron Highlands makes a tremendous difference in soil erosion losses. Soil erosion rates can be 69 times higher when vegetables are left in the open. This type of cabbage can be cultivated three times a year, which makes the soil more sensitive to erosion. When the cabbage is planted the soil is totally unprotected and when it grows bigger the erosion rates will be reduced. However after harvesting the loose soil is even more subjected to soil erosion. Thus these crop cycles makes the soil at several stages within the cycle very vulnerable to soil erosion. Even with slope angles of 3˚ in steepness the erosion rates are high on cabbage farms. Imagine how high the rates will be on real steep slopes where farmers in Cameron Highlands conduct their agricultural activities. Table 8: Relationship between land use and soil erosion rates Land Use Soil Erosion Rate (Ton / hectare / year) Just weeded plot in agricultural land 94 Exposed area without cover > 80 Cabbage in the open, slope is 3˚ 83 Cabbage in rain shelter 1.2 Primary jungle 0.25 – 0.50 Source: (Lim et al, 1996) and (Wan Abdullah et al., 1999)

Landslides due to increasing soil erosion in Cameron Highlands have resulted in the loss of many lives and huge monetary losses. As recent as January 2001, there were two major landslides. In the first, six people were buried alive in Kampong Raja, while in the other, the only access road linking to Kampong Raja and Blue Valley

collapsed, effectively cutting off about 15,000 people and the bulk of the area’s product (WWF Malaysia, December 2001).

3.6 Soil erosion in the future 3.6.1 Soil erosion severity prediction of Cameron Highlands

When knowledge about the present situation of soil erosion is combined with the information about soil erosion in the past, estimations can be made about the future situation on this topic. Naturally there will be some differences because times change and situations change. Before development was taking place in the Cameron Highlands, there was only the natural type of erosion. This type of erosion in forest areas can contribute to biodiversity while giving other plant species a chance to grow inside the altered place. After the discovery of the cool mountain area by William Cameron in 1885, the area was baptized into the Cameron Highlands. After this discovery development took place. The more development took place, the more soil erosion took place. For the future can be said erosion rates would further increase hand in hand with more development. As more development can be expected, for example because of the construction of the new road to Kuala Lipis, increasing soil erosion rates can be predicted. In appendix 8 a prediction is made for future soil erosion rates in the Upper Telom, Upper Bertam and Ringlet areas that shows an alarming increasing trend. Not only future development but also global warming must also be taken into account when talking about future scenarios of soil erosion. Future rates of water- and wind erosion are both likely to be affected by climate change. Water erosion will increase together with higher intensities of rainfall, which will be a result of the increasing global warming effect. Still it is not possible to precisely predict the future scenario on long term on soil erosion within the Cameron Highlands, except for the fact it will be getting worse when unsustainable development keeps on increasing. 3.6.2 EWARNSTM Prediction on short-term soil erosion scenarios in Cameron Highlands is nowadays made possible with the help from new technology. Dr. Tew and Dr. Faisal have created EWARNSTM (Early Warning And Risk Navigation Systems) in order to resolve and minimize the serious soil erosion problems in Cameron Highlands. Before the system could be developed, a case study on Cameron Highlands was set up first. The same parameters as in the USLE equations (paragraph 3.5.2) were determined using information from the latest Structure Plan, Satellite Imagery, topographical and rainfall information of the Cameron Highlands area. In this system only the developed western side of the Cameron Highlands district was taken into account as for no people live in other parts except for some Orang Asli. After the

case study, the real-time warning system was developed using real-time rainfall information. Solar-powered rain sensors will be used, which will be triggered by certain rainfall amounts and intensities. A SIM-card based GPRS transmitter, which is attached to the rain sensors would then send out e-mails at every minute interval, so that the data could be transferred to a receiving unit. The e-mail is read and the data is processed within the Geographical Information system (GIS) using an automated keyboard simulation programme. The processed values will be compared to threshold values and an early warning signal will be triggered when those values are exceeded. Similarly, for the early warning forecast on erosion risks it would be based on the baseline database developed and it is to be confirmed by the weather forecast information as provided by the Malaysian Meteorological Service (MMS). The EWARNS system can be seen as a local soil erosion risk forecast, which even can be sent to mobile phones on daily basis making use of the following website: http://www.ewarns.org.my. This system can be beneficial to local authorities, highway operators and public in general because it can warn them on high risks of erosion, which can trigger landslide and/or mudslide events. Local authorities can use this information to take preventive actions; developers can be warned on forehand; and tourists and local residents can decide not to take a certain road when there is a high erosion risk. Lives can be saved, environmental threats can be reduced, minimized or even prevented and costs can be spared (Tew and Faisal, 2005).

3.7 Soil erosion prevention and mitigation Given the complexity of soil erosion problems in Cameron Highlands it is not possible to solve the problem with only one measure, by only one person, in only one day. Solving this problem will take the cooperation of many parties using many measures and it will also take some time before improvements can be seen. Rather than endof-pipe solutions, source directed solutions should be carried out as much as possible. The rehabilitation of the Ringlet Lake is a good example of an end-of-pipe solution. It would be far more cost- and environmental effective to prevent soil from coming into the river system. 3.7.1 Agriculture The damage the 7,340 hectares of agricultural land in Cameron Highlands have done to the environment cannot be made undone. Nor can the farming areas be converted to forested areas as for agriculture is the major economic resource. Next to this fact, tourism is the second major economic resource of Cameron Highlands in which agrotourism plays a big role. This will only promotes new lands to be cleared in order to create more farming lands. The best option of soil erosion prevention on agricultural land should be seen as promoting sustainable agricultural practices. Many measures can be taken to promote sustainable agriculture. Measures can be of biological character or they can be described as structural measures. It depends on the situation which measure is best to apply. Mulching for example is an effective method of erosion control because it provides a good surface contact cover for the soil. Also the fact that remaining plants which the farm itself produced can be re-used to serve as mulch is appealing in economical and environmental views. When mulching is managed properly, it could also improve the biological, chemical and physical properties of the soil. Cover cropping could also work well to prevent extensive soil erosion on vegetable farms. Several types of leguminous creepers are used to function as surface cover

for crops planted on the soil surface. This technique might not be beneficial for every situation as for creepers can also suffocate young trees. Instead of annuals (vegetables and flowers), perennials can be introduced as preferred agricultural use because these crops generate lower soil erosion rates. Because vegetables and flowers generate a higher income, it is not likely farmers will convert their activities into solely perennial tree crops such as fruit trees. Combining perennial tree crops with vegetables or flowers seems to be more realistic (Hashim and Wan Abdullah, 2003). Another possibility is to cultivate a different type of perennial, which are harvested every 2 to 3 months without having to uproot the plant. One such crop is ‘kaukee’ or also called boxthorn (Lycium Ferocissimum) because of the thorny stems it possesses, which protect the stem for being eaten (picture 12). The benefits are that no pesticides are necessary, the root system can be left in the ground so the soil particles are not disturbed and after taking the leaves, the cut stems can be used to mulch the furrows in the farm that provides an extra cover against erosion (Hashim and Rahaman, 2006). Picture 12: kaukee

Research on two types of soil cover on cropland pointed out that proper cover management is highly important in order to reduce soil loss. One cover was only leaf litter and was sprayed upon with chemicals to prevent natural growth of vegetation, while the other next to leaf litter also included surface vegetation because no chemicals were sprayed. It was found the latter reduced the soil loss with 60% compared to the leaf litter cover. Also an increased crop growth was found due to soil and nutrient conservation. An explanation can be found in the fact that litter is subjected to mobilisation by overland flow. Natural ground vegetation not only holds the topsoil in place, but also retains leaf litter. Intercropping can be another option to reduce erosion rates. Different types of crops can be planted with different crop cycles. Because both have different periods in which the soil is more vulnerable for erosion, the total soil erosion rate throughout the year can be reduced. Rain shelters can also provide a good solution for the problem of soil loss on agricultural land. As has been shown in previous research, the average soil erosion rate on a highland cabbage farm is 83 ton/hectare/year. When a protective rain shelter was used on the same farming land, the soil loss was only 1.2 ton/hectare/year, thus a 69% reduction. Using rain shelters can only be effective when a proper drainage system is present on location because accumulation of runoff outside the shelters occurs during heavy rainfall. Systems where rainwater is intercepted and used for irrigation are highly recommended because this will prevent rainwater to run down slope after a rainfall event (Hashim and Wan Abdullah, 2003).

All these above mentioned measures to prevent or reduce soil erosion rates are based on the willingness of farmers. Sustainable agriculture can only be promoted when farmers adopt these measures. Before farmers are willing to adopt sustainable farming practices, the problems of low farming incomes and TOL systems must be solved. Integration of small sized farms can be encouraged in order to make more money by intensifying farming practices on larger scale on the same amount of farming lands. The participating farmers can receive incentives, which will make their annual income higher. Opportunities as eco-tourism on the farming lands can be further exploited to provide farmers with a second source of income next to their crop yields. As for the TOL system, longer lease of lands or possibilities to buy the land should be introduced on the condition more sustainable farming practices are introduced. Officials in Cameron Highlands should also no longer allow the 15 years cycle issue. Authorities should restrict new clearance after 15 years of using the land and encourage farmers to sustain production on land they already cleared. Although it is possible to withdraw licenses if a farmer causes pollution, this is rarely been done. Enforcement on this issue should be strengthened (Barrow, 2006). Terrace farming should be encouraged on existing farms located on steep slopes. Incentives are also possible here when farmers adopt good farming practices like terracing on steep slopes, using organic fertilizers and with proper amounts, conduct proper waste disposal, introduce rain shelters with proper drainage systems and so on. Farms can be labeled in this manner in order to increase their annual income and increase environmental care at the same time. 3.7.2 Land clearing Land clearing activities should be carefully planned, whereby engineers and earthwork professionals can be consulted. Vegetation that does not necessarily have to be removed in order to execute the plan should be spared wherever possible. Soil material obtained from clearing land should as much as possible be kept at the location where it was taken from while cutting hills should be avoided as much as possible so the original landform can be preserved. Furthermore, the construction of pavement decreases soil infiltration rates, thus pavement construction should be avoided if possible and grass should be planted. Also proper drainage systems should be constructed as soon as the land is cleared when only bare soil remains (Hashim, 1996). In exposed areas, mitigation measures such as planting grass should be taken immediately. Solutions as providing a plastic cover on the exposed soil should only be introduced as a temporary measure. Strategies of planting grass species in strips across slopes are found to be very successful in soil conservation. Vetiver grass (Vetiveria spp.) can adapt to a wide range of soil, slopes and climatic conditions while its roots form an extensive network that strengthens surrounding soil on slopes. It is also cheap to grow, resistant to pests and diseases; it sucks up pollutants and improves crop yields. Other frequently used grass species are Bahia grass (Paspalum notatum) and Axonopus compressus. From these three perennials Vetiver grass is most suitable for the soil conditions found in Cameron Highlands because highlands are more sensitive for soil erosion and this grass has a very extensive root system to retain the soil. Picture 13: Grass perennials to prevent soil erosion

Roots of vetiver

Vetiver grass

Bahia grass

Axonopus compressus

Picture 14: Erosion Control Mattress

Besides grass, there are other possibilities to control erosion, sedimentation and slope failure problems. CHT-Natural Solutions Sdn Bhd developed a bio engineered Erosion Control Mattress (ECM) to control soil erosion and slope failure (picture 14). This ECM makes use of by-products from the oil palm fruit process, namely the fibres. The ECM is proven to be effective in its objective because it slows down water flow velocity, retains moisture for good grass growing, the fibre matrix retains soil and seeds on the slope and the fibre also becomes plant food in order to let them grow faster. Next to this, ECM’s are light in weight and easy to apply on slopes (Leong and Chan, 2006).

Bioengineering

3.7.3 Highland management Improvements in highland management can be made in order to prevent further soil degradation. To start with, guidelines and policies on sustainable development of highland areas should be formulated and afterwards, implementation practices have to be executed properly before proper management can commence. The government must give all its efforts to eliminate corruption without regard to position and rank. When this happens, enforcement can improve gaining back the trust of the people in the legal process (Kader and Faiez, 1996). Because development is not allowed in water catchment areas, on slopes >25 degrees, in areas with a soil erosion rate >150 ton/hectare/year and in areas with >1000 m contour, offenders must be handled with care. Also offences in environmental pollution should be better enforced. MDCH (Majilis Daerah Cameron Highlands) should give fines and jail punishments to all offenders. MDCH should also develop and support implementation of programmes targeted at local community participation in ensuring sustainable development at Cameron

Highlands. This may be in the form of Integrated Community Development Programmes (ICDP), which seeks to conserve biodiversity while improving the quality of life of the people whose livelihood depends on those biological resources. The ICDP could include a range of related conservation and development efforts such as community-based natural resources management, community resource conservation and eco-development projects. The Cabinet Committee on Highlands and Islands with the assistance of UPEN Pahang should continuously monitor all development activities at Cameron Highlands. An extra power must be brought into life that handles environmental issues and will be on the side of MDCH. They can plan, monitor and implement environmental measures and they can undertake environmental awareness and education programmes. This unit must be trained on environmental protection and be given sufficient manpower in order to carry out their activities effectively (WWF, December 2001). 3.7.4 Research Before any of above measures can be put into practice, more research on certain areas is necessary. For example, not much is known about suitable soil covers such as; intercropping, cover cropping and introducing perennials to prevent extensive soil losses. Although MARDI (Malaysian Agricultural Research development Institute) already did a lot of research on improvements in farming practices, opportunities are there to do more research because different situations need different measures. There is also a need in research on rain shelter systems because not much is known about proper drainage management of exceeding rainwater outside the rain shelters in highlands areas. Not only erosion control measures should be looked at, but also social and economic aspects have to be taken into account. Some awareness among farmers on soil erosion issues is already there, the willingness however, to adopt new technology is not present. This is probably mostly due to economic reasons and short-term thinking. However, research should be conducted on the attitude of farmers towards sustainable farming. Furthermore, research can be done on how to approach this soil erosion problem from different angles. In some occasions a fresh view can be more effective than older ones. For future research students, community people, agricultural research institutes, environmental NGO’s and earthwork consultancies for example can be attracted. 3.7.5 Awareness Even though more research on prevention measures on soil losses is welcome, some technologies to prevent increasing soil erosion are readily available. When information and technology is present, the next step will be increasing awareness among farmers, local management and others involved with the soil erosion issues in order to let them adopt available technologies. As awareness is the key-trigger to prevent further degradation of the environment, the information must reach the people involved. Talks have to be given to schoolchildren about the present environmental situation in Cameron Highlands and how to lend a helping hand because the future is in the hands of the next generation. These talks for increasing awareness can be followed by participating in environmental projects such as ‘Adopt A River’. In this project guided by REACH not only schoolchildren but also other community members can adopt a river in Cameron Highlands and monitor the severity of pollution by taking measurements on water quality and looking at the visual aspects of the river. Another option would be to

participate in reforestation projects to learn more about the importance of the presence of vegetation to prevent soil erosion, which can result in dangerous landslides. Next to this, farmers have to be educated through educational programmes to increase their knowledge in how to improve farming practices for their own and the environments benefit. Special attention must be given on increasing their incomes without damaging the environment. Also local authorities have to be invited to attend talks to increase pressure on them to take some kind of action on the soil erosion losses. Organizations as R.E.A.C.H., Global Environment Centre, WWF and MNS can play a vital role in increasing awareness among people.

4. Research strategy

4.1 Principles on Soil Erosion Rate Plot’s The fieldwork was executed in order to support literature data on soil erosion rates because data can deviate from each other. Furthermore in most of the research on soil erosion rates, the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) was used making it some sort of prediction. Research in Cameron Highlands based on Soil Erosion Rate Plots (SERP’s) was only executed on farming lands. Given these facts, taking measurements with the help of SERP’s would be useful when conducted on areas other than farming land. The decision was taken not to use the USLE equation for this research, not only because data was already available, but also because retrieving data to do so would be very expensive. To obtain correct information on soil characteristics laboratorial work would have been necessary. Thus research was carried out using SERP’s. An SERP is a dripping-bucket system to measure soil erosion rates. Planks border the plot to prevent surrounding soil and rainwater to come into the area where measurements are taken. Soil and rainwater will be collected using a gutter on the down slope side of the plot. This gutter leads to a connected bucket system that will collect both soil and rainwater. The bucket system was covered with plastic to prevent rainwater from falling in directly. When collecting the runoff, first rainwater will be taken out and measured in millilitres. The soil remaining on the bucket’s bottom and rainwater leftovers are taken back. The rainwater-soil combination will be kept in open air (and if possible in sunlight) letting the rainwater vaporise leaving only the dry soil. Amounts of vaporising rainwater will not be included in amounts of rainwater runoff because amounts will be so low it can be neglected. The amount of dry soil after the vaporising process will be weight in grams to collect data about soil erosion rates. The objective of the fieldwork was to point out in what extent vegetation cover makes a difference on soil erosion rates in non-farming lands. In order to get good results, three sites for field study were chosen.

4.2 The three research plots The first site was located on the east hillside of Gunung Jasar (a mountain), located on the Westside of the township of Tanah Rata. This site was a bare soil area with a slope steepness of 20 degrees, without vegetation cover. The east part of the hill was partially cleared in order to construct power lines, which makes it a good place to take measurements because even now the site is lacking proper soil erosion control measures. TNB (Tenaga Nasional Berhad = National Power Company) is responsible for the power lines, its construction and maintenance. The second site was located next to the water storage construction, a small walk uphill from the centre of the township of Tanah Rata. This site was partially covered with minor vegetation, leaving about 50% of the soil uncovered. The slope steepness was around 15 degrees. The third site was located on the Jalan Tengkolok (Tengkolok road) next to the road site. This road originates in Tanah Rata starting from the police station and ending at the Tanah Rata power station on the Gunung Jasar. This site was fully covered by minor vegetation leaving no soil uncovered and had a slope steepness around 10 degrees. Also present was a layer of organic matter on the soil surface. Having three sites, one with bare soil leaving the whole surface uncovered, one with soil partially covered by minor vegetation and one with a complete minor vegetation cover leaving no soil uncovered, comparisons can be made. Because of limited time, every site was given four weeks for measurement taking. Soil erosion rates are expressed in ton per hectare per year and rainwater runoff is expressed in litres per

hectare per year. Given this fact, measurements taken must be according to these standards. The SERP’s all have the size of 10 m2 to give reliable results. When the surface area would have been bigger or smaller the reliability would have been reduced. Smaller areas would have been less representative compared to bigger areas as soil erosion occurs also on larger scale. Bigger areas would have been less reliable because of increasing chances on bucket overflowing occasions. The size of 10 m2 is also chosen to make calculations into hectares easier while amounts of soil were measured in grams and rainwater runoff in millilitres. Picture 15: Soil Erosion Rate Plots

SERP 1

SERP 3

10.

5. Research results

5.1 Soil Erosion Rate Plot 1 Table 9: Soil Erosion Rate Plot 1 Date Rainwater Soil Runoff Runoff (Grams/10 m2) (ml/10 m2) 12th April 13th April 10,300 400 14th April 9,300 370 15th April 550 30 th 17 April 2,500 100 21st April 8,400 450 25th April 31,700 1650 28th April 15,100 1150 2nd May 35,000 2650 4th May 19,000 1400 th 5 May 20,200 1550 9th May 15,600 1150 Total

167,650

Soil erosion rate = Soil erosion rate =

Rainwater Runoff ( l / hectare )

Soil Runoff (Ton / hectare)

10,300 9,300 550 2,500 8,400 31,700 15,100 35,000 19,000 20,200 15,600

0.40 0.37 0.03 0.10 0.45 1.65 1.15 2.65 1.40 1.55 1.15

167,650

10.9

10,900

10.9 ton / hectare / 4 weeks ± 140 ton / hectare / year

In this situation, every year 14 mm from the topsoil layer will be removed on every hectare. When returning to SERP 1 after the four-week period to remove the system from its location, another result could be observed as for SERP 1 was nowhere to be found. Illustrated in picture 16, only an area with a lot of loosened soil was there due to a landslide event coming from the steep slope on the right side of the SERP. Picture 16: Soil Erosion Rate Plot 1

Before

After

5.2 Soil Erosion Rate Plot 2 Measurements on soil erosion plot number 2 were supposed to take place between the 11th of May and the 7th of June 2006. After setting up the plot, measurements were taken the following five days. Every day the plot was checked and rainwaterand soil runoff were removed from the bucket system. Three out of these five days the buckets have been overflowing and even an attempt was made to stay at the plot site during rainfall events in order to continuously remove rainwater runoff from the buckets. If this attempt were not made, the buckets would have been overflowing when reaching the plot site after a rainfall event. After these ineffective attempts, the measurements that can be taken from this plot were considered inaccurate due to bucket overflowing events and cannot be included in this research.

5.3 Soil Erosion Rate Plot 3 Table 10: Soil Erosion Rate Plot 3 Soil Runoff Date Rainwater (Grams / 10 m2) Runoff (ml / 10 m2 th 9 June 11th June 2,100 10.4 16th June 9,800 48.6 20th June 4,200 20.8 24th June 12,500 62.2 29th June 6,900 34.2 6th July 4,800 23.8 Total

40,300

Soil erosion rate = Soil erosion rate =

200

Rainwater Runoff (L / hectare)

Soil Runoff (Ton / hectare)

2,100 9,800 4,200 12,500 6,900 4,800

0.0104 0.0486 0.0208 0.0622 0.0342 0.0238

40,300

0.2000

0.2 ton / hectare / 4 weeks 2.6 ton / hectare / year

In this situation, every year 0.26 mm from the topsoil layer will be removed on every hectare.

5.4 Comparing results Soil Erosion Rate Plot 1 had an erosion rate of ± 140 ton/hectare/year, while Soil Erosion Rate Plot 3 had an erosion rate of 2.6 ton/hectare/year, which means a high and a low erosion risk respectively according to the soil erosion loss ranges shown in table 6. Furthermore, on SERP 1 a landslide event took place after measurements were taken while this kind of event was not observed on SERP 3. The results taken from SERP 1 correspond with literature data on exposed areas without cover, which have a soil erosion rate of 80 ton/hectare/year and more. The erosion rate on SERP 3 is double the value of cabbage in a rain shelter, partially due to the possibility for raindrops to fall directly on to the soil underneath the vegetation growth. Also results from SERP 3 are not far from soil erosion rates in primary jungle, which ranges between 0.25 and 0.50 ton/hectare/year (table 8). In order to compare results taken from Plot 1 and 3, factors influencing soil erosion rates given by the USLE equation must be taken into account. Because of economical reasons soil characteristics cannot be taken into account when comparing the two

SERP’s. The factor slope length is irrelevant because both plots have the same dimension. The steepness however deserves some attention because SERP 1 has a steepness of 20 degrees while SERP 3 has a steepness of 10 degrees. Results on SERP 1 can be expected to be slightly higher due to a steeper slope. The land use management factor is already taken into account by comparing a ‘bare soil’ area to a ‘vegetation covered’ area. Most importantly, rainfall amounts must be taken into account because these amounts together with vegetation type cover contributes most to soil erosion rates. Table 11: Comparing soil erosion rates between SERP 1 and 3

Rainwater runoff ( l / hectare ) Soil runoff ( ton / hectare )

Plot 1

Plot 3

2,500

2,100

0.1000

0.0104

Decrease in soil runoff Rainwater runoff ( l / hectare ) Soil runoff ( ton / hectare )

89.6% 9,300

9,800

0.3700

0.0486

Decrease in soil runoff Total rainwater runoff ( l / hectare ) Total soil runoff ( ton / hectare ) Total decrease in soil runoff

86.9%

167,650

40,300

10.9

0.2 98.2%

As can be seen in table 11, soil erosion rates decrease with 88% when almost the same amount of rainwater was taken into account. When looking at the total soil runoff, with different amounts of rainwater runoff, a total decrease of 98.2% in soil runoff can be seen.

11.

6. Discussion

6.1 Finding suitable locations for the Soil Erosion Rate Plots Before commencing fieldwork the locations must be carefully selected. Because serious soil erosion occurs on slope steepness of 20 degrees and above, the sites must be around this value of steepness. The sites must be within distance of the Tanah Rata Township on walking- or cycling distance and must be on a place where people have no interest to go to. It turned out to be very time consuming to locate suitable sites for taking measurement due to transportation limitations. Not surprisingly, vegetation growth is an important factor to take into account as for the three sites is selected on this feature. Especially finding a location for the first plot was extremely difficult because people can easily spot barren soil areas. When the Soil Erosion Rate Plot can be seen, there is a bigger chance of destruction of the research site due to nosy local residents or tourists. The other condition, slope steepness was contributing to the difficulty of finding a suitable location. The difficulty of finding a suitable location was the main reason for the short periods of measurements of four weeks. Also because the three sites were not located in near distance to each other, it was not possible to attend to two SERP’s at the same time. Visiting two sites was considered too time consuming and it would leave hardly any time to produce reports. When finding suitable locations was not as difficult as it turned out to be, more data could have been gathered. This could have led to more reliable measurement results because of longer periods of measurements and more sites to compare with each other. Another factor influencing the schedule of four weeks for each SERP was manpower. After locating suitable sites there was a lack of material and manpower to set-up the SERP. Financial support was also a limitation as there was none. Planks had to be found along the roadsides and a REACH committee member volunteered to provide gutters and buckets.

6.2 Measurement results When pointing out the soil erosion rate results of 140 ton/hectare/year on SERP 1 and 2.6 ton/hectare/year on SERP 2, the period of four weeks in which measurements were taken must be mentioned. The measurement amounts of tonnes of soil per hectare per four weeks were converted into ton per hectare per year. This was done in order to convert soil erosion rates to severity classes. In this manner the soil erosion rates can be called “low”, “medium”, “high” or “critical”, which delivers an understandable message to people. Thus this label only provides information on a four-week period and cannot say anything on soil erosion rates in the other 48 weeks of the year. Off course based on rainfall data for those 48 weeks, when compared to the measured 4 weeks period, predictions can be made on average soil erosion rates throughout the year. When the measurement results of SERP 1 and 3 were compared, some remarks on rainfall amounts have to be made. Between 12th April and 9th May 2006 (SERP 1) it was raining almost every day while between 9th June and 6th July 2006 (SERP 3) only one out of three days rainfall events could be observed. By comparing soil erosion rates of separate measurements instead of the totals (with round about same rainfall amounts), these values can be compared. The total soil erosion rates however, are not suitable for comparison due to differences in rainfall amounts.

One other difference between SERP 1 and 3 must be taken into account, namely the slope steepness. Because SERP 1 has a slope steepness of 20 degrees set against SERP 3 with a slope steepness of 10 degrees, results from the latter when compared them will be slightly lower. Another discussion point would be the slope steepness maintained in literature research of 9 degrees. Differences between literature values and SERP 3 can be neglected as for the difference is only one degree. But SERP 1 with a slope gradient of 20 degrees, a difference of 11 degrees, must be discussed. In literature data, exposed areas without cover have soil erosion rates of >80 ton per hectare per year while SERP 1 had an erosion rate of 140. This is pretty much higher than 80 ton/hectare/year and can be partially blamed on the difference in slope angle and also on possible differences in rainfall amounts and soil Erodibility.

7. Conclusion Cameron Highlands’ natural environment with fragile ecosystems is very sensitive for soil erosion problems. This should pose reason of concern because highland areas are very special in many ways. These hill lands are the main water catchment areas of Peninsular Malaysia providing many households with fresh drinking water. Not only their ability to provide water makes the highlands special. The tropical rainforest in Cameron Highlands is totally different from lowland rainforest due to differences in climatic conditions, which are caused by increasing altitude. These differences result in the presence of many endemic and rare species of flora and fauna in Cameron Highlands. All these special features in Cameron Highlands are under immediate threat because of increasing unsustainable development. Farmers illegally clear many hectares of land in order to expand their agricultural businesses. Their clearing practices result into increasing soil erosion rates. Furthermore their farming practices are also causing serious environmental degradation. Not even legal clearances of forested land happen in a sustainable way. When roads are constructed, sometimes only plastic sheets are used to prevent the soil from eroding. When these practices continue, severe soil erosion, landslide events, increased sedimentation; flooding and river pollution will be general topics to talk about among local residents and tourists. The effects of land clearing on soil erosion are widespread in the built-up areas of Cameron Highlands. While 79% is still forested, 21% of the total land area in the district has undergone changes in land use. This has resulted in critical soil erosion rates (>150 ton/hectare/year) in the Upper Telom and Upper Bertam catchments. Results from a four-week fieldwork period at the Gunung Jasar (a mountain near Tanah Rata) showed that the area had a high soil erosion rate (140 ton/hectare/year) during that period. The Soil Erosion Plot was located on a huge strip of land, which was cleared in order to construct power lines crossing the mountain, under the responsibility of TNB. At the location where fieldwork took place, a landslide event occurred, which indicated more landslides events can take place in the future. This is a serious hazard to the area because the power lines can loose their grip on the soil due to landslide events. This eventually can trigger the power lines to fall down resulting in power failures, loss of biodiversity and hazards to people walking in that area during landslide events. If a big company as TNB does not take responsibility for this situation, how can we expect from others to take care of the environment? Further fieldwork pointed out this soil erosion risk on bare slopes of about 10-20 degrees can be reduced with almost 90% when the soil is completely covered with vegetation. Because agriculture is the biggest land use in Cameron Highlands (16.4%) after forestry, clearing land for this type of land use is the major cause of soil erosion. Therefore, soil erosion prevention and mitigation measures must be pointed primarily at this sector. Before any changes can be made, guidelines and policies on sustainable development in highlands should be formulated, implemented and enforced and monitored. Authorities should also allow longer lease of lands on the condition more sustainable farming practices are introduced. Furthermore, authorities should restrict new clearance after 15 years of using the land and encourage farmers to sustain production on land they already cleared. Terrace farming can also be encouraged, especially on steep slopes and incentives can be given to farming businesses that practice sustainable methods. Enforcement of

legislation on causing damage to the environment should be improved, as they do not posses the knowledge to maintain the natural environment in Cameron Highlands. Educational trainings should be given to them and more manpower should be appointed to carry out this heavy task. Sustainable farming practices should be encouraged such as cover cropping, intercropping, mulching, introducing perennials instead of annuals, providing rain shelters on farming lands and introduce proper drainage systems. On bare slopes perennials should be planted or other soil erosion control measures should be taken immediately to prevent the soil from eroding at high levels. Also all land clearing activities should be proper planned with sufficient data on the area to proceed with the earthworks without posing a threat to its surroundings. Although soil control measures are readily available, improvement is always possible. One way of improving technology and approaches to the problem on soil erosion is to encourage more research. This research can be about social and economic preferences of people causing soil erosion or it can be on soil erosion control measures. Students, research institutes and environmental organizations must not only be involved in this type of research, also the local community can play a vital role in this. REACH can be the link between the community and the group of “educated people” on soil erosion issues because creating awareness is the key to success in solving soil erosion problems in Cameron Highlands. To save Cameron Highlands from environmental degradation, parties must work together. Parties such as local authorities, land users, community people, research institutes, environmental organizations and others must cooperate in order to save this special area. If no action is taken, the heritage of Cameron Highlands will be lost forever and there will be nothing left to pass to next generations.

8. Recommendations The following recommendations are addressed to all committee members of the REACH organization to point out what they can do on the soil erosion problems in Cameron Highlands. Because REACH has only limited power being a communitybased organization, recommendations are focused on research activities, increasing awareness and monitoring. Research activities
Contact must be made with Universities in Malaysia and also Universities abroad such as Saxion Hogescholen in The Netherlands. Collaborating with them gives students the opportunity to do research for REACH on soil erosion problems. Not only students from environmental studies should be attracted, also students from botany or social-economic studies can do research on soil erosion aspects such as loss in biodiversity due to land clearing or the attitude of farmers towards sustainable agriculture.
Concerned and interested community members can also carry out research. REACH can create opportunities for them by providing them with topics to study. One option, suggested by Balu Perumal, is to educate REACH members about flora in Cameron Highlands whereby every person can focus on one group of plants. Whenever there is an occasion when land is about to get cleared, REACH volunteers can go inside the forested areas and save the special (sometimes rare or endemic) highland species before they are destroyed. Gaining more knowledge on highland species will make it easier to mention reasons why the highlands should be protected.
Conducted research and available information must be kept in a proper organized library in the REACH office. This makes all information on soil erosion problems available for all REACH members and other interested.

Increasing awareness
Having University students working for REACH as a part of their studies does not only increase research activities but it also increases awareness of locals. More students should be encouraged to come and help the REACH organization because locals will start thinking there must be something happening in Cameron Highlands why the students are coming.


REACH should initiate educational programmes to increase awareness on soil

erosion problems. Information given in this report can be used for that purpose. Cooperation with Global Environment Centre can assist REACH to initiate this kind of project. Programmes about sustainable agriculture should be offered to farmers and local authorities. More systematically, educational cycles on soil erosion problems in Cameron Highlands should be initiated among schools. This programme can be repeated every year to reach all classes. Priority must be given to the largest schools in Cameron Highlands and when the organizations capacity allows, the other schools should also be visited.


REACH should give talks on soil erosion and land clearing problems in

Cameron Highlands to all interested people. Information provided by this report can be used in order to achieve the objective of increasing awareness by giving talks.


REACH projects as reforestation, CSI (Community Stream Investigation) and Adopt-A-River should be continued with volunteer groups and school children. Trees are planted on bare slope areas in reforestation projects to prevent the soil from further erosion. This increases awareness on land clearing problems by showing volunteers the severity of the problem and how mitigation measures can be executed. CSI and Adopt-A-River projects are about monitoring the water quality of rivers in Cameron Highlands. The results will show most of the rivers are heavily polluted, which will increase awareness on soil erosion among volunteers and schoolchildren because this is the main cause of river pollution.

Monitoring
REACH should continue and increase its monitoring activities on illegal land clearing and hill cuttings although this is the job of the local authorities. Land clearing events should be highlighted to the authority whereby using the press can be a useful tool.

Other approaches


Cooperation between REACH and organizations as Global Environment Centre, WWF Malaysia, MNS and MARDI should be increased. Exchanging ideas and developing new approaches to solve the soil erosion problems in Cameron Highlands can be worth the efforts of combining power.
REACH should introduce the EWARNSTM system to local authorities. When the system triggers an early warning, REACH should inform the authorities about the hazards in certain areas to let them initiate some kind of action.

Definitions Bioengineering = Combination of vegetative and structural practices Endangered = Not critically endangered, but it is facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future. Evaporation = a process which returns water vapour from the earth’s surface to the atmosphere. Leaching = Removal of soluble organic and inorganic substances from the topsoil downward by the action of percolating water. Mulch = Material possibly consisting of organic compounds as compost, bark, leaves, grass, pine-needles or other plant materials which will protect the soil surface against all kind of influences. Mulching = Covering a soil surface with mulch. Nutrients = Elements or compounds essential to life, including carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and many others. Organic matter = Plant and animal residues, or substances made of living organisms. Parts Per Million (PPM) = Number of ‘parts’ by weight of a substance per million parts of water. This unit is commonly used to represent pollutant concentrations. Large concentrations are expressed in percentages. Rare = something that cannot be found abundantly – or a species that occur at low numbers and it is either highly localized or highly specialized to a habitat or both. Runoff = Fraction of the rainfall which does not infiltrate the soil will flow downhill under the action of gravity; it is then known as runoff or overland flow. Sediment = Fragmented organic or inorganic material derived from the weathering of soil, alluvial, and rock materials; removed by erosion and transported by water, wind, ice and gravity. Sedimentation = Deposition of sediment from a state of suspension in water or air. Siltation = Process of becoming clogged with fine sediments. Soil Erodibility = Rate of soil loss per unit of rainfall Erosivity factor for a specified soil, depends on soil characteristics. Soil degradation = the phenomena which lower the capacity of the soil to support life.

Totally protected wild animal = a wild animal which shall not be shot, killed or taken or be held in possession by any person except as provided in Part V of the Protection of Wildlife Act, 1972.

Literature Barrow, C.J., Sustainable agriculture in the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia, In: Cameron Highlands issues and challenges in sustainable development, 2006. CEMD (Conservation and Environmental Management Division) and NRE (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment), Climate Change in Malaysia, ISBN: 9834286107, 2005. Chan, N.W., Striking a balance between development and environmental protection in Cameron Highlands, In: Cameron Highlands issues and challenges in sustainable development, 2006. Cranbrook, E. and Edwards, D.S., A Tropical Rainforest, The nature of biodiversity in Borneo at Belalong, Brunei, ISBN: 9810055315, First Edition, 1994. Hashim, A., Soil erosion and sedimentation issues and possible control measures in Cameron Highlands, 2005. Hashim, G.M., Soil Conservation: An Urgent Priority, National Conference: State of the Environment in Malaysia, Consumers Association of Penang, ISBN: 9679950999, January 1996. Hashim, G.M. and Abdul Rahaman, A.H., Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Soil erosion and water pollution in Cameron Highlands: Conservation strategies, In: Cameron Highlands issues and challenges in sustainable development, 2006. Hashim, G.M. and Wan Abdullah W.Y., Environmental issues in Highland Agriculture, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), 2003. Hassol, S.J., Als de Noordpool Warmer Wordt: Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, ISBN: 9076988757, 2004. Komoo, I. And Othman, M., Uplands Development: A Management Approach for Prevention and Control of Erosion and Slope Failure, National Conference: State of the Environment in Malaysia, Consumers Association of Penang, ISBN: 9679950999, January 1996. Leong, K.W. and Chan, N.W., CHT-Natural Solutions Sdn Bhd, Bioengineering erosion control techniques for sustainable construction in Cameron Highlands, In: Cameron Highlands issues and challenges in sustainable development, 2006. Lim, J.S., Sabtu, M., Baharuddin, M.K. and Omar, W., Soil Resources in Malaysia: An Overview, National Conference: State of the Environment in Malaysia, Consumers Association of Penang, ISBN: 9679950999, January 1996.

Murray, D., Mountains & Water; Malaysia’s Precious Natural Heritage, WWF Malaysia, 2002. NPP (National Physical Plan, Malaysia), Federal Department of Town and Country Planning, Ministry of Housing and Local Government, ISBN: 9834264313, 26 April 2005. Perumal, B., Ecology and Biodiversity Studies in the Lower Montane Forests of Peninsular Malaysia, PHD Thesis, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Bangi, 2003. Roslan, Z.A. and Tew, K.H., Erosion Study in Cameron Highlands, Malaysian Science and Technology Congress, Perdanasiswa, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1995. Roslan, Z.A. and Tew, K.H., Determination of the Land Use Management Factors of the USLE in reducing Soil Erosion Loss, Tenth Congress of the Asia and Pacific Division (APD) of the International Association for Hydraulic Research (IAHR), Langkawi, Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia, 1996. Sabri Yusof, M., International Environmental Law, International Law Book Services, Kuala Lumpur, ISBN: 9678910810, 2000. Shimizu, A. and Ohnuki, Y., Experimental studies on rain splash erosion of forest soils after clearing in Okinawa using an artificial rainfall apparatus, In: Journal of forest research, Volume: 9, Issue: 2, pp: 101-109, May 1st, 2004. Tew, K.H. and Faisal Hj. Ali, A\Development of EWARNS forecast and realtime early warning system on erosion risks / hazards, 2005. Tew, K.H. and Faisal Hj. Ali, A near real time early warning system on erosion risks/hazards for Cameron Highlands catchment, In: Cameron Highlands issues and challenges in sustainable development, 2006. TNB (Tenaga Nasional Berhad) Research SDN. BHD, Supplementary Report: DEIA for the proposed rehabilitation of Ringlet Reservoir, Cameron Highlands, report no. 200866-W, June 2004. Wan Abdullah, W.Y., Jamaludin, J. and Osman, G., Monitoring of runoff and sediment load in several Agro ecosystems in Cameron Highlands, In: Proc. Workshop: Agrochemical Pollution of Water Resources, Thailand, 1999. Wan Abdullah, W.Y., Salama, R.B. and Aminuddin, B.Y., Impacts of agricultural activities on soil erosion and water resources in the Cameron Highlands, In: Agrochemical Pollution of Water Resources, ACIAR Proceedings no. 104, pp. 2631, 2001. WWF Malaysia, Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department, Study for the Sustainable Development of the Highlands of Peninsular Malaysia, First Preliminary Report, September 2001.

WWF Malaysia, Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department, Study on the Development of Hill Stations, Final Report Volume 1: Cameron Highlands, Genting Highlands and Fraser’s Hill, December 2001.

Internet sites Favis-Mortlock, D., Http://www.soilerosion.net/, May 2nd 2006. Li, S., University of Manitoba, Soil Science Department: Tillage Translocation and Tillage Erosion, http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/tillage_erosion/, July 15th 2006. Radford, T., The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk, 14th February 2004.

12.

Appendix 1: Location Cameron Highlands

13. 14.

15.

Appendix 2: Map Cameron Highlands

16. Appendix 3: Climatic data at Cameron Highlands (highland) and Ipoh (lowland)

Source: (WWF December, 2001)

17.

Appendix 4: Location Upper Telom Catchment

Source: (WWF September, 2001)

18. Date 29-5-1991 30-5-1991 8-12-1994 7-12-1994 24-10-‘95 1-11-1995 Dec. 1995 9-10-1996 18-10-‘96 6-12-1999 6-1-2000 8-1-2000 17-1-2003 24-2-2004

Appendix 5: Landslide events in Cameron Highlands Location Tapah-Cameron Highlands Road Tapah-Cameron Highlands Road Tanah Rata Cameron Highlands Tringkap Tapah-Cameron Highlands Road Cameron Highlands Kuala Terla Tanah Rata Tapah-Cameron Highlands Road Kampong Raja Taman Tringkap Puncak Puncak Arabella, Tanah Rata Tapah-Ringlet Road

NA = Not Available

Death 0

Number Injured 0

Number Relocated 0

0

0

0

2 (5 missing) 9 1 0

0

NA

0 0 0

0 0 0

7 3 0 1

0 2 0 0

0 0 16 families 0

6 0

5 0

NA 0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Loss (RM) >1000 stranded >1000 stranded >10,000 NA NA > 1000 stranded >1000 NA NA NA >100,000 Road Damage Slope Collapsed Slope Collapsed and Road closed for one week

Source: (Chan, 2006)

19. Appendix 6: Soil Erosion Rates Map Cameron Highlands

Source: (Hashim, 2005)

20.

Appendix 7: Sub-catchment map Cameron Highlands

Source: (Hashim, 2005)

21.

Appendix 8: Future soil erosion in catchment areas

Source: (Hashim, 2005)