Population:
19.7 million
Coastline:
4,675 km or
2,905 mi
(West Malaysia,
2,068 km or
1,285 mi)
(East Malaysia,
2,607 km or
1,620 mi)
Cicin-Sain, Biliana and Robert W. Knecht. 1998. Integrated Coastal and Ocean Management: Concept and Practices. Appendix 1: ICM Practices in Twenty-Two Selected Nations, Part II: Middle Developing Nations, case study on Malaysia, pp. 373-380. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.
Malaysia. Ministry of
Agriculture. 1996. Guidelines on Erosion Control for
Development Projects in the Coastal Zone. Department of
Irrigation Drainage, Coastal Engineering Division, Kuala
Lumpur.
Loi, H.K. 1993. Coastal zone management in Malaysia. In World Coast Conference 1993: Proceedings, Volumes 1 and 2. CZM-Centre Publication No. 4. The Hague, Netherlands: Ministry of Transport, Public Works, and Water Management; National Institute for Coastal and Marine Management; Coastal Zone Management Centre.
Mohd Nizam Basiron. 1998.
The implementation of Chapter 17 of Agenda 21 in Malaysia:
challenges and opportunities. Ocean Coastal
Management (forthcoming).
Malaysia. Ministry of
Science, Technology, and the Environment. 1996.
Environmental Quality Report 1995. Department of
Environment, Kuala Lumpur.
Country Contacts
Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister's Department
Jalan Dato' Onn 50502 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.
Tel.: ++03 293 3333 or 230 0133;
Fax: ++03 291 4268 or 292 3115
Department of Irrigation Drainage Malaysia Federal
Headquarters,
Jalan Sultan Salahuddin 50622 Kuala Lumpur
Tel.: ++03 298 2011;
Fax: ++03 291 4282
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The Coastal Setting
Malaysia lies on the Malay Peninsula (West Malaysia) in tropical Southeast Asia, bordering Thailand to the north, the Strait of Malacca to the west, the South China Sea to the east, and the island of Singapore to the south. The country also occupies the northern one-third of the island of Borneo (East Malaysia), bordering Indonesia to the south, the South China Sea to the north, and the Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea to the east.
The eastern coast of West Malaysia and the western coast of East Malaysia are characterized by well-developed sandy beaches with clay-composed soils and mudflats. Mangrove trees are found along the west coast of West Malaysia, generally associated with mudflats and clay swamps. Increased coastal population, rapid urbanization, oil and gas production, tourism development, heavy rainfall throughout the year, and various economic activities have created numerous environmental and ecological problems in Malaysia's coastal areas, including beach erosion, resource depletion and environmental degradation, and destruction of natural habitats (Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998).
Status of ICM Program
Malaysia's severe coastal erosion caused by a variety of natural and man-made processes has been a subject of major national concern. During 1984-1985, the Malaysian government launched the National Coastal Erosion Study. The Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in the Office of the Prime Minister was the lead agency for this study (Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998). The study, which was completed in 1987, reported that about 1,390 kilometers (864 miles) of coastline were subject to erosion and emphasized the need to implement proper long-term planning to prevent coastal erosion.
Following the recommendations of the coastal erosion study, two important institutions related to coastal zone management were established in 1987 (Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998): the Coastal Engineering Technical Center (CETC) and the National Coastal Erosion Control Council (NCECC). The CETC is presently known as the Coastal Engineering Control Unit (CECU), under the Department of Drainage and Irrigation (DDI) in the Ministry of Agriculture. The DDI's CECU is responsible for implementing coastal erosion control, engineering works for critical erosion areas, providing technical support to the NCECC, providing technical advisory services to other government agencies, and collecting coastal engineering data.
The NCECC is composed of representatives from the Economic Planning Unit; the Ministry of Finance; the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment; the Department of Drainage and Irrigation; the Public Works Department; the Town and Country Planning Department; the Forestry Department; the governments of Sabah, Sarawak, and two other states, on a rotating basis; and professional institutions and universities (Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998). The NCECC is headed by the Director General of the Implementation Coordination Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister. Administrative guidelines created by the NCECC in 1987, the General Administrative Circular No. 5 (Loi 1993), require all government agencies to submit any development proposal along the coast to the DDI's CECU for comment (Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998).
Another major national-level coastal area management effort involved activities prescribed by the Environmental Quality Act. For example, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Order of 1987 required all large-scale development projects (e.g., conversion of mangrove swamps, port expansion, coastal reclamation, and construction of resort facilities) to prepare EIAs prior to project approval by the Department of Environment under the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment (Loi 1993).
At the national level, coastal management activities are coordinated on a project or program basis by the Office of the Prime Minister's Environment and Natural Resources Division (Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998). Various agencies also take the lead concerning particular aspects of coastal management; for example, the Coastal Engineering Division of the Department of Drainage and Irrigation is responsible for coastal protection. In 1992, an Inter-Agency Planning Group (IAPG) under the purview of the Agriculture Section of the Prime Ministerís Department began work to examine issues related to coastal resource management, leading to the establishment of a National Policy on Coastal Resources Management (Loi 1993). The National Policy has focused on development of a National Coastal Resources Programme in an integrated, systematic, and scientifically sound manner; establishment of effective, coordinated institutional mechanisms at the federal and state levels; and enhancement of the staffing and expertise of relevant agencies (Loi 1993).
There is also a proposal to establish a Cabinet Committee on Maritime Affairs (CCMA) to be supported by two High Level Officials Committees (HLOC), on maritime economics and security (Basiron 1998). The HLOC on maritime economics will have on its work agenda matters relating to marine environment management. The development of this new proposal would, to a certain extent, determine how Malaysia manages the environment in the future and as such this is an opportune time for some of the ministries and agencies concerned (e.g., the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to build awareness on Chapter 17 and Agenda 21 among members of the proposed CCMA and the HLOCS.
At the lower level of Government, many states had ad hoc working groups or committees established by relevant ministries, and a number of state Economic Planning Units (the principal policy and development arm of state governments) now have a desk officer in charge of coastal area management. However, the desk officer assigned to such duties is not necessarily a specialist and may also have other tasks. A number of states have established committees that include a member of the State Executive Council and officials of other relevant agencies to examine coastal management and development (Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998).
Two major efforts at the regional level are aimed at integrated coastal area management (Basiron 1998). In 1992, the first of the South Johore Coastal Resources Management Plan (CRMPSJ) was sponsored by the ASEAN-USAID Coastal Resources Management Project (USCRMP) in cooperation with the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment (MOSTE); the Office of the Prime Ministerís Implementation Coordination Unit; and the Department of Fisheries (DOF). The most recent initiative towards integrated coastal zone management is the pilot projects being undertaken in Sabah, Sarawak and Pulau Pinang to formulate integrated coastal zone management plans at the State level. The main aim of the project is to have all States in Malaysia replicate the effort and produce their respective integrated coastal zone management plan.
ICM Program Information
The pilot CZM study in southern Johore (CRMPSJ) is considered to be the most comprehensively integrated and multidisciplinary coastal resources management effort between the federal and state levels in Malaysia. The Coastal Resource Management Plan established under the USCRMP was used by the Johore State Government as a formal document and guide in matters relating to: coastal reclamation, development of coastal swamp forest, and other development activities in coastal areas
In the federal-state coastal resources management planning process, collaboration was facilitated through the establishment of two committees, the National Steering Committee and the Johore State Consultative Committee. The Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment (MOSTE) completed the CRMPSJ with numerous collaborative efforts by resource managers and university-based research scientists. The CRMPSJ developed a rational coastal zone management plan for a coastal belt covering 300 kilometers (190 miles) that was undergoing massive economic development through rapid industrialization, urbanization, and expansion of the tourism industry. The multi-sectoral management issues addressed included concerns about coastal forests, mangrove forests, mariculture, sand mining, coastal erosion, water quality, tourism, and fisheries.
Case Study prepared by Dr. Ampai Harakunarak, Center for
the Study of Marine Policy.