1. Use less = know less = care less
Use less = know less = care less? The tragedy of Tasik Berombak Jarina Mohd Jani* & Amira Izzaty Hosali School of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu
Searching for a lost landscape
This study represents the second part of main author’s quest for Tasik Berombak - an illusive lake she first heard of almost a decade ago when carrying out her PhD in Setiu Wetlands. The first part of the study was completed during the scientific expedition organised by UMT in 2015; which findings confirmed that Tasik Berombak, i.e the landscape described by those who remembered it as a lake so large that its surface rippled with waves - hence its name- had disappered. This present study moves the quest further by looking at the role of society in the physical transformations that have taken place in Tasik Berombak – from the vast lake described by the village elders to the hanguana-dominated peat-swamp that it has now become.
Objective
To understand the local community’s relationship with Tasik Berombak in the past and present contexts and evaluate its implications on the future of this unique landscape
Results and discussion
Tasik Berombak
sanctuary
Draining ponds
Less and less lake: Draining ponds are being dug (illegally?) for more land for oil palm!
Cultural connection protects! A “green sanctuary” however exists, an island of lush vegetation on pristine BRIS soil ecosystem amidst a sea of oil palm trees due to its cultural significance to the local villagers
Age does matter: The older the respondents, the better they know the lake
Inter-generational knowledge transfer matters too:
R22 has never heard of the lake because he is not from the area. However, younger local villagers have heard of (R2 ) or even been (R18 and R22) to the lake due to the knowledge shared by senior members of the family
Conclusions
For most people in Setiu Wetlands, Tasik Berombak still exists, mainly connected to their past utilisation of the lake. But a plantation began to surround the lake 30 years ago, triggering ecosystem changes that may have caused it to transform; becaming less of a lake and more of a swamp. Today its existence continue to be threatend by unsustainable use.
Therefore, emphasizing on the active nature of societal understandings of its natural surrounding (Demeritt 2002), the authors strongly call for a celebration of its existence while it is still remembered by many due to its potential in providing sustainable livelihood solutions for the local community. Otherwise it will soon disappear - useless, unknown and uncared for.
Methods
Utilisation is the connection: The lake is known well only by its users, and there is a link between changes in landuse (plantation around the lake) and changes in utilisation, due to changes in ecosystem:
From an important waterway for many, Tasik Berombak then became a fishing spot for some during the early establishment of the plantation and later was only frequented by a few for wildlife hunting, a “terrestrial” type of activity
Interviews in Gong Batu and Pengkalan using the opportunity sampling approach
Landscape ethnography at the Northwestern bank of the lake - said to be of an area with local cultural importance.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledges the UMT-NRGS (KPT) program for funding this study and WWF Malaysia for the in-kind assistance during the SW Expedition 2016.