Critical analysis of the enviromental assessment reports for the plantation projects in Sg Teru catchment
Loagan Bunut, the largest natural lake in Sarawak, is located on the flood plain of Batang Tinjar-Sungai Teru confluence in the Miri Division, Sarawak. Rapid change of land use in the upper catchment of Sg Teru had caused severe soil erosion and sedimentation problems in this river. The flood flo...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2005
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/12385/1/Chong%20Li%20Chiun%20ft.pdf |
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| Summary: | Loagan Bunut, the largest natural lake in Sarawak, is located on the flood plain of Batang
Tinjar-Sungai Teru confluence in the Miri Division, Sarawak. Rapid change of land use in the
upper catchment of Sg Teru had caused severe soil erosion and sedimentation problems in this
river. The flood flows of Sg Teru carry sediment from the upstream of Sg Teru into the lake
via Sg Bunut, causing rapid sedimentation and possible risk of complete disappearance of the
LBNP Lake.
Since the middle of 1990s, there are seven oil palm plantations developed within the
catchment of Sg Teru and some adverse impacts had been identified as the consequences of
the plantation activities. Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) or Environmental
Management Plan (EMP) studies were conducted for the seven plantation projects within the
Sg Teru catchment. These EIA or EMP reports were submitted to the Natural Resources and
Environment Board (NREB), Sarawak and all of them were approved on the premise that the
adverse impacts predicted in the environmental studies can be well controlled or mitigated.
However, adverse impacts originated from the plantation development activities persist. This
dissertation critically analyzes the coverage and quality of the seven EIA reports for the oil
palm plantations within the catchment of Sg Teru.
The study has focused on the reports of environmental assessment (EA) of six oil palm
plantations and one forest plantation located within the catchment of Sg Teru, upstream of
LBNP. The mitigation measures and residual impacts of the plantation projects addressed in
the EA reports were reviewed for their coverage and adequacies and comments were given. One of the main environmental issues of the plantation project is soil erosion and siltation of
the neighbouring water systems.
Generally speaking, all the environmental assessment reports covered in this study had
discussed the environmental issues of the plantation developments in a very general way.
None of the reports addressed the issue of sedimentation and threats of pollution to the LBNP
downstream of the plantations. These reports were found as not specific enough to their
respective project areas. Nevertheless, most of the on-site impacts had been identified and
assessed. |
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