by
Amir Shah Ruddin Md Shah and Asyraf Mansor. School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang
A total of 20 participants from 18 universities (Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, China, Japan and Malaysia) and seven international instructors were involved in the recent wetland workshop that was hosted by School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia. The workshop was jointly funded by Universiti Sains Malaysia, International Crane Foundation and United State Geological Survey (USGS).
This workshop involved intensive lectures on wetland biodiversity, hydrology, soil and socio-economy study followed by field works, data collection and analysis, report writing and presentation. During this workshop, the participants gained knowledge on wetland ecology focusing on the Penang and Perak State, of the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The participants studied wetlands covered mangrove swamp (Balik Pulau and Matang mangrove), peat swamp, flood plain, fresh water swamp (Paya Beriah) and man-made lake (Bukit Merah Lake and Temengor Lake).
With the support from Forestry Department of Malaysia, the States Forestry Department of Penang and Perak, Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment, as well as the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, the installation of SET (the first ever equipment been installed in Malaysia) has been successfully carried out at Balik Pulau Mangrove Forest Reserve. This is a long term collaboration research between USM and USGS which hope to provide comprehensive information about sediment deposition within selected mangrove areas of Malaysia. The workshop was officiated by Professor Abu Hassan Ahmad, Dean of School of Biological Sciences, whereas the closing ceremony was done by Professor Tan Sri Dato’ Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, Vice Chancellor of USM.
