- The specific species focused on in this paper include “…Avicennia spp., Rhizophora spp., Sonneratia spp. and Brugiera spp.”(361).
- The value of the study area is extensive and is broken up into the following categories: forestry, fisheries, tourism, conservation, and protection.
- Forestry: Residents of local villages use the mangrove forest for a variety of resources including: Nipa fronds for thatching, cigarette papers, and traditional cooking from Nypa fruticans, Nibong poles for prawn traps and house flooring from Onchosperma, and Bakau and Rhu for firewood from Rhizophora, and Casuarina equisetifolia (Chai, 1982; Bennett, 1987b). In terms of commercial products extracted from the area, mangrove poles, charcoal, semi-charcoal, and cordwood all create a market value of US$ 123,217 (Sarawak Forest Department, unpublished data) (362). (Deforestation).
- Fisheries: “The Sarawak Mangroves Forest Reserve is the last remaining large area of relatively intact mangrove in the Kuching Division… In terms of area, more than 95% of such mangrove in the Kuching Division occurs in this forest reserve. Thus, it supports almost the entire fisheries industry for the Division. The Divisional income from fisheries in 1989 was US$19.3 million, and it provided direct employment for nearly 3000 people (Marine Fisheries Department, 1989)… 363).
- Tourism: “The most important coastal tourism spots in Sarawak are all immediately adjacent to the Sarawak Mangroves Forest Reserve (363) (Coastal Development)… Complex stilt roots of mangrove trees trap silt and pollutants carried down by rivers from far inland. If the trees are cut (deforestation), silt is no longer trapped while the mangrove mud itself also destabilizes. The result is that water clarity is severely reduced, and a thick layer of anoxic mud is deposited on beaches over much of the coastline (de la Cruz, 1979; Anon., 1985). If this happened in the Sarawak Mangroves area, it would destroy the beaches and smother the coral reef immediately offshore… At a very minimum, half of the current income level would be lost, and the future potential tourist revenue would never be realized” (364).
- Conservation: the area of Sarawak “is a highly specialized habitat, and many of its species do not occur anywhere else”(364). Mangrove forests in the area are important for sustaining life of various monkey species as well as coral reefs in nearby and offshore marine parks.
- Protection: “Mangroves are vital in stabilizing shorelines, preventing erosion, tidal flooding and salt intrusion into neighbouring areas, and protecting beaches and corals from siltation (Table 5; IUCN, 1983; de la Cruz, 1979; WWF Malaysia, 1985; Working Group on Mangroves, 1986; Bennett, 1987a). All of these could become problems if the Sarawak Mangroves Forest Reserve were to be cleared” (366).
- The current threats to the park are prawn ponds, land for industry and housing, and possible threats from palm oil plantations. However, as discussed in the article, none of these options for mangrove forest replacement have greater benefits than the forest itself.
- Prawn Ponds: “…the natural fisheries productivity of mangroves is so high that it is seldom matched by that of artificial ponds”(370).
- Palm Oil Plantations: “…the revenue after deducing costs for fisheries is of the order of US$20 million year-1. For oil palm is it about US$1.67 million year-1” (370).
- Industry and Housing: “There are many other sites”-beside the mangrove forest reserve- “for industrial coastal development, including large areas of land heavily degraded due to intensive shifting agriculture. Thus, there are many alternatives to using the mangroves, which would not involve losses of their multiple benefits (Table 7). The same applies to use of the area for housing” (370).
- Recommendations: “Certain projects are highly productive and fully compatible with the functions of intact mangrove. One of these is floating cage aquaculture. This involves floating cages in which to cultivate fish within the rivers of a mangrove system. Unlike pond aquaculture, this does not involve any clearance of trees or disturbance of soils, so it does not damage existing fisheries or the environment” (371).