Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
SABAH SHORELINE MANAGEMENT PLAN
FLEMMING JAKOBSEN
∗
, JULIEN FRACHISSE
and NEIL HARTSTEIN
DHI Water and Environment (M) Sdn. Bhd.
Sabah, Malaysia
∗
flj@dhi.dk
The management of the coastline around Sabah faces numerous conflicting
interests from the public, private, and industry groups. The public demands
socio-economic growth, sustainable development, and preservation of natural
resources while the private sector and industry demand local coastal protec-
tion and often reckless development. To resolve these issues the creation of a
management plan for Sabah's coastline has been initiated. Numerical models
of both catchments and sea were used to integrate available information and
simulate the consequences of different development scenarios. The focus of the
paper is on the integration of information, but some details are also given on
the important conflicts and habitat threats.
1. Introduction
Major population centers and socio-economic growth in Sabah is concen-
trated in the coastal area. The management of the shoreline is therefore of
critical importance. Economic growth in Sabah is driven mainly by agricul-
tural development, however, the tourism industry is also growing at
>
20%
per year and has strong development potential.
Sabah's coastal environment is dominated by wetland, coral reef, and
seagrass ecosystems (Fig. 1). These ecosystems are important for the phys-
ical protection of coastal habitat, economically in supporting fishing, aqua-
culture, forestry, and tourism industries and finally to protect and preserve
natural resources for future generations.
Increasing population and resulting urbanization have altered environ-
mental conditions in coastal areas.
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The deterioration of the coastal envi-
ronment is visible to everybody residing in or visiting Sabah and is of
general growing concern.
Development in catchment areas can potentially influence coastal envi-
ronmental conditions. For that reason the coastal area cannot be seen in iso-
lation. Planning, zoning and controlling coastal areas can optimize coastal
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