Restoring and Managing Langat River Basin, Malaysia: Challenges for a Sustainable Future

Abstract

The project “Restoring and Managing Langat River Basin, Malaysia, for the Future” is an initiative carried out by LESTARI, UKM under the UNESCO framework of Sustainability Transformation across the Region (STAR) with Jap­anese Fund In Trust (JFIT) financial assistance. Sustainability science as a new emerging field can be a tool to solve a complex environmental anthropogenic is­sue by promoting an integrated approach of various disciplines, multiscale, and across stakeholder. It is a problem-driven and solution-oriented approach in cre­ating a sustainable society and requires problem-solving skills. Thus, the estab­lishment of sustainability science demo site in the Langat River Basin involved the integration of the sustainability science concepts into natural resource man­agement frameworks and processes for supporting opportunities for a more sus­tainable and resilient future. This initiative is linked with Ecohydrology, HELP, and IWRM aspects and focused on applying sustainability science principles to strengthen policy, legal, and institutional frameworks through collaborative link­ages, learning alliances, and targeted interventions for capacity building at river basin and national levels on urban stormwater management. The key objective of this sustainability science pilot project is to develop and implement a restoration and management plan for urban stormwater resources in the Langat River Basin using a sustainability science approach. Qualitative and quantitative data collec­tion in the fields of hydrology, hydrogeology, pollution sources, ecosystems, and cultural preservation as well as development of the land cover-state model is done under this study. It is shown that the Langat River Basin is small but has inherited many problems of a large river basin. This is because the river plays an important role in conservation, agriculture, and potable water supply but is facing threat from rapid development in the industry sectors and urbanization in the basin. Some key strategies and action plans have been identified to deal with is­sues related to restoring and managing Langat River Basin for the future.