Taking a romp through the swamp in Sedili Johor

Rose Yasim Karim, The Star 20 Jun 09

Lofty mountains and gushing streams have their allure, but so do the wetlands.

Who gives a hoot if swamps get drained and filled up? It’s a breeding ground for mosquitoes. A waste of good space if you ask me,” dismissed a friend.

Sensing that I was about to rebut, he delivered the knockout blow: “And wetlands are dead boring.”

That was a while back. Now, after crossing a short boardwalk, I’m in the magical waterscape of Sedili Kechil wetlands in southeast of Johor. But to really feel the pulse of the flooded chambers and to test out my friend’s theory, I take a boat out from the Belukar Durian jetty and find myself weaving through Sedili Kechil River, a brackish creek and a bewildering place with its tangled and featureless terrains.

But, really, no entertainment compares with the free shows that you get here every day. Just about anyone with an eye for wildlife or an ear for a bird song will find it impossible to be bored in a swamp.

“From the sandy and rocky coastline, the landscape here changes seamlessly and with distinct gradation to saltwater mangrove forest at the inter-tidal zone, nipah palm in brackish water swamps, pandanus vegetation in the riverine forest and freshwater swamp forest upstream,” notes Lee Shin Shin, 34, senior technical officer of Wetlands International,

Wetlands International is working closely with Johor National Park Corporation (JNPC) to get Sedili Kechil sanctioned as a Ramsar site. The Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance to date includes 1,801 sites, and any wetlands that has obtained the recognition would be able to obtain assistance from the Ramsar Fund for implementation of bio-diversity conservation programmes.

“We are also building the community’s awareness towards the conservation of the wetlands. By promoting eco-tourism, we are encouraging the villagers to be responsible towards preserving the upstream and downstream areas,” she explains.

“Sedili Kechil is a fishing village, and before the villagers here came to realise the wealth of the wetlands, going out to sea was our source of livelihood. Before, we were earning merely RM600 a month; now, with tourist money coming in, we take home RM1,000 to RM1,500 by taking them on guided trips, and are better able to provide for our families. This in itself is an incentive to preserve our wetlands,” says Mahdan Mansor, chief of the tourism project in Sedili Kechil, 38, as we take a breather and savour raw lokan, a sweet bivalve dug from the mud.

“Our womenfolk used to be full-time homemakers, but now they are also able to contribute to the household through earnings made from selling handicraft,” Mahdan says, splitting open the husk of a nipah fruit or atap chee and passing it around for us to nibble on its sweet flesh.

Although it tastes best soaked in syrup and served in ais kacang, we have no complaints.

So what’s next on Wetland International’s agenda?

“We plan to extend our presence here to carry out scientific studies, riverine vegetation rehabilitation, and research on freshwater swamp and bio-diversity,” says Lee.

The wetlands, according to her, are also nursery grounds for aquatic life and resting areas for migratory birds and wader species that travel along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.

“The mangrove forest and mudflats of Sedili Kechil are particularly important for more than 40 species of waterbirds, including egrets, herons, storks, rails, shorebirds, terns and gulls, as well as several threatened and near-threatened birds like the Chinese Egret, Malaysian Plover, Asian Dowitcher, the Red Junglefowl, Greater Coucal, Collared Kingfisher, Blue-throated Bee Eater, Dollarbird, different species of sandpipers and plovers, sea eagles, the Brahminy Kite and the Oriental Pied Hornbill.”

A flash of colours between the treetops wouldn’t have registered on my conscious mind if Supari Sutari, 59, a Singaporean nature guide and hardcore birder, hadn’t pointed it out.

Later, he gestures excitedly at a warbler, a dizzying galaxy of feathers. The warblers are tiny and love to hide, so they simply escape the attention of the uninitiated.

Giant river prawns are abundant in Sedili Kechil River, and a couple of times, our boat crosses paths with fisherfolk spreading dragnets to catch these tasty treats.

“The waters are also teeming with fish like the giant snakehead or toman (Betta tomi), a species of fighting fish listed as threatened by IUCN, and the croaking gourami (Trichopsis vittata),” says Lee.

The bottom line? With so much to see, only the boring are bored in a swamp!

But as fascinating as it is, the wetlands can snare the careless with its oppressive heat, treacherous mud, bacteria-infested waters and hungry critters that bite in the night. The sand flies and leeches do not share our high regard for our place in the greater scheme of things, and to the many mosquitoes at Sedili Kechil, we’re nothing more than walking blood banks.

Maybe we’d all be better off if every swamp was drained?

“Where wetlands have been bulldozed away or simply allowed to wither, coastal communities become defenceless against severe food and drought,” cautions Lee.

“Wetlands store water during the wet season and release it during the dry season. They filter water of pollutants and sediments, improving its quality for use downstream. No engineered barrier, no matter how costly, can equal the protection afforded by a natural barrier and coastal wetland complex.”

But sadly, what’s left of Sedili Kechil today are the survivors of what was once a much larger distribution of wetlands that have been completely destroyed by draining, logging and filling.

“Almost the entire area of the Sedili Kechil basin is affected by logging, but thankfully, a substantial area remains untouched,” she reveals.

“Some parts have been drained and converted to orchards, vegetable farms and oil palm plantations. Antibiotics and pesticides that leech from aquaculture ponds and sand mining activities are also damaging to the surrounds.”

“There has been a proposal to develop 19,020ha of Sedili Kechil, which include parts of the wetlands, and this project was strongly opposed by the community,” says Najib Hussein, headsman of the Sedili Kechil territorial division.

“I attribute this to the increased awareness following the education and information disbursed to us by Wetlands International.”

So, what can the rest of us do to safeguard the wetlands?

“Learn more about the wetlands and the creatures that live in them, and join a wetlands protection group,” urges Lee.