Hi, my name is Rashid. I am a forester by profession. My job requires me to care and manage the forests for our future generation-- a job that enables me to enjoy outdoor outings and 'back-to-nature' field tours while pusuing the more serious business of promoting sustainable resource management.
I am currently employed on a project to manage the peat swamp forests of Klias Peninsula, located in the Beaufort District of Sabah Malaysia. The job in Klias involves studying the ecology of the peat swamps and human interactions on the peat ecosystems. It focuses on understanding the human impact of development on the fragile ecosystems.
As a team-player involved in the multi-disciplinary study, my role is quite straight-forward. Among others, I need to link the intricate web of socio-economic activities, especially of the forest-dependent communities living in the vicinity of the forests; explore options for their alternative livelihoods; study the impact of resource use and land development in the surrounding areas on the ecology and hydrology of the ecosystems; and consider potentials for resource development, particularly in promoting the non-timber products and services, such as medicinal uses, and eco-tourism activities.
I hope to be able to synthesise all these management variables collected during the field studies in the coming months. Later on, I plan to formulate action plans and define bio-diversity management strategies with the penultimate aims of producing an integrated management plan. Such a plan is going to be a 'live' plan -- one that will help planners and managers alike to strike a "wise use balance" when they are required to make informed decisions involving the use of the resources among the various sectoral requirements, such as the environmental concerns, the economic interests and the needs of the society. The plan will form a basis for resource management. |
