Abang Mohd Heikal, Abg Othman

Khairul Adha, A.Rahim

Roslianah, Asdart

Ruhana, Hassan

Shahren Ahmad, Zaidi Adruce

Marine debris is defined by the United Nations

Environment Programme (UNEP) as any persistent,

manufactured or processed solid material discarded,

disposed or abandoned in the marine and coastal

environment (Butterworth et al., 2012). There are

many types or categories of marine debris such as

plastic, rubber, metal, glass, timber (Ribic et al.,

1992) and plastics are the most common marine

debris worldwide. The sources of marine debris

can be either from land-based, ocean-based and

common sources (Sheavly, 2005). About 80% of

marine debris is washed off from land, blown by

winds, or deliberately discarded from shore whereas

approximately 20% originated from vessels and

offshore platforms (Potts & Hastings, 2011; Mobilik

& Hassan, 2015)

Unimas Institutional Repository

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.Malays. Appl. Biol. (2018) 47(1): 265–269SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY-BASED MARINE DEBRISFRAMEWORK: KAMPUNG PULO SALAK EXPERIENCERUHANA HASSAN1*, SHAHREN AHMAD ZAIDI ADRUCE2, ABANG MOHD HEIKAL ABANG OTHMAN2,KHAIRUL ADHA ABD RAHIM1 and ROSLIANAH ASDARI11Faculty of Resource Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak,94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia2Institute of Borneo Studies, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak,94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia*E-mail: hruhana@unimas.myAccepted 2 March 2018, Published online 31 March 2018Marine debris is defined by the United NationsEnvironment Programme (UNEP) as any persistent,manufactured or processed solid material discarded,disposed or abandoned in the marine and coastalenvironment (Butterworth et al., 2012). There aremany types or categories of marine debris such asplastic, rubber, metal, glass, timber (Ribic et al.,1992) and plastics are the most common marinedebris worldwide. The sources of marine debriscan be either from land-based, ocean-based andcommon sources (Sheavly, 2005). About 80% ofmarine debris is washed off from land, blown bywinds, or deliberately discarded from shore whereasapproximately 20% originated from vessels andoffshore platforms (Potts & Hastings, 2011; Mobilik& Hassan, 2015).Marine debris can be a health and safety hazardfor humans. Broken glass, medical waste, rope andfishing line can directly harm human health andsafety because sharp objects such as broken glassand rusty metal could cause injuries, besides couldwrap around and damage the boats and vesselspropeller debris leading to serious impact oneconomic activities (Potts & Hastings, 2011). Otherthan that, marine debris decreases aesthetic value ofthe landscape and seascape (Hassan & Mobilik,2012). Marine debris could transport alien specieswhich the organism may attach to the marine debrisand travel hundreds of kilometres and land on ashoreline where it is non-native. This alien speciescould cause a catastrophic impact on fisheries andlocal ecosystems and very damageable (Allsopp etal., 2006).The community-based approach has been usedin managing resources for example in fisheries(Humber et al., 2017), and ecotourism (Masud et al.,2017). Participation of local community helps buildconfidence for long term sustainability and ensuresustainable use and management of natural resourcesthat reduce the adverse effects of anthropogenicexercise on the environment (Masud et al., 2017).Since Sarawakians take high pride in the cleanlinessof their homes (Mobilik et al., 2014), this positiveattitude is one of the motivations to be involved inresolving marine debris problem. However, lack ofknowledge on marine debris may have hindered theirability to tackle the problem in a systematic manner.Studies of marine debris in Sarawak, involvingthose stranded on beaches had been properlydocumented by Hassan and Mobilik (2012),Mobilik et al. (2014) and Lee (2016) while ship-garbage marine debris related problems had beenpublished by Mobilik and Hassan (2015), Mobiliket al. (2016a & 2016b). There is no publication yeton the types and abundance of marine debris thatstranded around silts of traditional ‘water village’houses and surrounding area, therefore the aim ofthis study is to assess type and abundance of marinedebris in Kampung Pulo Salak, Kuching Sarawak.The uniqueness of this study is active involvementfrom the public (villagers and UNIMAS commu-nities) with other relevant agencies in understandingthe marine debris issues through awareness campaignand hands on removal of marine debris. It is hopedthat this approach is successful in enhancing theirunderstanding of the marine debris problem and actas a catalyst to find possible solutions.This study was conducted on 25th March 2017at Kampung Pulo Salak Kuching (1°40’23.6"N;110°17’56.8"E) [Figure 1]. This village is home toapproximately 626 people (Malay, Muslim). Itenjoys several basic amenities including a primaryschool, mosque, a small library, small grocery shop,community hall, telephone coverage, internet access

Sustainable Community-Based Marine Debris Framework: Kampung Pulo Salak Experience

http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/21688/1/SUSTAINABLE%20COMMUNITY-BASED%20MARINE%20DEBRIS%20FRAMEWORK%20%28abstract%29.pdf

Sustainable Community-Based Marine Debris Framework: Kampung Pulo Salak Experience

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