Water resources policy and administrative management

Executive Summary Mantanani is a small island on the North coast of Sabah, in the Kota Belud district. It has a population of 900- 1200 local people and a tourism industry that is increasing at a rate of 300% a year. The island is a 2-hour journey by fishing boat from the mainland and due to this isolation it has historically been overlooked in terms of education and development by the State. The severe absence of education manifests itself in a dearth of awareness of environmental issues, as well as a lack of confidence and empowerment in the local community to be able to negotiate their rights effectively with the booming tourism industry. As is often the case with small islands, Mantanani has a limited resource of fresh groundwater. The water table is also high, so there is not enough sand to effectively filter the waste-water that is deposited into it. As lifestyles of the local community are changing and people have indoor toilets, rather that drops over the sea, there is an increase of sewage being ineffectively filtered through the sand. Already conflicts are arising as wells become contaminated by soakaways. Pathogens are also introduced into the aquifer, which has the potential of greatly increasing health problems on the island. Although the local community appears to be immune to the current pathogens present, with increasing tourism numbers, new pathogens are introduced for which there is no immunity. This is a major health risk to tourism as well as the local community. In addition, the large number of visiting tourists, as well as the increased use of diesel-powered pumps, is putting a strain on the aquifer that is unsustainable. This results in water being withdrawn faster that it can be augmented by rainfall, a system that risks the salination of the whole aquifer. These problems are compounded by the fact that although there is basic cartographic information of the island, there is no baseline of data regarding the size or extent of the aquifer. In order to address these issues Arkitrek aims to: Gather information and map the aquifer; ! Engage the local indigenous community in the mapping of the aquifer; ! Empower the community to develop comprehensive development plans and guidelines to safeguard the aquifer; ! Galvanise the community to solve their pressing issue of groundwater depletion, salination and public health issues; ! ! Lay the ground work for a long term and sustainable community lead monitoring of the aquifer. These objectives will be achieved by a series of activities including: community-participatory workshops; cultural exchanges and capacity building; community training; baseline data collection; community engagement; and data analysis. As the issue of the aquifer affects people across the island, this project will target three distinct groups as beneficiaries. The project will give skilled education and training to members of the local indigenous community to manage the project. They will do the bulk of the groundwork, taking measurements and GPS points and drawing maps. They will also be community leaders in communicating environmental concerns and implications to the wider community. Not only will it make them community leaders, it will further their opportunities to work in other areas of Sabah. The inhabitants of Pulau Mantanani will benefit from increased environmental awareness, education, raised standards of public health and from being empowered to deal in a more informed manner with the tourism industry- negotiate for their environment to maintain a secure aquifer, thus ensuring a constant and clean water source. They will be engaged at every stage and invited to participate in activities such as 3D mapping and cognitive mapping, result analysis and community action planning. The third target group is the tourism operators on Mantanani. They will be invited to be involved at every stage of the data collection process and will be invited to workshops run by community members. The project will empower the community to negotiate safe water practices with these operators, as well as raise the awareness amongst operators of the threats associated with poor waste water treatment practices. It will provide a basis for tourism to grow sustainably and responsibly, ensuring its long-term success on the island. The total cost of this project over the following 2 years is expected to be 53, 500 USD. Presently, no other sources of funding have been sought. The main objective of this project is to empower the local indigenous communities of Pulau Mantanani to take responsibility for the sustainable monitoring of their groundwater resource. On Pulau Mantanani this has never before been attempted and there has been very little investigation into the state of the aquifer. To get to this objective though a large amount of groundwork needs to be laid. The community first have to be helped to understand the complex physics of the aquifer and the nature of their own unique aquifer. They need to be helped to understand the threats to their aquifer and how these threats can be minimised. This knowledge will put the community in an empowered position to negotiate with confidence on behalf of their natural environment. This project will provide the necessary capacity for the local community to safeguard their water source, improve the overall health on the island, create long term development plans that protect their natural environment and improve their marginalised status. The

Malaysia