Issues

Enormous River Basin Management Challenges

Major challenges to managing the Kinabatangan river basin are:

Finite water availability
The Kinabatangan River supplies a large proportion of water to Sandakan, Sabah's second largest urban centre as well as to people living in villages within the Kinabatangan basin. Although water quality is not always satisfactory, there is enough water for the needs of the population and the various economic sectors now. But will it be enough in future?

Unsustainable land use
Unsustainable land use in the catchment area causes detrimental effects to water quality in the river, biodiversity survival and ecological functions, and flood magnitude. Applying good forestry and agriculture practices, rehabilitating degraded areas in the catchment and gazettement of river reserves contribute towards sustainable land use.

Polluted water
The Kinabatangan’s water quality declined seriously due to sedimentation from logging in the upper catchment, pollution from agrochemical use in plantations, discharge from palm oil mills, and refuse and untreated sewage from villages and lodges along the river. Local communities who use the polluted river water are thus exposed to health risks while the survival of sensitive aquatic life is affected.

Degraded riverbanks
Degraded forest corridors along riverbanks mean a reduced ability of these natural filters to prevent land-based pollutants from entering and polluting the river. In addition, clearing the natural vegetation along riverbanks will result in loss of trees that provide food and refuge for wildlife such as primates and elephants. Many of the forest corridors along riverbanks also serve as routes for certain wildlife especially elephants. When wildlife passes through corridors that have been cleared and replaced by plantations, human-wildlife conflict inevitably occurs. Reduced vegetation cover along riverbanks may also affect river water temperature, which in turn will affect the aquatic life.

Flood damage
Flooding is a natural and common occurrence in the Kinabatangan floodplain. However, land use and development activities in the catchment can contribute to the severity of flood damage. Flood can be mitigated by keeping forests along rivers intact, gazetting river reserves and rehabilitating degraded river corridors. Construction of flood control structures such as bunds and canals by private land- owners to protect their land from floods can obstruct and redirect the flow of flood waters and cause damage elsewhere.

Loss of biodiversity and ecological functions
The naturally diverse fauna, flora and habitats especially in the Lower Kinabatangan floodplain, need to be maintained for its biodiversity values and ecological services. The reason is simple – if these values and services are lost, so will the benefits that they provide to the population that depends on them.