WWF-Malaysia calls for collective action to reduce river pollution

Kuching, SARAWAK:  If you were to digitise Sarawak’s map and highlight only its rivers, the state would appear crisscrossed with countless blue lines. Just like our capillaries and veins, these waterways are the lifelines of Sarawak—where settlements and towns first took root, and where biodiversity, communities, and the economy continue to thrive.

Yet today, these rivers face rising threats from solid waste pollution, sedimentation and declining water quality as reported by the authorities in the media recently.

In conjunction with World Rivers’ Day, WWF-Malaysia calls on all actors - the government, businesses and citizens to keep rivers in Sarawak clean and healthy for the benefit of people and nature.

WWF-Malaysia Sarawak Conservation Programme Head Cynthia Chin says rivers support inland fisheries that provide protein and supplementary income for thousands of rural families, ensure water security for towns and cities, and enhance climate resilience by reducing floods and safeguarding coasts. In short, they are vital to life, yesterday, today, forever.

“Healthy rivers are crucial in achieving the Sarawak Government’s Post COVID-19 Development Strategy 2030, which emphasises green growth, food security, and sustainable natural resource management," says Chin in a message for World Rivers’ Day which falls on the last Sunday of September. 

In August, Deputy Prime Minister of Sarawak Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof highlighted that 27 rivers, or 4% of the 672 major rivers monitored nationwide in 2024, were found to be polluted by the Department of Environment.

Earlier this month, Datuk Dr Annuar Rapa’ee, Sarawak Deputy Minister of Education, Innovation and Talent Development also reportedly warned that the ecosystem of Igan River in Sibu could be in jeopardy if the public continued to indiscriminately throw their rubbish and wastes in the river.

According to the Department of Environment’s Environmental Quality Report 2024, Sarawak’s waterways face growing threats from solid waste pollution, sedimentation and declining water quality.

In the report, the main indicators to determine the quality of river water were based on the six parameters of dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammoniacal nitrogen (AN), suspended solids (SS) and pH. The cause of the deterioration of water quality is due to the discharge of the pollution load either from a point source (e.g. industry, livestock and sewage treatment systems), or from a nonpoint source (e.g. agricultural activities, earthworks, mining and sullage).

Chin says, the Rajang River watershed, the largest in Malaysia is particularly significant, flowing from the hinterlands of Kapit to Sibu, Sarikei and Mukah divisions, through mix dipterocarp, peat swamps and mangrove forests before emptying into the South China Sea. Along its course, the river supports freshwater fisheries, a host of terrestrial and marine mammals and some of Sarawak’s last intact mangrove ecosystems.

However, pollution – a detrimental cause to the Rajang River watershed due to the presence of solid waste in the waterbodies. In the basin, there are 23 main rivers or tributaries that feed into Rajang River, the longest river in the country. As of 2024, two rivers are categorised as “polluted”, 10 “slightly polluted” and 11 “clean” in accordance with the Water Quality Index.

Therefore, when solid wastes and untreated effluents from households, agricultural activities and industries enter these rivers upstream, the impacts cascade downstream.

“Polluted rivers not only compromise people’s livelihoods, but also endanger marine mammals particularly the endangered Irrawaddy dolphins and porpoises, and degrade mangroves downstream,” Chin stresses.

Recognising this, WWF-Malaysia works closely with government agencies such as the Sarawak Ministry of Natural Resources and Urban Development, Natural Resources and Environment Board, Inland Fisheries Division of Agriculture Department and Irrigation and Drainage Department to help address watershed management and mitigate pollution in a holistic manner.

“Let’s be guardians of our rivers. Every small action matters - reducing single-use plastics, supporting river clean-up campaigns, and embracing government and community-led initiatives will ensure our rivers, our lifelines continue to support our lives, economy and ecosystems,” she concludes.      

- Ends -

Photo 1: Clean and healthy rivers are crucial to sustain people’s needs and nature. © Mazidi Abd Ghani / WWF-Malaysia

Photo 2: File photo taken in early 2023 of unsustainable land clearing for proposed rural road by the riverside of  Katibas River, a tributary to Rajang River, is a cause to river pollution. © Zora Chan / WWF-Malaysia

Photo 3: Indiscrimate dumping – either from households or industries - into rivers often end up in the sea and then washed back to coastal areas. © Amar Akmal Ayob / WWF-Malaysia

Photo 4: Indigenous fish, empurau (Tor tambroides) requires clean and healthy rivers to thrive. It is a highly valued fish that can be sold up to RM1,000 per kilogramme. © Peter Jabat / WWF-Malaysia / Panda CLICK!

Photo 5: During a workshop on integrated watershed management, different agencies came together for a role play as stakeholders to a watershed. © Zora Chan / WWF-Malaysia

Photo 6: An introductory workshop by WWF-Malaysia and the Sarawak Ministry of Natural Resources and Urban Development on payment for ecosystem services approach for rivers together.

About WWF-Malaysia

World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia (WWF-Malaysia) was established in 1972 and is part of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the international conservation organisation. Working to sustain the natural world for the benefit of people and nature, WWF-Malaysia’s efforts to conserve nature focus on six major themes: forests, oceans, wildlife, food, climate and energy, as well as freshwater. Our mission is to stop the degradation of the earth’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.

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