Development pushes river terrapins to the brink - Experts

KUALA LUMPUR - A small head peeks out, its accusatory, beady eyes staring down its pert snout at the interlopers.

It doesn’t retract into its shell, nor does it flail about. Instead, the baby terrapin lies flat in the palm of the local environmentalist holding it, barely moving.

"It’s kinda cute,” remarks Meor Razak Meor Abd Rahman, a field officer for Friends of Nature (SAM).

Moments later, the Southern river terrapin, colloquially named tuntung sungai (batagur affinis), flips out of his hand and splashes into the teenage terrapin pool.

The little terrapin's attempt at freedom brings laughter from visitors at the River Terrapin Conservation Centre in Bota Kanan, Perak. The guide assures them that the intrepid young terrapin is safe as it explores the pool, which houses slightly older terrapins.

As it turns out, river terrapins are not fond of humans or loud noises. In the adults’ pool, located in a roofed shed within the centre’s 6.3-hectare compound, the adult terrapins huddle in one corner, trying to escape the visitors.

Measuring about a foot long from head to tail and dark grey in colour, they practically climb over one another in their desperation to avoid human contact.

Their shy nature, combined with the destruction of their riverbank habitat and nesting sites on riverbanks via human and economic activities like sand mining, have resulted in the near extinction of species in the wild.

These freshwater terrapins are now listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

"Sand mining has wiped out the sandbars and sandy banks along the Perak River. That’s what concerns us. Where will the terrapins land to lay their eggs?” said Meor Razak.

NO SAND, NO TERRAPIN

The river terrapins are already extinct in the wild in Thailand, Vietnam, and Singapore. Experts caution that Perak may soon follow if more efforts are not made to protect them.

News reports from 2019 indicated that there had been no sightings of wild river terrapins in Perak for several years.

At the conservation centre, there are around a hundred river terrapins of various ages and sizes, either being bred or raised as hatchlings to be released into the wild after a few years.

The centre has a fenced-off sandbank by the river, where the terrapins are released. Conservationists hope that once mature-over a decade after their release-the terrapins will return to this site to nest.

Turtle Conservation Society of Malaysia President Prof (retired) Maketab Mohamed likened the centre to "a zoo,” warning that river terrapins could become locally extinct if nothing is done to protect them in the wild.

While the centre helps preserve the species, experts argue that such facilities should be a last resort in conservation.

"There used to be a lot of terrapins in the Perak River. In the old days, the largest population was there. Now, because of sand removal, there is no place for them to lay eggs. In the Perak River, which we call in situ (in the wild), we haven’t had a single terrapin come up,” he explained.

"So, when they come ashore to lay eggs but find no nesting sites, they return to the river, leading to extinction,” he added.

Compounding the issue, river terrapins are far less fertile than their sea turtle cousins. While sea turtles lay an average of 110 eggs two to eight times per season, river terrapins only lay about 25 to 30 eggs per season.

Bernama reached out to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks of Peninsular Malaysia (Perhilitan) - which is responsible for the conservation centres and wildlife issues in Malaysia- for more information on conservation efforts for the river terrapin but did not receive a response by press time.

The method used in river sand mining is to place a backhoe right at the water’s edge to scoop sand from the river, often in areas meant to act as buffer zones. These zones are also where river terrapins nest.

The mounds of sand created on the riverbanks and the loss of vegetation discourage terrapins from making land, while the mining activities increase water turbidity and remove vital organisms from the riverbed, harming the overall health of the river ecosystem.

TERRAPINS VS THE ECONOMY

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, sand is the most mined material in the world, with about 50 billion metric tonnes extracted annually. Sand mining, or dredging, is not limited to rivers-sand is also extracted from inland dunes, beaches, and ocean beds. However, coarse river sand is especially sought after for construction.

A 2022 UN report found that sand mining is increasing globally at a rate of 6 per cent, describing this growth as "unsustainable." Additionally, many sand mining projects worldwide are illegal.

The global sand mining industry is valued at US$151 billion (RM620 billion).

In Perak, most river sand mining activities are licensed. As the activity is licensed, breaching the river buffers zones is not illegal although it may not necessarily be good for the river.

Environmentalists have criticised the Perak government for approving too many projects in the past, a claim the government denies.

Perak science, environment, and green technology committee chairman Teh Kok Lim told Bernama via Zoom that all approved sand mining projects in Perak have met the requirements set by the Department of Environment (DoE) and other regulatory bodies.

"Many sand mining projects are initiated to deepen the river. When the project is approved, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report is required," he said.

"For most projects, the EIA is mandatory-even small-scale mining requires it," he said.

He emphasised that the approval process must be carried out with care.

All mining activities fall under the state's jurisdiction. While the DoE is a federal agency, state-level DoE offices are responsible for issuing licensing permits. EIA reports are not always accessible to the public. Although the DoE publishes EIA reports for pending projects on its website, finding specific reports after project approval is often difficult.

Teh said everyone benefits when the process is handled properly-the state profits from sand sales, locals gain employment, and flood mitigation is achieved.

Maketab, who is also a water quality expert, dismissed the government’s justification.

"To me, the flood-mitigation argument is just an excuse. If you want to dredge a river, you do it at certain times and stop once the work is done. This is continuous removal of sand,"said the former Universiti Teknologi Malaysia professor.

"It's not a matter of 'let us remove sand for a while and then stop.' No, they're content to keep mining forever."

ENFORCEMENT ISSUES

When it comes to balancing the environment and the economy, the environment-let alone the terrapin-rarely wins unless the situation becomes dire. While sand mining may be harmful to the ecosystem, its benefits for local employment and the state coffers cannot be ignored.

Former Director-General of Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID), Datuk Nor Hisham Mohd Ghazali, told Bernama the government often has to compromise in such cases.

"It’s the price you pay for economic progress," he said at his office in Putrajaya. "I believe we have the laws, but we are not effective at communicating them to the public."

Many experts agree that enforcing or utilising existing laws would be more effective than introducing new ones.

In addition to the EIA requirement, Perak's River Right Act of 1915, the country's oldest conservation law, helps protect river terrapins by regulating the consumption of terrapin eggs-a local delicacy-and conserving terrapin eggs along the Perak River. However, this law, regulated by Perhilitan, does not establish specific conservation areas.

The Wildlife Conservation Act of 2010 enables both state and federal authorities to designate wildlife sanctuaries or reserves. However, according to Meor Razak, there are no officially protected nesting sites for the river terrapin, apart from the one at the conservation centre.

Both Meor and Hafizudin Nasarudin, chair of the Friends of Nature Activist Group (KUASA) Supreme Council, agreed that enforcing current laws and regulations that pertain to the river terrapin’s habitat, such as river buffer zones, was best.

Hafizudin told Bernama that while conservation efforts at the centre were laudable, they should not be the only solution.

"A hatchery is pointless if the sandy banks the terrapins need to nest are disappearing," he said.

"The ultimate solution is that you have to restore the riverbank. In the long term, the depth (of the river) will automatically increase,” he added. - BERNAMA