Saving The Seahorse Means Saving The Sea

 

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Project AWARE Foundation

 

 

 

 

SOS stands for "Save Our Seahorses". Founded in 2004, it is a non-profit group commited to saving the seahorse and the Pulai River Estuary in Malaysia. The group comprised  scientists, students, local communities and the public volunteers.

 

HOW it started?

It all started as a conflict between the seahorse and development. Since 1995, massive port development around Pulai River Estuary have destroyed large tracts of seagrass beds, which are home to the Spotted Seahorse, Hippocampus kuda. The Spotted seahorses, which once thrived in the Pulai River Estuary, is losing its habitat as well as numbers. SOS is particularly concerned that they may vanish soon. We do not want the episode to end with extinction.

 

OUR MISSION

SOS is fighting to conserve what still remains in the Pulai River Estuary, through collaboration with the government, local communities and developers. The project component encompasses research, education, outreach and information dissemination. An ongoing volunteers program established in 2005 allows the public to experience the wonders of the Pulai River Estuary and at the same time helping to gather scientific data relevant for conservation of seahorses and seagrass ecosystem. Our efforts are to promote sustainable development in the Pulai River Estuary.

RED ALERT : PULAI RIVER ESTUARY BEING HARMED 

 

Note the scale of the proposed petrochemical station in turqoise colour.It is proposed on a 913 hectares mangrove forest, which means the forest is going to be cleared. Furthermore, its closest boundaries to Ramsar Site is only 50 m.

 

(Left): Part of the mangrove forest were cleared early June 2009. (Right): The cabel tower is where the project site is proposed. How ridiculously close it is to the village at Kampung Sungai Chengkih.

 

 ONLINE PETITION

In the wake of the proposed clearing of 2,255 acres of mangrove forest in Sungai Pulai, over 5,000 people from across the globe have pledged to save Sungai Pulai through an online petition created by SOS (View full compilation of petitions HERE (pdf)). Their pleas  were been sent to various government and non-governme

ntal agencies, including the Prime Minister Office. The government has decided to come out with a strategic plan to minimise development impacts but this process is currently not transparent.

 

Recent NEWS:

 

15 May 2009: HRSC - 3 tuntutan utama untuk menangani masalah pembangunan industri petrokimia Tanjung Bin, Pontian 

http://suaramjb1.blogspot.com/2009/05/hrsc-3-tuntutan-utama-untuk-menangani.html

 

15 May 2009: Politicians in bed with bad company at Sungai Pulai. Johor was a state endowed with vast tracts of coastal mangrove. Note the past tense used. Ironically, it is also the only state in the country with the highest number of Ramsar sites. > Read more at http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/104389

Related NEWS:

The Star Online:

 8 Aug 07:     IT IS indeed a shame to learn of the silence by the Federal and Johor statedepartments of environment to pleas from people worldwide and local environmentalists to save the seahorses from development at the Sungai Pulai estuary in Pontian, Johor. Read More>>

13 Nov 07:   Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), which has received approval from the Department of Environment for its multi-billion ringgit petroleum terminal storage centre, will begin construction next year. Read More>>

21 Nov 07:   Save Our Seahorses (SOS) has expressed strong disagreement with the project taking over extensive tracts of mangroves. Read More>>

 

New Straits Time Online:

26July 07:    "We won't be silent anymore and will do everything in our power to halt this plan," said Fisherman Abdul Rahman. Read More>>

 2 Aug 07:     SOS to save Sungai Pulai estuary. Read More>>

13 Aug 07:   Johor orders detailed EIA on two mega estuary project. Read More>>

15 Aug 07:   The developer of a proposed petrochemical and marine industries estate at the Sungai Pulai estuary has agreed to work with local environmentalists to assess the impact of the project on the estuary. Read More>>

4 June 08:   PENINSULAR Malaysia's latest environmental cause celebre is surfacing in the Sungai Pulai estuary, an internationally recognised area of wilderness now threatened by industrial development. Overseen by the Port of Tanjung Pelepas authority. Read More>>