FIRE PREVENTION AND CONSERVATION AT SOUTHEAST PORTION OF PEKAN FOREST RESERVE PROGRESS UPDATE: JULY – SEPTEMBER 2024 UPDATE NO. 3/2024

Activities undertaken in the period of July – September 2024

This report covers activities implemented during the period of July–September 2024 under the YPPH-GEC Recovery Project. These activities include meeting with stakeholders, fire prevention awareness program, maintenance fire prevention indicator and firefighting equipment, river patrolling, aerial site monitoring, community nursery management course, and tree planting activities.

1. Meeting with Stakeholders
Numerous meetings have been conducted with stakeholders in Pahang regarding forest encroachment, peatland fire issues and coordination between stakeholders during peat fire event throughout the reporting period. On 3 July 2024, the YPPH Audit Team (led by Tuan Haji Omar bin Ismail) conducted an audit of the YPPH-GEC Recovery Project at the project area to verify the project progress. GEC met with YPPH team at Ladang Sungai Bebar Utara (LSBU) office to discuss the progress of the YPPH-GEC recovery project, remaining activities under the project, finalising the location of the tree planting, including status of the canal block maintenance between Ladang Pekan Barat (LPB) and Pekan Forest reserve and demarcation (Figure 1). A meeting between Enggang (Pekan) Sdn. Bhd. and GEC was also conducted in the Enggang (Pekan) Office (Figure 2) on 3 July 2024 to discuss on-going activities under the YPPH-GEC Recovery Project, areas of interest to focus on rehabilitation and further collaboration to strengthen the impact towards the rehabilitation of the Southeast Pahang Peatland Landscape (SEPPL). On 10 July 2024, GEC was invited by Enggang (Pekan) to a roundtable discussion with active NGOs and Orang Asli community representatives to present about their carbon credit project in Pahang. SMPEM Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting was held on the same day in Kuantan to discuss the updated progress of rehabilitation activities funded by the SMPEM Project in 2024 to government stakeholders (Figure 2). The discussion includes the enhancement of peatland fire management in SEPPL together with budget allocation for rehabilitation activities in 2025.

Figure 1: Internal audit of the YPPH-GEC Recovery Project by YPPH Audit Team – (left) site visit to the canal blocks in northern border of the Ladang Pekan Timur and Ladang Pekan Barat, and (right) meeting at Ladang Sungai Bebar Utara (LSBU) office, on 3 July 2024.


2. Figure 2: (Left) Meeting between Enggang (Pekan) and GEC in Pekan on 3 July 2024. (Right)

2. Fire Prevention Awareness Program
On 5 July 2024, GEC hosted an awareness program on fire prevention in peat swamp forest that in Sg. Kalong community hall. The awareness program has successfully organised through comprehensive collaboration with multi-stakeholder, such as the Department of Environment (DOE), SMPEM, BOMBA Pekan, YPPH, Sustainable Use of Peatlands and Haze Mitigation in ASEAN (SUPA Pahang), and Enggang (Pekan). The program was attended by 39 villagers from Sg. Kalong, Sg. Miang and Kg. Cenderawasih (Figure 3). The primary objective of the event was to raise awareness about the importance of peatland landscapes and its ecosystem services, including to educate the community about the causes of peatland fire and challenges to suppress the fire especially during the El Nino and dry season. The program aimed to increase the knowledge and comprehension of the community on the consequences of uncontrolled fire towards their livelihood, home, and health.


Figure 3: (Left) Talk by the BOMBA Pekan on the challenges in suppressing the peatland fire, and
(Right) Group photo of the Fire Prevention Awareness Program on 5 July.

3. Maintenance of Fire Prevention Indicator and Firefighting Equipment
On 4 September 2024, two water level markers (WLM) were repaired, and one floating pump from Kg. Cenderawasih was sent for service. The WLMs play a vital role in indicating the water table, the availability of a water source for fire suppression if a fire incident occurs. Meanwhile, the floating pump allows the community to put out small fires in the pineapple farms to stop it spreading. On 23 September 2024, a Fire Danger Rating System (FDRS) signboard was repaired (Figure 4) as it had collapsed due to strong wind. The FDRS signboard shows the Fire Weather Index (FWI) and Fine Fuel Moisture Code (FFMC), which has been monitored by the community patrollers, by changing the colour code daily when they perform duty on site based on the information from MET Malaysia shared by GEC.


Figure 4: Maintenance of WLM (left) and FDRS board (right) in Kg. Cenderawasih.

4. River Patrolling
A river patrolling activity was organized along Sungai Bebar, extending from Kg. Meranti to the YPPH Pump House at LSBS on 20 July 2024. During the river patrolling, several locations of fire have been detected, possibly set for agriculture land opening by local community (Figure 5). On 15 August 2024, river patrolling activity continued to follow up with the fire incident that was detected. During the patrol, the previous burning has spread deeper into the Nenasi (Extension) Forest Reserve complex and new peat fire locations were observed. Stakeholders such as BOMBA, DOE, JPNP, and YPPH staff were alerted about the fire. Although due to limited access and safety precaution, the fire could not be suppressed by person but was extinguished by rain.


Figure 5: River patrolling along the Sungai Bebar (left), and spotted a burnt area (right) during the patrol.

5. Aerial Site Monitoring
Regular aerial monitoring activity was conducted along the YPPH estate boundary and surrounding buffer area, focusing on the burned or smouldering spots in the Recovery Project area, and observe the condition of canal blocks to maintain optimum level of water in the canals. The continuous aerial monitoring has provided valuable insights and actionable reference, ensuring the safety and security of the property, forest reserves, estates and its surrounding areas, especially during the El Nino season. On 3 August, a fire occurred in Pekan-Nenasi Roadside and later spread into abandoned land, approaching the south part of the YPPH Ladang Pekan Timur (LPT) estate (Figure 6). On 9 September, a drone survey was conducted to observe condition of the canal block structure (Figure 7) to ensure the canal block can withhold water during the El Nino period, and prepare for the outcoming monsoon season.


6. Community Nursery
On 2 July 2024, GEC organized a Community Nursery Management Course with 6 participants from Kg Meranti (Figure 8) to improve, refresh and upskill the communities involved in the seedling buyback program associated to GEC – linked to the livelihood component of the YPPH-GEC Recovery Project. The objectives of the program are to empower the community in enhancing knowledge related to nursery management, as well as to increase opportunities for alternative income for the community. The course syllabus mainly included important information such as nursery management, nursery infrastructure, seed or wildling species selection, seed sowing technique, transplanting, seedling monitoring for insect infestation, fungi attack, nutrient deficiency, and pricing. In addition, tips for expanding and enhancing the community nursery were shared to ensure consistent income where the community members can manage their business on their own. After the nursery training, there has been a significant increase in the community’s enthusiasm and a major improvement of their nursery management skills including seedling production. GEC conducts regular inventory of the seedling in the community nurseries where these seedlings will be purchased and planted at the YPPH-GEC Recovery Project area. Overall, the number of seedlings available in stock at all the community nurseries in SEPPL associated with GEC is reaching 5,000 seedlings which includes Shorea sp., Dipterocarpus sp., Hopea sp., Koompassia malaccensis, Cratoxylum sp., Melaleuca leucadendra, Alstonia sp., Fagraea fragrans, Durio carinatus and others.

Figure 8: Hands-on training by the participants from Kg Meranti (A and B) and visit to the community nursery that was upgraded after the course (c).

7. Tree Planting Activities
On 24 September 2024, GEC organised a meeting with YPPH to discuss tree planting activity and confirm the planting in the selected area (Figure 9) within the recovery project area, land preparation for the tree planting, current condition of the planting site, and safety measures which needs to be taken by both YPPH and GEC to ensure the safety of the indigenous people involved in the tree planting activity. Other matters discussed include Stakeholder Tree Planting Event, signboard to be placed at the recovery project area, seedling species, seedling stock in community nurseries, seedling logistic and coordination with manager of YPPH-LSBU as stated in the letter of approval for the tree planting activity.

Figure 9: Tree planting discussion between YPPH estate team and GEC (left), and current condition of the proposed planting site within the project area (right).

8. Standard Operating Procedures (Prosedur Tetap Operasi - PTO) for fire prevention
A series of meetings organised by the SUPA project on the ‘Prosedur Tetap Operasi (PTO) Pelaksanaan Pencegahan Kebakaran Tanah Gambut Pahang bagi mengatasi masalah jerebu di Malaysia’ were attended by GEC. GEC was also invited by SUPA to present on-going rehabilitation work in the SEPPL especially the YPPH-GEC Recovery Project. GEC emphasized the support given by YPPH in terms of funding and support on activities related to fire prevention such as community-based patrolling in Kg Cenderawasih and Kg Meranti, equipment – water pumps to suppress the fire adjacent to the Pekan Forest Reserve in February-March 2024, fire-break construction to halt the fire from spreading further into the estate and forest reserve, and community livelihood activities. The meetings also included a site visit to fire location, infrastructure (canal blocks, piezometer and tubewell), peat swamp forest, indigenous communities and farmers in SEPPL (Figure 10). The main objective of the series of meetings was to indicate locations of reoccurrence of peatland fire, prevention methods before fire occurrence, action plan during fire event, delegate responsibilities among stakeholders in Pahang pre- (before), present- (during) and post- (after) any peatland fire event, establish peat fire disaster response under the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) to gain support in suppressing peatland fire, and strengthen collaboration among stakeholders in Pahang (Figure 11).