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hMalaysian Journal of Environmental Management 6 (2005): 41 - 57
Sustainable Development in the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia
BARROW, C.J.1, CLIFTON, J.2, CHAN, N.W.3 & TAN, Y.L.3
ABSTRACT
This paper examines the progress and prospects for sustainable development in
the Cameron Highlands, Peninsular Malaysia, focusing especially on
agriculture. Vegetable, flower and fruit production in the Highlands have
caused extensive forest clearance and the excavation of valley sides and floors.
This causes loss of biodiversity, unstable ground that is liable to landslide, soil
erosion and agrochemical pollution of streams. Unsustainable agriculture has
severe impacts on the Cameron Highlands environment, wildlife, tourism, and
local people’s well being, and its effects are felt further afield, especially
through the degradation of quality and quantity of water supplies which flow to
surrounding lowlands. The silting of streams and reservoirs also increases the
risk of flood damage. Because impacts will be felt across broad swathes of the
lowlands it is in the interests of the federal government and surrounding states
to invest in Cameron Highlands improvements. The new highway from Ipoh,
opened in 2003, is likely to prompt further horticultural development in once
remote parts of the Cameron Highlands. There are opportunities to develop
sustainable agriculture and to integrate it with tourism development and the
improvement of local people’s livelihoods, including indigenous peoples. These
opportunities should be grasped before it is too late.
ABSTRAK
Kertas ini meneliti kemajuan dan prospek pembangunan berterusan di Cameron
Highlands, Semenanjung Malaysia dengan tumpuan utamanya kepada
pertanian. Pengeluaran sayuran, bunga dan buah-buahan di tanah tinggi ini
menyebabkan penebangan hutan secara meluas dan penggalian dasar dan
lereng lembah. Tindakan tersebut menyebabkan kehilangan kepelbagaian
biologi, ketidakstabilan yang membawa kepada tanah runtuh, hakisan tanih dan
pencemaran agrokimia alur sungai, ketidakmampanan pertanian menyebabkan
kesan besar kepada persekitaran, hidupan liar, pelancongan, dan penduduk
tempatan Cameron Highlands dan kesannya lebih menyeluruh terutamanya
melalui kemerosotan kualiti air dan kuantiti bekalan air yang mengalir ke
persekitaran tanah rendah. Pemendapan saliran dan waduk juga meningkatkan
risiko kemusnahan banjir. Disebabkan kesannya yang melewati sempadan tanah
rendah adalah menjadi minat kerajaan persekutuan dan negeri berhampiran
untuk melabur di Cameron Highlands. Lebuhraya baru dari Ipoh yang dibuka
dalam tahun 2003, dilihat mempercepatkan pembangunan hortikultur di
42 Barrow, C.J., Clifton, J., Chan, N.W. & Tan, Y.L.
Malaysian Journal of Environmental Management 6 (2005): 41 - 57
kawasan pedalaman di Cameron Highlands. Terdapat peluang untuk
membangunkan pertanian mampan dan menyepadukannya dengan
pembangunan pelancongan dan mempertingkatkan taraf hidup penduduk
tempatan termasuk masyarakat orang asli. Peluang ini seharusnya diambil
sebelum terlambat.
INTRODUCTION
In India, Ceylon, Malaya, and elsewhere „hill stations‟ were developed in
the early twentieth century to provide a refuge in hot seasons, for
convalescence, recreation, and for testing and adapting potential crops
(Spencer & Thomas 1948; Tempany & Curtler 1933; Voon & Khoo
1980; Shirasaka 1988; Freeman 1999). Peninsular Malaysian hill resorts
– the Cameron Highlands, Fraser‟s Hill, Genting Highlands, Bukit Larut,
Penang Hill; and Maxwell Hill, lie in fragile and vulnerable forested
highlands (Raine 1995) (Figure 1). Having lost much of the lowland
biota, Malaysia‟s highland areas are important refuges for biodiversity.
The Cameron Highland forest traps passing cloud, which would
otherwise fail to precipitate; it thus acts as a crucial catchment for large
parts of lowland Malaysia. Cleared of forest cover less precipitation is
captured (perhaps a reduction of 900 mm y-1) which means erratic
streamflow, higher peak flows, and water shortages in dry periods –
this impacts on the lowlands and affects large numbers of people (Chan
2000a; Chan et al. 2003). Steep slopes and deeply weathered soils and
underlying rock coupled with heavy rainfall mean that landslides and
high rates of erosion are an ever-present threat if development disturbs
highland forest. The rich hill-slope flora and fauna is easily lost and that
of streams is vulnerable to eroded silt, agricultural pollution and sewage.
Damage to forests in the Cameron Highlands has been caused by
selective logging, plantations (there are around 2800 ha of tea estates in
the Cameron Highlands), farming, and extraction of forest products like
rattan, bamboo (which is widely used for scaffolding and locally by
farmers as rain shelter supports) fruit, resins, medicinal herbs, and orchids
(Wazir-Jahan 1990).
There is little expansion of tea estates nowadays, and this causes
limited environmental damage because it is a perennial crop that is
treated with little or no chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides.
Annual cropping producing temperate vegetables and cut-flowers has
expanded markedly since the 1960s and is a major cause of
environmental degradation. There are also indications that forest product
extraction by indigenous peoples is increasing. As well as damaging the
environment the farming is generally unsustainable with current
practices. Many of the farmers have installed yield-boosting facilities, so
Barrow, C.J., Clifton, J., Chan, N.W. & Tan, Y.L. 43
Malaysian Journal of Environmental Management 6 (2005): 41 - 57
reduction of environmental damage and efforts to improve sustainability
are not hampered by poverty.
Figure 1. Location of Cameron Highlands and main towns and villages
Rapid and insensitive development has not gone unopposed in the
highlands, a number of NGOs have been actively seeking to improve
environmental management and local people‟s well being. These include
the Society of Regional Environmental Awareness of Cameron Highlands
(REACH) and the Malaysian Nature Society. However, the farming is
44 Barrow, C.J., Clifton, J., Chan, N.W. & Tan, Y.L.
Malaysian Journal of Environmental Management 6 (2005): 41 - 57
profitable and the produce saves Malaysia considerable amounts of
foreign exchange, so there may be reluctance to control it.
Roads and telecommunication installations have improved access to
farm sites and aid forest product extraction. The Cameron Highlands are
partly under the jurisdiction of the State of Pahang, and with many
administrative offices at least five-hour drive away in Kelantan and
Terengganu, co-ordination can be a problem. Administrative
responsibilities are divided between five state governments, local
authorities, and Federal Government departments (Oh 2000). Most of the
Cameron Highland farmers are Chinese and have links with Perak, rather
than Pahang (Clarkson 1968).
While Malaysia has excellent lowland national parks management,
the development of highland areas has resulted in extensive deforestation,
growing pollution, and settlement growth. Hill resorts like the Genting
Highlands (ca.2000 m) and Fraser‟s Hill (1524 m) have suffered
considerable real-estate development. The Cameron Highlands are a 1500
m-high plateau surrounded by forest-clad peaks rising to 2032 m. More
extensive and less spoilt than the aforementioned hill resorts, the
Cameron Highlands are nevertheless „at risk‟ especially from
unsustainable farming, speculative building, and insensitive tourism.
Farming is expanding up valleys and into the forested hills (the actual
distribution of farms has not been recently mapped and a survey of the
farming areas to establish trends would be valuable).
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE CAMERON HIGHLANDS
There are ways to reduce the impact of agriculture in the Cameron
Highlands. It is also possible to develop conservation and tourism so as to
help the transition to sustainable but possibly less profitable farming or
offer alternative or supplementary livelihoods. Environmental damage
caused by farming damages tourism and conservation so these have a
mutual interest in improving agriculture: they could all be better
integrated to help reduce environmental impacts, achieve sustainable
development and improve livelihoods. The Orang Asli (indigenous
peoples) in the Cameron Highlands should be more involved in such
developments, and can contribute much (Passoff 1991; Foucat 2002;
Chan et al. 2003). Presently they have limited involvement with
commercial agriculture, and that is unlikely to change much.
Sustainable development attracted serious media and academic
attention after about 1987, partly as a consequence of the „Brundtland
Report‟. There is no single universally acceptable definition of
sustainable development, although it is widely recognised: that there are
environmental limits to development; that environmental protection and
Barrow, C.J., Clifton, J., Chan, N.W. & Tan, Y.L. 45
Malaysian Journal of Environmental Management 6 (2005): 41 - 57
development are interrelated and mutually dependant; that together with
environmental care there must be concern for the poor; and that there
needs to be intergenerational equity – i.e. people should pass on to future
generations at least as good potential and range of options they enjoy. It
also depends on establishing (if none are already present) and
maintaining appropriate social institutions to support management and
help adapt to challenges (World Bank 2003). Sustainable development is
not „cost-less‟ it demands trade-offs. In the Cameron Highlands some of
the present day profits will have to be reinvested to achieve sustainable
development; agriculture, biodiversity conservation and tourism have the
potential to generate funds for sustainable development and pressures for
change – these are unlikely to come from the agricultural community
alone. Integrated efforts in the Cameron Highlands may just be sufficient;
however, lowlands will benefit from improvements and it would make
sense to citizens in those areas to also contribute. The authorities need to
explore these issues.
Malaysia is pledged to take appropriate action to ensure that
development is sustainable and balanced (Government of Malaysia 1996:
589). A Business Council for Sustainable Development Malaysia was
founded in 1992, and there has subsequently (1995) been the
establishment of a Business Charter for Sustainable Development.
Malaysia thus has a firmly voiced commitment to supporting sustainable
development.
It is important that those involved in sustainable development can
call upon adequate social capital - the arrangements, traditions, and
obligations which back-up individuals, families and groups in time of
need so that they can survive and to support innovation. Often social
capital is in decline, which can mean problems maintaining
environmental quality socio-economic conditions, which favour tourism.
Village and regional officials may not perceive loss of social capital, so
studies would be valuable for sustainable development efforts in the
Cameron Highlands. Presently tourism suffers from farming impacts, but
potentially agriculture could reduce the damage in return for a share in
tourism income; agritourism could also help tourism diversify and attract
longer stay and more affluent visitors. The key is to develop co-operation
and integrated development. Various organisations and businesses can
work for sustainable development but action needs to be promoted and
co-ordinated (Selman 1996). In the Cameron Highlands farmers and
tourism entrepreneurs will have to embrace a paradigm shift and invest
some of their profits in environmental management and sustainable
development or in the longer term their lifestyles will suffer (Shepherd
1998).
46 Barrow, C.J., Clifton, J., Chan, N.W. & Tan, Y.L.
Malaysian Journal of Environmental Management 6 (2005): 41 - 57
El Niño events occasionally cause drier conditions, and acid
deposition and global warming pose a growing threat to Cameron
Highland vegetation. Presently there is little threat in highland Malaysia
from forest fire or goat grazing, problems, which commonly blight other
tropical uplands. If conditions become more arid through such factors and
as a consequence of forest clearance causing regional warming bush fires
may become a threat; however, for foreseeable future such threats are
minimal. Sustainable development must be adaptable to such threats and
to socio-economic changes: especially uphill shift of vegetation zones;
altered precipitation; new patterns of disease transmission; and the
introduction of problematic exotic flora and fauna.
Ecological footprint analysis has been used to measure progress
toward sustainable development by a number of cities, businesses and
various sectors (Gösling et al. 2002). It would be interesting to apply eco-
footprinting to Cameron Highlands agriculture so that its overall impact
can be weighed against economic profits. Agricultural produce from the
Cameron Highlands is in demand in Malaysian cities and earns export
income; it would be useful to see the true costs of production allowing for
stream pollution, forest loss, etc.
Tourists are increasingly seeking more differentiated and interesting
attractions, and host countries and funding agencies like the promise of
non-destructive natural resource exploitation offered by green tourism. A
form of green tourism - ecotourism appeared during the 1980s and has
spread rapidly – 2002 was declared the UN International Year of
Ecotourism. Ecotourism is difficult to presently define; the Ecotourism
Society1 suggested it be: “...responsible travel to natural areas which
conserves the environment and improves the welfare of local people.”
Ecotourism is essentially a set of principles, which can be allied to any
nature-related tourism. But, unlike other forms of green tourism,
ecotourism should be a symbiotic relationship, whereby environment
attracts tourists, and they pay a significant amount for environmental
management; hopefully the process can help initiate and support
sustainable development (Lindberg & Hawkins 1993; Fennell 1999;
Wearing & Neil 1999; Page & Dowling 2001; Pforr 2001; Weaver 2001).
Ecotourism should put back more than it takes out of the environment
and local culture; for example, tourists will often pay to do voluntary
conservation or farm work, or other environmental management tasks and
can be charged quite a lot for relatively basic accommodation. Some
ecotourism supporters argue that it must not only fund environmental
management and contribute to local livelihoods, but that it should also
educate the tourists to develop ongoing environmental and cultural
awareness and responsible behaviour (Orams 1995).
Barrow, C.J., Clifton, J., Chan, N.W. & Tan, Y.L. 47
Malaysian Journal of Environmental Management 6 (2005): 41 - 57
Several developing countries have invested in ecotourism: the
Galapagos Is. (Ecuador), Tanzania, Belize, Rwanda, Costa Rica, Cuba,
Yucatan (Mexico), Zimbabwe, and others2. Some of these depend upon it
for much of their conservation funding and it is a major foreign exchange
earner. Malaysian structure plans and tourist authorities acknowledge the
potential for green tourism, but have made limited progress in co-
ordination and development of policies seeking to promote ecotourism as
a key element in a sustainable development strategy. In the Cameron
Highlands there are many opportunities to link conservation and tourism
and to use it to encourage and aid farming to become more sustainable.
Ecotourism can make use of facilities like redundant mansions, old
plantation management buildings, and suchlike. The profits from tourists
staying in such places helps pays to maintain production and adequate
environmental management; the production of crops like tea provide a
tourist interest and resort „image‟. The attraction of ecotourism for many
administrators is that it can yield foreign exchange, looks sustainable and
„green‟, and can be established with reasonable investment and limited
socio-economic change. In the Cameron Highlands it could provide ways
of encouraging and cushioning change from environmentally damaging
cultivation to greener, sustainable, but less profitable production. For
example, tourists might be attracted to agritourism or ecotourism and
could be charged enough to make alteration to sustainable farming viable.
In time organic production from sustainable plots may command better
prices and need less support from tourism. Part of a strategy seeking
sustainable agriculture in the Cameron Highlands should be to assess the
potential for developing organic production. In the EU consumers seem
willing to pay up to 30% more for organic produce (Dabbert et al. 2004).
Ultimately organic and sustainable agriculture could be as profitable or
better than the present chemical-enhanced semi-permanent cultivation.
The basic elements of a Cameron Highlands sustainable
development strategy should be:
Assess the current situation and trends.
Identify suitable ecotourism solutions.
Plan to keep tourist impacts to a minimum and ensure local
activities do not deter visitors.
Manage and steer ecotourism, conservation and agriculture –
which require the assessment of sustainability performance
(using effective indicators, benchmarks, and monitoring
methods).
Ensure there is adequate co-ordination and planning, and an
overall strategy.
Explore land use zoning to support conservation, tourism and
agriculture.
48 Barrow, C.J., Clifton, J., Chan, N.W. & Tan, Y.L.
Malaysian Journal of Environmental Management 6 (2005): 41 - 57
One strategy, which could be useful in the quest for sustainable
development in the Cameron Highlands, is (as already mentioned) to
zone areas according to their sensitivity, and then try to give maximum
protection to pristine and vulnerable localities. Buffer zones around these
would help to protect them from more intensive exploitation. Less
sensitive zones could be used for tourism activities that are less
environmentally sound and for agriculture; buffer areas could support
ecotourism and carefully controlled forest extraction (perhaps with some
enhancement of products like bamboo and rattan – tolerant forest
management). Migration corridors should ideally link pristine areas; and
sufficient regard must be given to the possibility of climate change,
increasing regional air pollution (acid deposition, etc.), and natural
disasters. Too rigid and unimaginative zoning, with insufficient
adaptability will not sustain flora and fauna. Mapping such zones in the
Cameron Highlands and other Malaysian highlands would be a valuable
exercise.
Golf, trekking, agritourism, cultural tourism, wildlife photography
and birdwatching are potential tourism growth fields in the Cameron
Highlands (Berry & Ladkin 1997; Garrod & Feyall 1998; Mowforth &
Munt 1998; Stabler 1998; McCool 2001). Well-planned and effectively
managed ecotourism is compatible with many other land uses, and can
play an integrative role (Ashton & Ashton 2002). The ideal is to
„dovetail‟ mutually supportive activities to integrate local resources, and
involve local people (Boo 1990; Cater 1995; Duffy 2002). The Cameron
Highlands have opportunities for such dovetailing, and could more
actively seek eco-tourists from Malaysia and further afield.
South East Asian lowlands are hot, humid and increasingly urban-
industrial environments; areas like the Cameron Highlands offer a
relatively cool, varied and attractive refuge. The risk is that poor planning
control will allow speculative building, excessive farming, tourism-
related pollution, track and forest damage and littering.
Cameron Highland agricultural produce is in great demand in
Malaysian cities and is exported to Singapore and further afield. Given
the profits involved, the employment provided, and the foreign exchange
earned, the authorities are unlikely to suddenly restrict it. However,
present land use is virtually shifting cultivation, with plots are mainly
leased from the Government for only 15-years. Farmers use large
amounts of chicken waste, chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides
to enhance crop yields, few practice effective soil and water conservation,
and there is virtually no use of compost, mulch, or green manure (Plate
1). Many farmers invest in plastic sheet rain-shelters and drip or trickle-
irrigation but this is primarily focused on boosting crop yield and quality,
rather than sustaining production and preventing soil erosion. Streams
Barrow, C.J., Clifton, J., Chan, N.W. & Tan, Y.L. 49
Malaysian Journal of Environmental Management 6 (2005): 41 - 57
draining the farmed areas are polluted by chemical runoff, excess
nutrients and soil washed from the fields. Once yields decline farmers
apply for a new licence and dig new fields from the hillsides, resulting in
destruction of biodiversity and severe loss of soil to streams.
Plate 1. Farms in the Cameron Highlands cut into steep forested hillside.
Streams draining the area have heavy silt loads, even long after the
cutting of terraces and establishment of crops. Every 15 years or so
new plots are cut and even more silt is generated.
Until recently the only main road into the Cameron Highlands was
narrow and twisting and helped restrict the spread of farming; in 2003 a
new highway was opened into the areas furthest from the old road, this
may well stimulate further agricultural expansion. The expansion of un-
sustainable farming must be halted, but to do so other sources of income
will have to be tapped. Ecotourism and agritourism could offer a
sustainable way to help stabilise livelihoods and improve environmental
management. Questionnaire surveys conducted between 2003 and 2005
indicate visitors to the Cameron Highlands were attracted by
environmental features and disliked pollution and forest degradation
(Clifton et al. 2003). However, the majority of tourists interviewed made
short-stays of 2 to 3 nights and were relatively low spenders. Most were
under 35-years of age and came from Malaysia, Singapore, SE Asia, and
to a lesser extent, Europe or the Americas, and were not well informed
about the attractions available. Advertising might alter the tourist
clientele to improve its earnings and help select those interested in
ecotourism.
50 Barrow, C.J., Clifton, J., Chan, N.W. & Tan, Y.L.
Malaysian Journal of Environmental Management 6 (2005): 41 - 57
World wide there is a keen interest in trekking, and the Cameron
Highlands offers some of the most spectacular and safest „exotic‟
trekking trails in the tropics. Trekking is presently poorly regulated and
so far there had been little investment in developing it. Guides are often
untrained and poorly registered and marketing is weak. There is great
potential for improvement, especially better marketing overseas and more
regulation (Chan 2000b, 2000c). Agritourism is already established in a
limited way, but could be developed further to support more sustainable
horticulture (Fennell et al. 2003). A number of Orang Asli has found
employment as golf course caddies or „pros‟, and many work in service
jobs such as cooking, labouring, and taxi driving. However, there has
been limited development of their handicrafts or cultural tourism, and few
Orang Asli act as ecotourism guides or trekking guides. Orang Asli and
other peoples in the Cameron Highlands have cultures, handicrafts, and
skills which could become tourist attractions (Nicolas 2000). They could
play a greater part in development, which would improve their
livelihoods, aid their integration into wider society, and possibly help
discourage the expansion of forest products collection (Barrow et al.
2003).
There is a need for more co-ordinated, proactive, adaptive and
integrated management of Cameron Highland development (Oh 2000;
Government of Malaysia 2001). A strategic overview is crucial to ensure
various efforts do not conflict and, if possible, support each other. The
authorities should review the potential for sustainable development based
on expanded ecotourism, agritourism and cultural tourism. A co-
ordinating body can also prepare visitor itineraries linking one activity
and site with another to compile a varied, attractive, and longer vacation.
It also enables pressure to be removed from sites which are being
degraded and offers ways to steer tourists and cope with bad weather,
seasonal changes, and so on. Ecotourism should be part of an overall
sustainable development strategy. Such a co-ordinating body could direct
some of the profit from tourism to support a shift to sustainable
agriculture, ideally with and the adoption of organic farming, and
improved environmental management.
The Malaysian Government called for an Intergovernmental
Committee on Highlands in 1996, and a Cabinet Committee was
established in 2000 to co-ordinate, monitor and ensure sustainable
development of hill and island resorts in Malaysia. However, little
progress seems to have been made so far. Within the Cameron Highlands
hoteliers and other local entrepreneurs have themselves taken the
initiative to establish a group which seeks to improve standards for
trekking guides, taxi firms, and hotels and act as a „watchdog‟ body. A
study to promote more effective co-ordination, including sustainable
Barrow, C.J., Clifton, J., Chan, N.W. & Tan, Y.L. 51
Malaysian Journal of Environmental Management 6 (2005): 41 - 57
development in the Main Range of Peninsular Malaysia was launched in
2000 (Government of Malaysia 2001), and, in 1996 a National Eco-
tourism Plan was drawn-up to provide a framework (Government of
Malaysia 2001: 441). There is clearly Government desire to reduce
environmental impacts associated with tourism (Government of Malaysia
2001). A useful step would be to conduct a thorough eco-audit of the
Cameron Highlands - or better, the whole Main Range, to help stocktake,
set goals, and establish priorities for action.
Ecotourism in the Cameron Highlands could be developed in the
following ways:
There should be well-planned and co-ordinated trekking, nature
and scenic photography tourism. Orang Asli guides could be used
to support this.
Agritourism can be better promoted. Already, tourists visit
gardens, nurseries and tea plantations, but mainly as short-stay
attractions. There could be developments, which attract visitors
to spend longer participating in activities like conservation,
agritourism, guided wildlife observation, and so on. In some
countries plantations run hotels, have way-marked walks and
wildlife guides, which support stays of a week or more. The
Cameron Highlands should try to attract richer tourists for longer
stays.
It may be possible to interest tourists in the sponsorship of
wildlife – paying for environmental management activities. For
example, for a fee a tree could be dedicated to a loved one,
perhaps as a memorial or to celebrate an event like the birth of a
child or an anniversary, or as a sign a company supports nature.
Initially some famous people could be induced to establish a
fashion for commemorative tree planting.
There should be profitable opportunities for bird watching
tourists.
Profits might be made from spa development and health farm
centres.
Cycle and mountain bike tracks could be established with
controls placed on these activities elsewhere. Off-road use of
motorcycles and 4-wheel-drive vehicles should be strictly
controlled.
In many countries communities generate funds through cultural
events – for example, literature festivals, drama, opera, and much
more – such events can pack in tourists for weeks at a time and
provide funds for environmental management.
There could be facilities for weddings and other key events.
52 Barrow, C.J., Clifton, J., Chan, N.W. & Tan, Y.L.
Malaysian Journal of Environmental Management 6 (2005): 41 - 57
Residential courses could be offered on photography, art,
traditional culture, and so on.
Occasional events are already established and could be a means
of publicising other attractions – the Cameron Highlands cycle
races are widely viewed on TV in the USA, Europe and
elsewhere.
It is important to establish websites to encourage and steer
tourism, especially to promote ecotourism.
DISCUSSION
If it is to work, sustainable ecotourism demands a proactive, adaptive,
and multidisciplinary approach. Even the best techniques and skilled
planning will fail to predict everything, monitoring may not give
adequate advanced warning of problems, and tourist behaviour can be
fickle. So, sustainable ecotourism must maximise its adaptability. Both
ecotourism and sustainable development are fields which can act as a
unifying and integrative catalysts which disparate interests can identify
with (Cater 2000). Ecotourism and sustainable development share a key
core feature: they demand reinvestment of adequate surplus into
maintaining, and if possible improving, the environment and society (and
in the Cameron Highlands case – into helping agriculture become
sustainable). Guidelines that can be enforced and independent
certification are likely to be crucial. The latter could be through an
environmental management system (EMS), like the ISO 14000 series.
Codes, guidelines and ethical standards have been published; e.g. by the
Ecotourism Society of Australia, and in the USA, by the Ecotourism
Society). Using strategic environmental assessment and strategic
environmental management approaches could strengthen co-ordination
and help develop a Cameron Highlands sustainable development strategy.
Provided there is not economic depression or increased travel fears
there should be a growing number of tourists from the west, SE Asia, and
Malaysia interested in ecotourism, craftwork, archaeology, and so on
(Luck 2002). There appears to be a promising future for sustainable
development in the Cameron Highlands, if the environment is not further
degraded. But environmental degradation must be adequately addressed
soon. It is crucial to control the use of fertilisers, pesticides and
herbicides used by farmers and to reduce land clearance and the erosion
of soil which carries silt to streams. People, in the Cameron Highlands
and surrounding lowlands, including the Orang Asli, who drink the water
or consume fish from streams, are vulnerable to agriculture-and tourism-
related pollution. Forest clearance already seems to have caused a
Barrow, C.J., Clifton, J., Chan, N.W. & Tan, Y.L. 53
Malaysian Journal of Environmental Management 6 (2005): 41 - 57
warming of the Cameron Highlands‟ climate over the last 50 years or so -
further deforestation and global warming is likely to make it worse.
Orang Asli collect and sell forest products to visitors, farmers, and
others; this needs monitoring to reduce impacts on biodiversity.
Collecting rattan, bamboo, butterflies and orchids should be more closely
controlled. But for this to be possible alternative livelihood opportunities
must be offered them; bamboo and rattan might be semi-cultivated in
areas zoned for tolerant forest management and there are ecotourism
opportunities. It is less likely that Orang Asli will participate in
commercial farming for cultural reasons.
The Cameron Highlands needs to develop a proactive, integrative,
and sufficiently powerful body to control development, co-ordinate
necessary research, and draw-up and maintain a sustainable development
strategy. The goals would be to reduce environmental damage; improve
local people‟s benefits; encourage ecotourism, agritourism and cultural
tourism; attract more long-stay tourists, and identify ways to make
farming and tourism less environmentally-damaging and more
sustainable. It would be wise to gazette as much land as possible soon to
enforce biodiversity conservation (plans for a Biodiversity Action Plan
were announced in the Eighth Malaysia Plan). There is a need for much
tighter control of deforestation and forest disturbance – mainly by
restricting further expansion of agriculture. Farmers rely on Temporary
Ownership Licenses (TOLs), valid from 5 to 15 years (Midmore et al.
1996); if these were restricted it would help discourage the cutting of new
plots from hillsides and encourage sustainable practices. In 2000
Cameron Highland farmers were supplying around 60% of Malaysia‟s
agricultural produce – so there may be some resistance to control. The
priority is to sustain and improve production on existing farms and
strengthen soil and water conservation practices used by farmers.
Authorities should encourage and increasingly demand environmentally-
friendly farming methods: it would be relatively easy to require each farm
to install a system of drains and sumps to collect as much polluted runoff
as possible before it can reach streams (Plate 2). More use might be made
of green manure and mulching. Composting organic waste from
settlements and hotels might help sustain farmed plots and assist with
highland refuse disposal. If there is insufficient material to compost it
may be possible to compost organic waste in the lowlands and use the
new highway to deliver it. To date, few TOLs have been revoked for poor
soil and water conservation practices. This needs to be reviewed. There
should be some control of plastic rain-shelters used by farmers to ensure
there is no littering or burning of the materials when these are
periodically replaced.
54 Barrow, C.J., Clifton, J., Chan, N.W. & Tan, Y.L.
Malaysian Journal of Environmental Management 6 (2005): 41 - 57
Plate 2. Rain shelters and drip-irrigation using plastic bags to hold plants. These
cultivation techniques are very widely used in the Cameron Highlands,
although some crops are planted directly in the soil in beds. Here at a
research station a catch-drain surrounds the shelter; with a suitable
sump and waste disposal regime, this sort of installation could prevent
much of the agrochemical pollution of streams at reasonable cost.
There is already commercial cultivation of watercress in some of the
cleaner streams of the Cameron Highlands (Rahman 1980). Watercress
and other plants like reeds or Azolla might be planted in silt-trap lagoons
to catch eroded soil and lock-up some of the nutrients from agricultural
and sewage pollution. Periodic harvesting of these plants and silt could
provide useful crops or compost for sustaining farms, as well as reducing
downstream problems. It is crucial to „dovetail‟ development activities to
enhance sustainable development. With good co-ordination a range of
ecotourism activities could be fitted together in a flexible and adaptive
way to encourage longer stays and more spending, some of the profits can
then be used to help establish sustainable agriculture and improve
biodiversity conservation.
NOTES:
1 The Ecotourism Society – founded in the USA in 1991 - holds regular
workshops and publishes guidelines – e-mail: ecotsocy@igc.apc.org
² Guidelines on ecotourism, with source address details are listed in Lindberg &
Hawkins (1993: 42-54).
Barrow, C.J., Clifton, J., Chan, N.W. & Tan, Y.L. 55
Malaysian Journal of Environmental Management 6 (2005): 41 - 57
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We wish to thank the British Council for funding (HEL No 74); also the
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) for facilities support and warm friendship. We
are also grateful for fieldwork assistance and data inputting by students of the
Geography Department, School of Humanities, USM, and particularly thank
W.F. Chang, C.F. Wong, P.L. Ting, B.H. Lee and Y.L. Tan. We also
acknowledge the help and hospitality from many individuals and bodies in the
Cameron Highlands.
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1 Development Studies, School of Social Sciences & International Development
University of Wales Swansea
Swansea SA2 8PP, UNITED KINGDOM.
2 Department of Geography
University of Portsmouth
Portsmouth PO1 3HE, UNITED KINGDOM.
3 School of Humanities
Universiti Sains Malaysia
11800 Penang, MALAYSIA.
E-mail: C.J.Barrow@Swansea.ac.uk
