What measures had been done to sustain the environment

In the media there are numerous reports and news involving crisis. One of them is the environment. Pollution, deforestation, climate change and global warming have been the highlight in the newspapers. Some of these problems are man-made. The main goal for publishing this kind of news is to send the message to the people globally and make them more aware about the importance of the environment. Thus, it is mankind’s responsibility to ensure that the environment does not suffer by our mistake. In an era of globalization Brunei is taking a step in the fight with Mother Nature. Brunei is located on Borneo Island and it is covered by vast rainforest mainly primary and secondary forest which makes Brunei the Heart of Borneo. It is a small country with its main resources, Oil and Gas. Even though it is a small country the people and the government itself is slowly embracing the phrase “GO GREEN”. The focus does not only go to the forest but the surrounding area in Brunei also (e.g. beaches, parks, public buildings and etc). This essay will explain the current environmental issues in the region and how the people and the government are designing a way to solve it.

Nowadays, Brunei’s main concern is pollution. When the topic pollution is raised, it usually is connected with three areas which are air, water and land. The air quality of Brunei is clean but that doesn’t mean that the country is safe from air pollution. The total suspended particles or TSP in Brunei is at a very high level, this is probably due to the wind pattern in Brunei – where the dusts are blown in. Since there is not that enough research or studies been done on the air quality in Brunei it is still an unknown field. In general, the emission of smoke from vehicles is one of the major causes of pollution in Brunei. Since the country does not have much industrialization, motor cars are to blame. In the year 1992 it was shown the number of registered cars were more than 144 000. This affected the Bandar Seri Begawan area where it is a heavily trafficked area. The emission of toxic gases like carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere. This increases the chance of people contracting respiratory problem. The gas also can create environmental problem like acid rain and smog. It is revealed that motor vehicle only contribute a small percentage to the air pollution except for the high concentration in some area in Brunei (Thia, Ming, L, Sadorra, M, 1987).

Not only that, forest fires and open burning also contribute to air pollution. Open burning is still common to this day. The resident use open burning as an easy way to dispose of unwanted property. In addition, clearing lands for development and agriculture at building and rubbish dump site use this method. The only place that restrict open burning is at government disposal site and forest reserve. The government has imposed laws against open burning but it has yet to be implemented by the law enforcements. They only hope that the practice would die out by the grace of the local people and the resident. Open burning lead to forest fires that destroys a large region of vegetation and forest, it’s another reason why it is discouraged. In 1994 it was reported that 382 cases of forest fires occurred that destroyed 390 hectares of forest (Thia, Ming, L, Sadorra, M, 1987)..

In addition, when these methods of disposal continues it could create haze. The worst haze case that ever hit Brunei was in the year 1998. Drought also followed as the haze occurred. It was the worst drought that Brunei Darussalam ever experience in 30 years. The haze exceed at an unhealthy rate. It affected the economy as well as the health of the Bruneians. School holidays had been moved ahead of schedule. Air and sea transportation were discontinued temporarily. It was estimated that 7 thousand hectares of land had been burnt. The government pledge itself in combating the forest fire and the affect of the haze by giving financial support and needed resources. The haze was not completely caused by the forest fire or the open burning in Brunei but also from neighboring countries Sabah and Sarawak.

Besides the air quality, there is the issue with solid waste management in the Sultanate. Even-though the population is around 400 thousand (a minute figure that does not signal any concern with endangering the environment), the waste produce is significantly high compared to other ASEAN countries. In 2005 a survey was conducted in Brunei and it pointed out that every individual produces an average of 1.4 kg of waste daily compared to other ASEAN countries that generate about one kg or less per capital per day; this is due to the fact that their awareness about waste management is high (Khairunnisa, 2008, July 15). This raises some concerns. Majority of these waste materials end up in landfills and sometimes are left around in illegal disposal site (e.g. clear land). If left neglected, the waste will accumulate and decompose slowly causing land pollution. As time goes by a rather rancid stench will produce which is disastrous for the surrounding area. It’s more difficult when non-biodegradable waste such as container bottles or aluminum cans are disposed carelessly, this is because it takes a longer time for them to decompose or break down. Sometimes it even takes months or even years to disintegrate. The soil can get contaminated by the toxic or hazardous substance ooze from the waste materials. Eventually, the quality of the soil and the ability to grow vegetation decreases.

Waste dumped and left abandon makes neighborhoods and public area unsanitary. Moreover, disease can breed faster in the territory. Disease such as malaria are caused when mosquito breed in stagnant water (a mixture of rainwater and polluted soil) which contains harmful germ. These germs cause malaria, the mosquito act as a transportation vessel for the germs. Eventually the mosquito will transfer the germ to a human host and infect the person with malaria (Malcolm, 1998). Luckily Brunei has no recent malaria cases.

Other than that, there is also the issue concerning the coral reefs in marine areas. The coastline of Brunei is 161 kilometer square with 42 kilometer square covered with coral reefs (Forest Department, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, 2010). Coral reefs in Brunei are very important in terms of conservation biodiversity. These corals are prime habitats for various fishes. There are 185 species from 72 genera of hard corals and over 150 species of fishes from 30 families have been recorded with 29 species require further studies. Rare coral species can also be found (Brunei ecology 2010). With this much diversity it is no surprise that conservation should be applied towards coral reefs (Thia, Ming, L, Sadorra, M, 1987).

Coral reefs are under threat of depletion. With most of the population living near to the coastal areas, land development are required to suite their standard of living. This is a threat to the coral reefs because coastal erosion and siltation can occur (Cheung, P.S, Alino, M, Uychicoch, J, Arceo, O, 2002). Fishing is also one of the major causes for coral depletion. Some fisherman (catching the fish not to eat or trade but to sell) uses aggressive methods of fishing such as using explosion or bottom trawling. This stuns the fishes and makes is easy for them to collect the fishes but it can also damage the coral (Doubilet, 1999).

With these environmental problems, what can the people of Brunei can do? The first step is awareness and education about the importance of the environment. The specific target group is the youths because they are the future leaders who will lead the country one day, derive from John.F Kennedy’s word of wisdom “it’s not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country”. Brunei was acknowledged by its peers as “the lead country for environmental education” this was during the Asean Youth Environmental Form where youths from all Asean participated. Schools are continuing their effort in building up environmental awareness among students and peers. Various ‘green’ campaigns have been carried out such as tree planting, recycling and beach cleaning. Teachers are the key in helping students understand about the issue. Various clubs, scouts and organization have been formed in schools from volunteering based to helping out with spreading the message. This oversaw Brunei’s first ever involvement in the Climate Action Day and International Coastal Cleanup Day.

Several NGO’s (Non-governmental organization) have been setup to educate the public and youths about the environment. One of them is Beach Bunch, an organization which helps clean up beaches across Brunei. The driving force behind this fleet is educating the public about the environment. Rizan Latif, the president of the organization explained that years ago the beaches of Brunei was relatively clean but as time goes by the beach is literally littered with rubbish by those ignorant and inconsiderate”. He hops that the local people could change their mindset and has more background on the environment. This can enlighten them about their impact towards the environment (Tiah, 2011, February 23).

In 2012, BEDB (Brunei Economic Development Board) established Brunei’s first ever “green” building. It is located near BEDB’s iCentre has seven storey and has a build in solar panels which supplies much needed energy towards the building. The building’s main aim is to inspire future designs and encouraging energy-saving initiatives.

The message of environmental awareness not only applies in schools but also in religious ceremony. Several Friday sermons reminded everyone that Allah the Almighty abhors the destruction of the environment and that natural disasters are divine signs for humankind to clean up its act before they unleash an unforeseen cataclysmic future (The guide to Brunei, 2011). Supermarkets are also starting to get eco-consciousness with the “No Plastic Weekend. Recently, Friday was included in the “No Plastic Bag” initiatives, launched by the Department of Environmental, Parks and Recreation (JASTERE), Ministry of Development” (Rashidah, 2012, February 12). This will help decrease solid waste in Brunei. Recycling waste products is also one of the priorities in Brunei but so far has achieve only 5 percent annually. Government buildings and some schools are given special litter bins that encourage people to place specific materials of waste to its specific group so that it can be recycled.

Waste management in Brunei is slowly advancing by improving waste collection and increase the number of public facilities for refuse disposal. Moreover, the Long-Term Development Plan 1986-2005 states that “the environment will continue be given emphasis” (Brunei Final MDG, 2010). There are five policy directions involving the environment. One of them is enforcing appropriate regulation regarding the maintenance of environment that affects public health and safety. This involves the monitoring of air quality. Also, the conservation and protection of coral reefs is another green effort by the government. In 2010, the Heart of Borneo project joined the Coral Triangle initiatives which harbor 75 per cent of the world’s known coral species, 50 per cent of the world’s reefs and 40 per cent of the world’s coral reef fish species. Artificial reefs have been installed to help increase the coral and fish population (The guide to Brunei, 2011). In conclusion, even-though Brunei is on the path for a greener future, a lot of efforts needs to be done. More and more youth are now more equipped with environmental knowledge but has not taken direct action to assist large scale problem in Brunei such as marine problems or the amount of recycle waste.