Strategy on Mainstreaming Biodiversity into River Management in UKB

The Upper Kinta Basin Management Strategy or better known as UKBMaS was developed as a guideline to enhance management of the Upper Kinta Basin (UKB) that offers key ecosystem services including water supply to Ipoh town. It was initially developed in 2019-2020 under a project on Integrated Management of Kinta River Basin for Community and Ecosystem Services through Active Community and Stakeholder Participation initiated by Global Environment Centre (GEC) with funding from Yayasan Hasanah and key support from Department of Irrigation and Drainage, Perak, Ipoh City Council, Department of Environment, Perak, Perak Forestry Department and Orang Asli Welfare Department (JAKOA). The project brought together government agencies, local communities, and private sector in a bottom-up integrated approach to managing and conserving the forests and rivers in the Upper Kinta Basin and to streamline the forest and riverine habitat conservation into development planning and policies. The UKBMaS is made up of four main goals with a total of 23 strategies. The goals are as below:

1. To sustainably manage biodiversity in the Upper Kinta Basin (UKB)
2. To protect and improve rivers and water resources in UKB
3. To enhance sustainable livelihood and welfare of Orang Asli communities in the Upper Kinta Basin (UKB)
4. To enhance multi-stakeholder coordination & management

It was initially expected that the current UNDP-GEF supported project on Mainstreaming Biodiversity into River Management would be implemented starting in 2018 and would work in partnership in the development of the UKBMaS, with a particular focus on biodiversity related issues. However as a result of the delay in start of the project, the main version (June 2020) of the UKBMaS had been prepared before the biodiversity surveys under the current project. It has therefore been agreed to develop this separate annex to the UKBMaS focusing on mainstreaming of biodiversity in to the UKB management. This strategy is also linked as an additional strategy (Strategy 1.8) under Goal 1 of the UKBMaS. It was included to incorporate the current need of biodiversity infusion in riverine management as well the UKB Biodiversity study findings made through the current UNDP-GEF project.

The eight strategies under Goal 1 of UKBMaS are:

A total of three thrusts are outlined for this new strategy. They are:

1. To rehabilitate the eroded highway slopes and river banks within UKB
2. To maintain and enhance riverine biodiversity richness within UKB.
3. To empower all stakeholders to protect and conserve riverine biodiversity through holistic Communication, Education and Public Awareness(CEPA