local & transboundary haze study haze tf final draft report.pdfhaze task force committee and the...

LOCAL & TRANSBOUNDARY HAZE STUDY HAZE: Help Action toward Zero Emissions 6/1/2016 ACADEMY OF SCIENCES MALAYSIA ASM Task Force on Haze

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20th Floor, West Wing, MATRADE Tower, Jalan Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah, off Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim, 50480 Kuala Lumpur. T: +(603) 6203 0633 (EXT:140) F: +(603) 6203 0634

ASM LOCAL & TRANSBOUNDARY HAZE STUDY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD ......................................................................................................................................... 4

PREFACE .............................................................................................................................................. 6

ADVISORY AND WORKING GROUPS ........................................................................................... 8

LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................... 13

LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................. 14

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................................................. 15

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 16

PURPOSE OF THE REPORT ......................................................................................................... 20

BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................. 21

METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................... 22

ACTION LINES ................................................................................................................................... 24

Air Quality & Haze Episodes ........................................................................................................ 24

Haze History in Malaysia ........................................................................................................... 24

Air Quality Measurement ........................................................................................................... 26

Sources of Haze ......................................................................................................................... 27

Meteorological Conditions ......................................................................................................... 30

Impacts of Haze .......................................................................................................................... 31

Haze Related Policies ............................................................................................................... 33

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 36

Way Forward ............................................................................................................................... 38

Peat Area & Water Management ................................................................................................. 42

Tropical Peat ............................................................................................................................... 42

Importance of Tropical Peatlands ............................................................................................ 45

Peatland Use and Conversion.................................................................................................. 48

Policy and Administrative Frameworks ................................................................................... 49

Issues and Challenges .............................................................................................................. 51

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 53

Way Forward ............................................................................................................................... 55

Waste to Resources: Energy or Materials .................................................................................. 60

Biomass Residues ..................................................................................................................... 61

Conversion Pathways ................................................................................................................ 63

Economic Potential .................................................................................................................... 68

Challenges of Biomass Conversion in Malaysia ................................................................... 72


3

Science and Policy Interface .................................................................................................... 73

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 74

Way Forward ............................................................................................................................... 74

THE WAY FORWARD ....................................................................................................................... 77

ANNEXES ........................................................................................................................................... 80

A. Air Quality & Haze Episodes ................................................................................................ 81

B. Peat Area & Water Management ....................................................................................... 171

C. Waste to Resources: Energy or Materials ........................................................................ 231

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................... 283

INDEX BY AUTHOR ........................................................................................................................ 316

INDEX BY SUBJECT ....................................................................................................................... 319

ACKNOWLEDGMENT .................................................................................................................... 322

FOREWORD [DRAFT]

[In circulation for approval]

In 2015, we experienced an unprecedented occurrence of haze where it lasted for

more than two months from August to October. 7,646 schools were closed impacting

more than 4 million school children. 517 flights were either cancelled or rescheduled

and thousands of travellers were stranded. To make thing worse, the source of haze

was not within our boundary and we do not have direct control of the root cause of

this daunting phenomenon.

When the Malaysian Prime Minister was officiating the third meeting of the

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Chief Science Advisors and Equivalents

held in KL on 15-16 October 2015, he had challenged the scientific community to

come up with a scientific solution to the haze problem. What was once a local

problem has now turned into a regional and global complication of huge proportion.

There is a strong interest to find a solution to the 20-year haze problem afflicting our

region. If 20-25 years is equivalent to a generation, then this could even be regarded

as an inter-generational problem.

As a thought leader of the nation for matters related to science, engineering,

technology and innovation, ASM is compelled to analyse the situation and identify

where science, engineering and technology (SET) can contribute to the solution and

accordingly make recommendations to the Government.

However, as is being agreed all round, this is not a simple SET issue but one

with numerous social, economic, political and diplomatic consequences. Maslow's

hierarchy of needs is also at play. If we dig up the untold story behind the haze

phenomenon, we will find evidence which suggests that it is a case of the continuing

struggle between development and the environment. That in itself poses a challenge

that we have to overcome.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to the

Haze Task Force Committee and the Working Groups, led by Professor Dato’ Ir Dr

Abu Bakar Jaafar, for their concerted works and efforts in carrying out the

transboundary haze study and producing the draft report. We would also like to

sincerely thank all government ministries, agencies, institutions of higher learning,

research institutes as well as industry and corporate entities who have participated in

providing inputs and data for not only the ASM Transboundary Haze Study, but also

our other studies relating to Water and Sustainable Mining (Bauxite, Erosion and

Sedimentation), to name a few.

This is just the beginning. The findings and recommendations of this study

open up more rooms for improvement in our needs to act either proactively or


Copyright © Academy of Sciences Malaysia

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reactively in facing the transboundary haze. We invite you to provide us with your

expert inputs in reviewing and enhancing the Transboundary Haze Study report. Our

main aim is for the report to serve as a basis to establish the position of ASM and

ultimately the Government of Malaysia. It is our hope that the recommendations

made under the study will be finally brought to the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC) level

through the appropriate available channels.

Science is important to informed decisions on all levels of government.

However, in order to catalyse and find lasting solutions to the haze problem and to

sustain such efforts, strong political will and good governance are crucial. We also

need to engage in science diplomacy. In order to solve this three decades long

Southeast Asian problem, we need to coordinate our efforts and continue our

engagement through the ASEAN community. In fact, science diplomacy would help

our global fight against the impact of climate change in the long term.

Last but not least, I would like to thank one and all who have contributed

either directly or indirectly to this ASM Transboundary Haze Study.

Tan Sri Dr Ahmad Tajuddin Ali FASc

President

Academy of Sciences Malaysia



DRAFT 6 PLEASE DO NOT CITE

PREFACE

The ever changing climate that is generally attributed either to the natural cycle,

namely, El Nino, the build-up of green-house gases in the atmosphere, or to both,

has been no longer the controlling factor in explaining the increase in the frequency

of haze episodes in the south-western part of the South East Asia. Since 1982, the

frequency of the episodes has been reduced from once in nine years to every other

year, if not every year. There must have been other factors that compound the

worsening environmental conditions: (i) the loss in the capacity of the natural forest

eco-system to recover itself in after one dry season to another, and during wet

seasons, and (ii) not only the traditional slash-and-burn, but also the increase in and

the extent of open burning of both forested and peat areas during the dry periods,

particularly during the inter-monsoon period over the months of August to October.

Established since 17 November 2015, the Academy of Sciences Malaysia Task

Force on Haze (ASM H-TF) has been mandated to carry out intensive studies and

review of the said episodes and to develop a position for the Academy, and

hopefully, for the relevant Ministries, and thus, the Government of Malaysia. This

task force is organised in three working groups: (i) assessment on air quality, haze

episodes, and impacts on health, agriculture, transportation, tourism and other

sectors of the economy, (ii) peat area management, and (iii) conversion of biomass-

waste to bioenergy or materials.

The Task Force is to focus its works specifically on the need (i) to manage peat

areas by improving water management not only during dry seasons but also by

channelling flood waters into peat areas, and any excess thereof, throughout the

year; and (ii) to look into the techno-economic feasibility of biomass-waste

conversion to either electricity, hydrogen fuel, or bio-energy such as ethanol. The

proposed solution rests not so much on enforcement within the existing policy and

legal framework but the value it would create as such the biomass material after

being cleared, not to be wasted nor to be burned off, but to be sent either to a nearby

waste-to-energy conversion mobile-units, or to centralised Waste-to-Energy Facilities

for a fee, to be paid by the owners of such facilities to settlers, farmers, or planters.

To disseminate the outcome these studies through the Reports of the Task Force

and its various Working Groups, the ASM has established a dedicated website:

http://haze.akademisains.gov.my/. It is also the purpose of this website to seek

feedbacks or comments from all stakeholders and the public in general.




One and all are most welcome to share your thought and suggestions by writing in or

in participating in a range of activities organised by ASM. Your invaluable

contributions would certainly do help action toward zero emissions for our region to

be free from haze.

Prof Dato’ Ir Dr A Bakar Jaafar, PEng,FIEM, FASc

Chairman

ASM Haze Task Force

E-mail: [email protected]

E-mail2: [email protected]

Mobile/SMS/Whatsapp: +60123207201

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]




ADVISORY AND WORKING GROUPS

The Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) wishes to acknowledge the contribution

of the following towards the ASM Report entitled “HAZE: Help Action toward Zero

Emissions”:

STEERING COMMITTEE

ADVISOR

Academician Tan Sri Omar Abdul Rahman FASc

Founding President and Senior Fellow


CHAIRMAN

Professor Dato’ Ir Dr A Bakar Jaafar FASc

Fellow


ASM FELLOWS

Academician Datuk Fateh Chand FASc

Academician Professor Dato’ Ir Dr Chuah Hean Teik FASc

Academician Professor Emeritus Dato' Sri Dr. Zakri Abdul Hamid FASc

Academician Tan Sri Dr Salleh Mohd Nor FASc

Professor Dato’ Dr Ahmad Ibrahim FASc

Professor Dato’ Dr Mohd Jamil Maah FASc

Professor Dr Fredolin Tangang FASc

Professor Dr Heong Kong Luen FASc

Professor Dr Lee Soo Ying FASc

Professor Dr Low Pak Sum FASc

Professor Dr Mohd Shafee'a Leman FASc

Professor Dr Muhammad Awang FASc

Professor Dr Raymond Ooi Chong Heng FASc

Professor Dr Tan Soon Guan FASc

Professor Dr Wickneswari Ratnam FASc

Professor Dr Zaharin Yusoff FASc

Datuk Dr Abdul Rahim bin Nik FASc

Datuk Dr Ahmad Tasir Lope Pihie FASc

Dr Francis S.P. Ng FASc

Dr Goh Swee Hock FASc

Dr Mazlan Madon FASc

Dr Hj Rahimatsah Amat FASc

Dr Salmah Zakaria FASc

Dr Selliah Paramananthan FASc

Dr Tan Swee Lian FASc




Ir Dr Ting Wen Hui FASc

Ir P Lal Chand Gulabrai FASc

OTHER MEMBERS

Prof Dr Mohd Talib Latif

Unversiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Dr Ahmad Hazri Abd Rashid

SIRIM Industrial Biotechnology Research Centre

Dr Haslenda Hashim

Process Systems Engineering Centre (PROSPECT)

Dr Lulie Melling

Tropical Peat Research Laboratory

Prof Ir Dr Nasehir Khan EM Yahya

NAHRIM Research Centre for River Management

Hazami Habib

Acting Chief Executive Officer, ASM

CHIEF EDITOR

Dr Helena Muhamad Varkkey

University Malaya

WORKING GROUPS

AIR QUALITY AND HAZE EPISODES

Prof Dr Fredolin Tangang

Co-Chair & Editor

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Prof Dr Mohd Talib Latif

Co-Chair & Writer

Unversiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Puan Murnira Othman


Puan Mashitah Darus

Department of Environment




Zamzul Rizal Zulkifli

Air Division, Department of Environment

Ms. Wan Portia Hamzah

Independent Consultant

Prof Dr Nik Meriam Nik Sulaiman

Associate Fellow


Dr. Liew Juneng


Dr. Md Firoz Khan

Centre for Tropical Climate Change System (IKLIM)

Assoc. Prof Ahmad Makmom Abdullah

Universiti Putra Malaysia

Dr Mazrura Sahani


Dr. Jegalakshimi A/P Jewaratnam

University of Malaya

Dr Nasrin Agha Mohammadi

University of Malaya

PEAT AREAS AND WATER MANAGEMENT

Dr Lulie Melling

Co-Chair & Editor

Tropical Peat Research Laboratory

Prof Ir Dr Nasehir Khan EM Yahya

Co-Chair & Writer


Nur Azima Busman

Tropical Peat Research Laboratory Unit,

Liew Yuk San





Prof Dr Ahmad Ainuddin Nuruddin

Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Product (INTROP)

Faizal Parish

Global Environment Centre (GEC)

Julia Lo Fui San


Kamaliah Kasmaruddin

Wetlands International

Salahudin Yaacob

Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)

Tuan Haji Zubaidi bin Johar


Mavath Chandran


WASTE TO RESOURCE: ENERGY OR MATERIALS

Dr Ahmad Hazri Abd Rashid

Co-Chair & Editor


Dr Haslenda Hashim

Co-Chair & Writer


Dr Lim Jeng Shuin

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Dr Tan Sie Ting

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Prof Jean Marc Roda

CIRAD, Malaysia, CIRAD, France & UPM, Malaysia




Ir P Lal Chand Gulabrai FASc

Fellow


Dr Laili Nordin


Puvaneswari Ramasamy

MYBiomass

Dr. Ho Wai Shin


Dr. Alias Mohd Sood

Universiti Putra Malaysia

Ong Chu Lee @ Candice

Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products

Brenna Chen

Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products

ASM Analysts

Nitia Samuel

Esther Wong Kum Yeen

Abu Hanipah Jalil

Nurfathehah Idris

Fatin Athirah Amani Mohd Nasir

Muhammad Syazwan Alauddin




LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Value of Air Pollutant Index (API) and its relation with health effect 25

Table 2. Aggregate value of haze damage in 1997 (Mohd Shahwahid & Othman,

1999) 32

Table 3. Regional Measures in Terms of Preparedness and Prevention 35

Table 4. Chemical properties of surface peat (0-50 cm) (Lim et al. 2012) 43

Table 5. Benefits of intact peatlands 45

Table 6. Oil palm crop area on peatland (Adapted from Wahid et al., 2010) 48

Table 7. Summary Table 55

Table 8. Land use in Sumatera in year 2015/2016 62

Table 9. Properties of biomass 62

Table 10. Types of product derived from biomass 63

Table 11. Characteristics of shredded and pelletised EFB 65

Table 12. Summary of Biomass to Power Conversion Technologies 66

Table 13. Ethanol production cost ($/l) reduction by improving the debt: equity ratio

or interest rate 71




LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Haze history in Malaysia 26

Figure 2. Oil palm production by country in year 2014 (Mosarof et al. 2015) 29

Figure 3. Contribution of different sources with API at 300 41

Figure 4. Map of peatlands in Southeast Asia (ASEAN Peatland Forests Project) 43

Figure 5. Formation of tropical peatlands 45

Figure 6. Percentage of oil palm area planted on peatland 47

Figure 7. The components of Integrated Fire Management 56

Figure 8. Land use distribution in Sumatera, Indonesia 61

Figure 9. Conversion of biomass to product 64

Figure 10. Process of biomass pelletising 65

Figure 11. Process of conversion into biofuels and biochemicals 67

Figure 12. Breakeven of electricity selling price for biomass-to-power in Malaysian

context 69

Figure 13. Breakeven of ethanol selling price for biomass-to-ethanol in Malaysian

context 70

Figure 14. The price of ethanol with different capacity and capacity cost 70




LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS




EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In an effort to identify the root causes of transboundary haze that has overwhelmed

Malaysia and the rest of the Southeast Asian countries particularly in the recent

years, the ASM Transboundary Haze Study looks into the following three main

aspects of the issue:

Air Quality & Haze Episodes

The transboundary impacts of haze on human health, the economy, agriculture, the

environment and biodiversity have not only affected countries within the region but

even beyond, thus challenging international attempts to address these issues.

Despite its perpetuity, transboundary haze is not a natural event. Although an El

Niño event, along with prevailing wind directions, does intensify the severity of a

haze episode, El Niño cannot be said to be the cause of haze. Studies indicate that

haze is made up of atmospheric pollutants that are mainly the result of

anthropogenic activities. Digging deeper into the problem reveals the complex socio-

economic, ecological, and governance issues that require multi-pronged approaches

including strong political will and good governance along with the engagement of

science diplomacy at both the local and regional level.

Peat Area & Water Management

Identified as one of the main sources of the miniscule particles that make up the

transboundary haze, peat fires are closely linked to episodes of haze. Peat soil

needs to be kept moist at all times so that the organic matter contained within would

not easily catch fire. Socio-economic needs compel the utilisation of peatlands either

for timber extraction, agriculture, settlements or even infrastructure. However, the

peat ecosystem is so fragile that a slight disturbance from a single drain could leave

hectares of peatland high and dry. Likewise, a single spark, be it manmade or

otherwise, could set these dry peatlands aflame. Thus, the importance of sound

peatland management in haze mitigation need to be acknowledged and effective

peatland and water management practices need to be implemented, including within

areas that have been already opened up for development, abandoned areas and

pristine peatlands.

Waste to Resources: Energy or Materials

Waste is by nature unwanted, however there is the possibility that the perception of

certain waste materials can be changed to something of value instead. In the case of

plantations, there are substantial amounts of biomass residue (or ‘waste’) generated

at various stages of planting and harvesting processes, and these residues are often

burnt in an attempt to get rid of them quickly, easily and cheaply. This ASM

Transboundary Haze Study explores the possibility of instead utilising the biomass

residue produced on plantations to become higher value bio-products, with monetary

returns to the plantations and farmers. If such a strategy could incentivise plantations




and farmers not to resort to fire as a primary way to clear the biomass residues, this

would then be a positive step towards substantially reducing the severity of haze

episodes in the region.

In moving forward, the ASM Transboundary Haze Study concluded that a problem

so rooted in socio-economics such as the haze would likewise require solutions

rooted in socio-economics as well. The recommendations include:

Slash, not to burn, but to earn additional income

Recognising that “slash, not to burn, but to earn additional income” could be a

potential socio-economic solution to the transboundary haze problem, it is

recommended that the concerned Government should consider investing, through its

privately linked companies, in the development of biomass-to-material or biomass-to-

energy conversion facilities through private-public equity partnerships. In addition,

the concerned Government should also provide a conducive investment

environment, including low interest rates, competitive or subsidised pricing or bio-

products, and well-planned concession areas (large enough to support a sustainable

supply of biomass to a designated conversion facility, and close enough to the

facility) in order to promote investment in the proposed facilities.

Noting that the proposed conversion of biomass to energy would likely be

viable, it is recommended that the private sector be encouraged to take the lead in

the proposed investments, with the participation of government investment arms or

government linked companies, and with the cooperation of local communities made

up of farmers, settlers, smallholders, and adjacent plantation companies. Interested

parties should conduct the necessary techno-economic environmental feasibility

studies prior to investment, namely, the conversion of biomass to ethanol or biomass

to electricity, or if not, hydrogen fuel by mobile gasification and hydrogen generation

(by electrolysis) units. This could be an alternative to overcoming the high cost of

logistics to centralised facilities.

Manage peat, keep the fire away

Recognising that water management is critical in peat areas, it is recommended that

those who have received governmental permission to develop peat areas for

plantations or any other agro-forestry land development should carry out the

following measures to reduce fire risk:

a) suitable site selection;

b) maintenance of natural drainage or sound drain development;

c) land clearing and stacking;

d) compaction; and

e) re-compaction.




Likewise, those who have already developed plantations in the peat areas

should make it a priority to maintain a high water table by containing stream flows

throughout the plantation irrigation systems. Plantations would also have to be aware

of (and made responsible for) the forested areas adjacent to the plantations. There is

evidence showing the forest areas adjacent to the drains constructed along the

periphery of plantation areas have caught fire, and those without such construction

have not.

Disturbed, abandoned, or underdeveloped peat areas should be identified and

promoted for investments and rehabilitation by undertaking the above measures in

order for such lands to be no longer a fire hazard. Excess flood waters could be

redirected to these areas to encourage rehabilitation and reversion to its natural flow.

Seeing through the haze

Recognising that transboundary haze cannot be effectively controlled at all times, it

is recommended that the enforcement agencies step up measures to ensure that no

open burning is allowed, particularly during the southwest monsoon period from the

months of June to early October. In addition, a local contingency plan should be

developed and put into operation during any severe haze episode (emergency of

higher than 500 API) in order to reduce local sources of pollution by the source

apportionment method.

Noting that El Niño does significantly influence the severity of haze, and that it

is now possible to predict any El Niño event six months ahead of time thanks to well-

established forecasting systems already in place, it is recommended that the

relevant authorities should disseminate the forecast and alert all concerned; and at

the same time, every relevant authority and other concerned stakeholders should

take precautionary measures, well in advance before any El Niño event sets in.

Research & Development Areas

Noting that there are still gaps in our knowledge, it is recommended that systems

studies, including socio-economic and legal implications of the proposed local

contingency plans to respond in the event of severe haze episodes, be undertaken in

order to formulate detailed measures to control local sources of pollution. Apart from

that, R&D, including radioisotope tracing and modelling studies, on the high

percentage of unidentified sources of pollution should also be carried out.

To better understand the impact of haze towards health, social life and the economy,

studies need to be conducted especially in the areas that most affected by haze

episodes in Malaysia. Studies on health should focus on the toxicological properties

of haze particles and systematically assess the health and social burden of diseases

due to haze episodes. Among others are:

i. Epidemiological study on the burden of diseases of air pollutants;




ii. Toxicity assessment of particulates from forest fires; and

iii. Evaluation of the indoor school environment during haze episodes.

Admittedly also, current research and development on potential biomass utilisation

directly related to the mitigation of the haze problem is still at its infancy. There is a

need for more research funding in the area, as well as the development of databases

and support systems for researchers. More specifically related to this report, the

choice of technology or combination of technologies to be selected for possible

demonstration or even commercialisation requires a more detailed study. This is to

determine with greater accuracy on the investments needed and the possible

economic returns to complement the social and environmental benefits of potential

solutions to the haze problem.

Communicating the sciences, for all

“How can current scientific knowledge be synthesized and translated into

policy-relevant information to aid policy and decision-making, management and to

suggest further research?” This question addresses the all-important science-policy

interface that is the core of ASM’s work. At the policy-making level, the importance of

communicating scientific findings to support policy development is especially

important. A better communication policy could be realized by better coordination of

research conducted by research institutions, better use of social media to promote

and create public dialogue on critical issues, multi-stakeholder activities such as field

visits and active public engagement with governmental agencies to positively

influence the policy process.




PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

The purpose of this report is to identify and establish a specific position for Academy

of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) in relation to the regional transboundary haze issue,

addressing various stakeholders ranging from Government ministries and agencies,

policy makers, industry sectors, academics and the affected communities in

Malaysia and the region. The focus of the report is on the six members of

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), namely, Brunei Darussalam,

Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

Specifically, the report aims to:

a. Identify any existing and current policies, studies and/or initiatives relating to

transboundary haze;

b. Identify the gaps in knowledge, action and related-issues;

c. Identify and discuss technologies/methodologies/solutions in combatting the

root causes;

d. Gather and document inputs from the various experts and stakeholders; and

e. Provide policy inputs and recommendations on the transboundary haze issue

to the Government of Malaysia and its relevant authorities, particularly on the

following aspects:

i. Legal-Policy Framework;

ii. Institutional Arrangements;

iii. Socio-Economics; and

iv. Science and Technology (S&T).

The production of this report is in fulfilment of ASM’s many functions, amongst which

are to provide independent, evidence-based, reliable and timely advice to the

Government in order to solve national problems via the innovative use of S&T for a

sustained and sustainable development. Subject to Ministry of Science, Technology

and Innovation (MOSTI)’s approval, we aim to produce a paper from this study to be

tabled at the National Science Council chaired by the YAB Prime Minister and a

Cabinet Paper to advise the Government on our stand on the transboundary haze

problem. The report will also be disseminated and made available to the various

relevant ministries, government agencies, higher education institutions, research

institutes and non-profit entities for wider public consumption.




BACKGROUND

Since the first haze experience in Malaysia, the interval of the haze episode period

has shortened from 9 years, to 7, 5, 3, and now, it has become an annual event

come August-September-October months. The changing climate is no longer the

controlling factor; there are other factors that compound the increasing severity of

the annual haze episode, including the capacity of the damaged ecosystem to

recover itself during the wet periods. The lands have become drier, and there has

been a continuing lowering of groundwater tables, particularly in the dried up low-

lands that are made up of peat soils.

No doubt, haze pollution gives rise to serious health and economic

implications. Fires and haze alone cost 300 trillion to 475 trillion rupiah (USD3.5

billion) of losses to Indonesia in the past few years (Chan 2015; Meijaard 2015).

Apart from that, there is massive amount of greenhouse gases, including carbon

dioxide, that are released into the atmosphere. It has been estimated that

greenhouse gas emissions from the 2015 haze episode to be as much as that of the

yearly US carbon emissions, equivalent to power consumption of 3,000 Terawatt

hours (TWh) generated from fossil fuels (citation required). Although some Nordic

countries have long practised the burning of peat for energy generation, it is not

encouraged in the tropical regions. This is because tropical peat is different in

composition and characteristics from that of temperate peat since the dead plants

that form the peat are different (citation required).

Improved understanding of the haze episodes would certainly call for

necessary knowledge virtually in all science disciplines, but the solution to the

problem would have to be found in the following four aspects of governmental and

intergovernmental interventions:

1. Legal-policy framework;

2. Institutional arrangements;

3. Socio-economics; and

4. Science and technology.

In short, as guided by one of the principles embodied in the UN Declaration on

Human Environment (Stockholm Declaration of 1972), a prior assessment is pre-

requisite to effective management.

In order to solve this over three-decade long Southeast Asian problem, there

will be a need for a series of follow-up measures, including science diplomacy, by

close collaboration, cooperation and coordination between Indonesia, Malaysia and

Singapore at sub-regional level as well as at ASEAN regional level.




METHODOLOGY

This report is a result of intense collaboration between a select group of academics,

experts, practitioners and other individuals from all fields related to the study of haze

and its mitigation, collectively known as the Academy of Sciences Malaysia Task

Force on Haze (ASM h-TF). The ASM h-TF team works on a collective

understanding that not only prevention is better than cure, but also a thorough

assessment of the issue at hand is a prerequisite to its effective management. This

report is meant to serve as a tool for science diplomacy, where science can

effectively contribute to informed-decisions at all levels of government and other

stakeholders.

Those individuals initially involved in the work of the task force were identified

by ASM. And as the work of the task force evolved, other individuals were invited by

the Task Force and working group Chairs to provide further inputs in their specific

areas of expertise. All contributors are acknowledged at the end of this report.

The individual experts involved were organised by the Task Force with its

three working groups: Working Group 1 on Air Quality and Haze Episodes (WG1),

Working Group 2 on Peat Areas and Water Management (WG2), and Working

Group 3 on Waste to Resource: Energy and Materials (WG3). Each working group

was co-chaired by an expert and a writer, and anchored by ASM Secretariat with a

lead analyst and four (4) other supportive analysts, and a webmaster.

Due to time constraint and the nature of such a complex subject, the Task

Force decided to focus its work by carrying out a desktop study, including literature

review, as well as soliciting inputs, comments, or suggestions from those individuals

or organisations involved, and by gaining access to a number of databases including

that of the Department of Environment of Malaysia relating to air quality data.

The given terms of reference of each Working Group were as follows:

i. to identify the issues and challenges;

ii. to compile the relevant references and to analyse the required data

and other supporting material;

iii. to hold regular meetings at least once a month;

iv. to formulate strategies to address those issues and to develop the

required measures to overcome the identified challenges; and

v. to make recommendations relating to policy implications and further

research required.

In meeting those terms of reference, every Working Group draft was rapidly

reviewed, commented upon, and re-edited by both writers and editors, the Chief

Editor, the Secretariat Analysts, and the Chief Writer. In finalising the drafts of every

Working Group Report, the Task Force convened a Stakeholders’ Engagement

Workshop on 12 May 2016. All stakeholders including any member of the public was




also given the opportunity to comment on the final version of the Report that is

accessible by the public through the ASM Haze website

(http://haze.akademisains.gov.my/). There is no definitive deadline for further inputs

through this consultative mechanism.

[While the ASM Haze-TF has attempted to be as exhaustive as possible given

the resources available, executive decisions were made concerning the final scope

of the study to ensure that the report remains tightly focused on its original

objectives. Hence, the 'assessment' portions of this study was limited to

assessments of the situation (pertaining to air quality measurements, peatland

management etc) within Malaysia alone, and not throughout the region. Preventive

measures were focused on the prevention of fires (in line with the ASEAN haze

mitigation strategies) and does not include in-depth discussion on the prevention of

land mismanagement. This area would require a separate study altogether. Finally, it

is important to note that although assessment is limited to Malaysia, it is hoped that

the 'management' aspects the study (moving forward) can offer some guidance for

haze mitigation beyond Malaysia; in Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam and

other parts of the Southeast Asian region.]

http://haze.akademisains.gov.my/




ACTION LINES

Air Quality & Haze Episodes

Transboundary haze has been one of the major environmental issues plaguing

Southeast Asia for more than three decades. The Association of Southeast Asian

Nations (ASEAN) defines haze as ‘sufficient smoke, dust, moisture, and vapour

suspended in air to impair visibility’, and haze pollution can be considered

‘transboundary’ if its density and extent is so great at source that it remains at

measureable levels after crossing into another country’s air space.

There is a common misperception that this haze is a ‘natural’ event. This

misperception stems from the conscious choice by ASEAN member states to use the

term ‘haze’ (denoting a natural event) at the regional level, instead of the more

accurate term, ‘transboundary atmospheric pollution’ (not necessarily natural).

Indeed, as the report details, there are complex socioeconomic, ecological, and

governance issues involved in bringing about this almost annual phenomenon.

WG1 has released its detailed report as per Annex A of this Report. It

attempts to address and correct this misperception, highlighting the controllable

human factors that work hand-in-hand with meteorological factors to exacerbate

haze conditions in the region. In relation to this, the report also evaluates the

presently available air quality monitoring and weather-forecasting systems, and its

effectiveness in presenting accurate information on the haze phenomenon, and its

effects on health, the economy, agriculture and also the broader environmental

issues in the region. The report also provides an overview of haze related policies

that are presently in place, and how these policies tie in with available air quality and

weather-forecasting data in various efforts as much to prevent as to mitigate any

effects of the haze.

The followings are the highlights of the WG1 report:

Haze History in Malaysia

The Malaysian Air Pollution Index (API) is a type of Air Quality Index (AQI) indicator

of the air quality including the haze and was developed for Malaysia based on

scientific assessment to indicate, in an easily understood manner, the presence of

pollutants in the air and its impact on health1. Six criteria pollutants namely PM10,

PM2.52, sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ground level ozone (O3) and

1 While all countries calculate their AQI based on the method suggested by the United States Environmental

Protection Agency (USEPA), there different countries use slightly different calculations due to different parameters, breakpoints and thresholds used. Singapore uses their Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) while Indonesia uses their Air Pollutant Standards Index (APSI). 2 While PM 10 has been more consistently recorded in Malaysia since the early years of air quality monitoring,

in the recent years government agencies and researchers (see Pinto et al, 1998 and Amil et al, 2016) have been recording PM2.5 as well, to help provide a better understanding of the finer particulates in haze.




carbon monoxide (CO) are measured and used to calculate the API. API indicators

are used throughout this report summary to depict severity of haze episodes. A

summary of API indicators and their related health effects and advisory is listed in

Table 1.

Table 1. Value of Air Pollutant Index (API) and its relation with health effect

Haze was first formally recorded as a disruption to daily lives in Malaysia in

late 1982. There were other moderate haze episodes recorded in 1991 and 1994,

followed by a serious event in 1997. Certain parts of Malaysia were more seriously

affected than others, with Sarawak declaring a 10-day emergency in September

1997 when the API went beyond 500. Haze again returned drastically in 2005, with

the API again reaching beyond 500, and this time, in the Peninsular. An emergency

was again declared in August 2005 that lasted for three days. During this time, flights

were suspended, schools were closed, and operations at one of Malaysia’s major

ports, Northport, were also halted due to health and safety concerns. Both

Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah-Sarawak experienced moderate haze episodes for

several months in the years 2006 and 2009. The haze episode in 2010 hit the

southern part of Peninsular Malaysia very drastically, requiring the closure of all

schools in the District of Muar, Johor on 21 October 2010 when the API reached

432.

The years 2011, 2012 and 2013 saw the haze episodes returning in short

periods but very intense during the dry months. The worst hit States during the 2013

episode were Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, and Johor. All schools in areas with API

levels above 150 were advised to avoid outdoor activities, and over 600 schools

were closed when API levels went beyond 300. Another haze emergency was

declared in June 2013 for two days in the Muar and Ledang districts, Johor, where

API levels surpassed the 500 mark. During the haze episodes of 2014 and 2015,




schools were closed in the Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak, as API levels reached

‘very unhealthy’ to ‘hazardous’ levels.

As shown in Figure 1, the Central Region of the Peninsula experienced in

history the highest PM10 concentrations in the year 2005 and experienced less

severe haze in the year 2015. The Southern Region experienced the highest

concentrations in the year 2013. For Sabah-Sarawak, PM10 concentrations were

found to be the highest before the turn of the 21st Century. Sarawak recorded highest

concentrations in 1997 while Sabah experienced record high concentrations of PM10

in 1998.

Figure 1. Haze history in Malaysia

Air Quality Measurement

The Malaysian Department of Environment (DOE) monitors the country’s ambient air

quality through a network of 52 stations. These monitoring stations are strategically

located in residential, commercial, and industrial areas to detect any significant

change in the air quality that may be harmful to human health and the environment.

Other than the five criteria pollutants, namely, PM10, SO2, NO2, ground level O3, and

CO, PM2.5 and several heavy metals such as lead (Pb) are measured once in every

six days. Most of these air quality stations are equipped for climatological

measurements: wind speed, wind direction, temperature, relative humidity, solar

radiation etc. so that simultaneous and continuous observation of both

meteorological and air pollution conditions could be recorded. This is also to ensure

that a comprehensive data set comprising of both air quality and meteorological data

would be available for assessment of any air pollution event.




In addition to the monitoring carried out by the DOE, individual groups of

researchers, namely from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) also monitor and

analyse the composition of particulate matter in order to establish the sources of

haze. For instance, carcinogenic substances such as polycyclic aromatic

hydrocarbon (PAH) levels were recorded as 8 times higher on hazy days compared

to clear ones in Kuala Lumpur (Omar et al. 2006). PAHs are usually released into the

atmosphere as a result of combustion from biomass burning (Shen et al. 2013). This

study and other related studies do confirm positively the link between forest fires,

combustion of fossil fuels and related economic activities, and haze in Malaysia.

Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) modelling

uses the movement of air parcels to determine the source locations of haze-

producing fires. Using such method in 2001, researchers found that the thick smoke

from fires in Sumatra was transported and dispersed by the circulation of wind to

Malaysia, and also Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.

In the urban context, severe pollution episodes in urban environment are

related not only to sudden increases in the emission of pollutants, but also to certain

meteorological conditions that diminish the ability of the atmosphere to disperse

pollutants (Kalkstein & Corrigan 1986). These include climatology parameters like

wind direction and speed in a horizontal plane, atmospheric stability, precipitation

scavenging, and radiation and sunshine in photochemical processes. Man-made

structures in the urban area complicate the airflow pattern and hence air pollutants

dispersion (Sham 1979; 1987; 1991).

Researchers have found that the situation in Klang Valley, Malaysia during

haze episodes is complex due to the area’s unique topography. Sani (1991) noted in

his study that surface inversion had an effect of trapping haze particles within the

Klang Valley. Dispersion of haze in the area is blocked by the mountain range

surrounding the Klang Valley. A study by Keywood et al. (2003) showed that the

composition of atmospheric aerosols in urban areas increase in potassium (K) and

oxalate on days of excessive haze. Sulphate is a major composition of atmospheric

aerosols during haze episodes, but the variation of its composition at different

locations during haze suggest the influence of other local sources of SO2 before it

was oxidized to sulphate. Motor vehicles, industries and coal-fired power plants are

among major local sources to contribute to the amount of sulphate in the

atmosphere.

Sources of Haze

Based on the scientific data discussed above, the sources of the Southeast Asian

haze can be broadly categorized into two: land use change (particularly the use of

fires in this context), and non-agricultural sources. Fire is commonly used in

Indonesia as well as in the rest of Southeast Asia to clear land and to get rid of the

plant residues for the establishment of plantations and other crops. But more often




than not, the fires blaze out of control especially during the dry seasons and the

flames engulf vast areas thus causing smoke or haze to blanket the region. It

became more serious than otherwise when the peat areas caught fire.

An empirical model developed by Azman and Abdullah (1993) to quantify the

contribution of particulates from external and local sources indicated that emissions

from external sources (largely forest fires) while virtually insignificant during the non-

haze period, became more dominant during the haze.

Research into large fire events of 1997/1998 found that both smallholders and

large-scale plantations used fire as a tool, primarily for land clearing but also in

specific contexts in extractive activities (Applegate et al., 2001; Suyanto et al., 2002).

The smallholder context is categorised by slash and burn practices. Sedentary

farmers burn their small plots of land after harvest to rejuvenate the soil and to keep

their land free of weeds (Wosten et al. 2008). Shifting cultivators on the other hand

practice the slash and burn technique to clear a stretch of the forest for cultivation.

Sometimes, these indigenous peoples have also deliberately set fires on plantations

in protest to their lands being taken away. Vogl and Ryder (1969) have reported that

the process of slash and burn affected the physical structure of the soils due to the

high temperature of the burning and addition of ash and charcoal. The damage

usually persists for 15 years or longer. As these farmers have no knowledge on soil

properties and soil management, they tend to use slash and burn practices without

understanding its impact.

Barber et al. (2000) and Qadri (2000) explained how the timber boom, i.e.

human intervention that began with timber extraction from virgin forest, saw the

beginnings of vast areas of forest been cleared for agricultural development in the

region. This later involved forest and land use policies of various Southeast Asian

governments, especially Indonesia, encouraging the development of oil palm and

pulp and paper plantations (Dauverge 1998; Cotton1999; Barber et al. 2000; Seth-

Jones 2006; Tacconi et al. 2006; Varkkey 2011; Varkkey 2013).

Oil palm is currently enjoying unprecedented expansion in the region, thanks

to the wide application of palm oil in the production of food and other products, as

well as biodiesel. The crop grows well in the Indonesian and Malaysian climate, as it

requires a fair amount of sunshine, a hot climate, and wet and humid tropic

conditions with high rainfall rate (Awalludin et al. 2015). Oil palm also enjoys a

comparatively low production cost and high productivity if compared to other major

oil crops (Murdiyarso et al. 2010). About 85% of world’s crude oil palm is supplied by

Malaysia and Indonesia (Sulaiman et al. 2011, please see chart below). Clearing

palm oil plantation land by fire is also common, especially in Indonesia, and to a

lesser extent in Malaysia. A study by Gaveau et al. (2014a) found that 52% of the

total burned area (84,717 ha) in Borneo during the 1997/1998 fires was within

concessions, i.e. land allocated to companies for plantation development. The

detection of two excavators preparing land for planting in the burned areas one




month after fire suggests these fires were associated with agricultural (oil palm)

expansion.

Figure 2. Oil palm production by country in year 2014

(Mosarof et al. 2015)

The rapid expansion of oil palm plantation in Indonesia and Malaysia

increases demand for large land areas which include not only natural tropical forests

but also peatland forests. Research has shown that fires in the peatswamp forest

zone produce a disproportionately large amount of smoke and haze per hectare

burnt (Murdiyarso et al. 2002). Indeed, fires in peatland areas have been found to be

the main cause of haze episode in the region. Particularly, Fuji et al (2015)’s results

show that Indonesian peat fires strongly contributed to the carbonaceous organic

elements in PM2.5 found in Petaling Jaya in the years 2011 and 2012. Working

Group 2’s report on Peat Area & Water Management provides an in-depth

discussion of the peat-haze connection.

Non-agricultural sources of haze are mainly contributed by anthropogenic

activities related to transportation, industrial and biomass burning (Du et al. 2011).

Afroz et al. (2003) have discovered that the major non-agricultural source of air

pollution in Malaysia comes from motor vehicles (70-75% of total air pollution). Petrol

combustion from motor vehicle emissions affects the spatial and temporal

distribution of ambient concentrations of particles (Kim & Guldmann 2011). Biomass

(open) burning in rural areas also contribute to this. Open burning pollutants are

diffused to urban areas, which then mix with emissions from fossil fuel combustion

(Wang et al. 2009). Industrial emissions can also contribute to air pollution and haze,

and is a major source of metal particles in the air.

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Meteorological Conditions

Much of the misperception of the ‘natural’ nature of transboundary haze is a lack of

understanding of the weather patterns, particularly the El Niño - Southern Oscillation

(ENSO) in the region. This stems from the fact that there is a clear cycle of wet and

dry seasons in the region, and haze tends to occur more frequently during the dry

seasons. However, this rather simplistic conclusion warrants further analysis.

The surface climate over the Southeast Asian region is dominated by two

monsoon regimes – the winter and summer monsoons, which modulate the annual

wet and dry seasons in the region. In addition to this seasonal cycle, the year-to-year

(interannual) variability associated to ENSO is also considerably large. The ENSO is

a coupled atmosphere-ocean phenomenon over the Pacific Ocean. The warm phase

of ENSO is called El Niño while the cold phase is called La Niña.

In normal years, the Southeast Asian region is fed by moisture convergence

brought by the low level trade winds to sustain the deep convection and create a

low-pressure system over the Southeast Asia. However, during an El Nino event, the

anomalous warming of the tropical Pacific sea surface temperature shifts the low-

pressure centre from the Southeast Asia region to the central Pacific Ocean. This

establishes an anomalously high pressure and a strong divergence centre over

Southeast Asia, causing drier than normal conditions during an El Nino event.

This dry conditions coupled with warm temperatures associated with El Nino

(e.g. Tangang et al. 2007) creates an extremely friendly environment for large-scale

fire outbreaks in Sumatra and Kalimantan (Tangang et al. 2010; Reid et al. 2012), as

well as certain parts of Malaysia. However, it must be repeated that these conditions

do not start the fires, they merely provide a suitable environment for the fires to

flourish, once lit. It also provides a suitable environment to facilitate the

transboundary transmission of the smoke. Anomalous winds during El Nino is

southerly i.e. the winds blow to the north from Kalimantan and Sumatra. Using a

numerical modelling experiment for the 2006 (El Niño) and 2007 (normal) Southeast

Asia fire seasons, Xian et al. (2013) concluded that smoke typically lasts longer and

can be transported farther in El Niño years compared with non El Niño years. This

wind pattern facilitates the long-range transport of smoke from Sumatra and

Kalimantan northward to Singapore, Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak, Brunei and

Sabah.

Although it is expected that the role of El Nino in haze would be secondary in

nature since the fire is associated primarily to human related activities in agriculture,

forestry and plantation sectors (e.g. Field et al. 2009) as discussed above, El Nino

plays an important role in altering the regional atmospheric composition via the

modification of the atmospheric meteorological field (Inness et al. 2015) as well as

the emission and transport characteristics.




Research by Juneng and Tangang (2008) has shown that precipitation

anomalies in the region can be forecasted at least 5 months in advance using sea

surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific as predictors. Given the fact that an El

Nino is a predictable event by at least 6 months in advance (e.g. Latif et al. 1998;

Tangang et al. 1998), regional climate forecast information is invaluable in mitigating

the risk of forest fires. While long-range forecasts are useful for mitigation and better

fire management, near real-time (short) forecast of accurate air quality can be crucial

for emergency response. Hertwig et al. (2015) demonstrates that by using satellite

derived emissions and a Lagrangian dispersion model, the PM10 concentrated at the

surface over the region can be quantitatively forecasted up to several days lead time.

Therefore, it is obvious that both long-range and near real-time forecasting is

important in combating haze. However currently, forecasting has not played a major

role in both national and regional haze mitigation strategies. Since short-term

forecasts depends critically on quality of the local observation, the dense network of

air quality monitoring stations already available in Malaysia (as detailed above) and

in other parts of the region (like the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre or

ASMC) can be incorporated into the development of an accurate and useful

forecasting system.

Impacts of Haze

The transboundary impacts of the fires, smoke and haze are hardly limited to

reduced visibility. As mentioned above, severe haze episodes have been related to

school, airport and sea port closures, as well as national emergencies. Researchers

have also carried out detailed investigations into specific impacts of transboundary

haze on human health, the economy, agriculture, and also broader environmental

effects.

Air pollutants, especially fine particulate matters, released in the air during

transboundary haze can cause severe impact on human health. A systematic

analysis of all major global health risks reported in the Lancet found that outdoor air

pollution in the form of fine particles is a much more significant health risk than

previously known, contributing annually to over 3.2 million premature deaths

worldwide and over 74 million hears of healthy life lost (Murray et al 2015). Particles

as small as one micrometer can easily infiltrate buildings, making exposure

unavoidable even for people who remain indoors (Kunii et al. 2002). Smaller

particles are more hazardous because they remain longer in the atmosphere and

also penetrate more deeply into the lungs. The long-term health effects of isolated

haze events are difficult to document, due to the difficulty to separate its effects from

general air pollution (Glover & Jessup 1999, Kunii et al. 2002, Johnston et al. 2012).

However, a study by Othman et al. (2015) on specific haze-related illnesses during

the 1997 haze period (August – September) revealed that there were significant

increases in asthma and acute respiratory infections in Kuala Lumpur. Outpatient




visits in Kuching, Sarawak, increased between 100-200% during the peak haze

period while daily respiratory illness outpatient visits to Kuala Lumpur General

Hospital increased by 200%. Sahani et al. (2014), in a case-crossover analysis of

forest fire haze events and mortality in Malaysia, pointed out that hazy days between

2000 and 2007 were responsible for an immediate increase (19%) in mortality from

respiratory causes. This research also concluded that exposure to haze events

indicated not only immediate, but also delayed effects on mortality.

Likewise, economic effects of haze are also difficult to determine, as not every

possibledamage could be valued due to limited data and estimation methods.

However, Mohd Shahwahid & Othman (1999) made a valiant effort to find the

aggregate value of haze damage to Malaysia in 1997 (shown in the table below).

Their calculations included the reduced industrial and commercial activity due to the

ten-day state of emergency in Sarawak. The second major loss is the decline in the

number of tourist arrivals. A more specific study by Othman et al. (2014) focused on

valuation of health impacts of smoke haze pollution in the Klang Valley. Based on

the unit economic value of RM160 (USD53) for an average hospital stay of two days,

haze damage was valued at RM0.273 million (USD91,000), or RM14,368

(USD4,789) per hazy day.

Table 2. Aggregate value of haze damage in 1997

(Mohd Shahwahid & Othman, 1999)

Hazy conditions, especially in terms of its effect on sunlight and resultant

photosynthetic activity and transpiration in plants, have also been shown to affect

agricultural and natural fauna productivity in Malaysia. A research by the Forest

Research Institute of Malaysia found that two varieties of hybrid rice in Malaysia,

MR151 and MR123, experienced a 50% reduction in growth rate during the haze. A

more pertinent study was carried out by Henson (2000), which modeled the effects

of haze on oil palm productivity and yield. As mentioned above, the oil palm requires




high amount of sunlight for optimal growth. The study indicated that the reductions in

solar radiations due to haze could have long-term effects of oil palm yields. Similarly,

reduced photosynthetic activity and transpiration in plants can affect the food chain

for wildlife which in turn will influence animal health and behaviour. Loss of fruit-trees

can also lead to overall decline in bird and animal species that rely on fruits for food.

The haze also brings about a myriad of broader negative environmental

effects. Firstly, forest fires unlock carbon and other greenhouse gasses stored in soil

and allow it to escape into the atmosphere. This contributes to global warming and

climate change, and has catapulted Indonesia to a position among the top carbon

emitters in the world. In the longer term, lands that are burned are at higher risk of

further burning in the future, due to excessive dryness. Repeated burning will lead to

loss of habitat and shelter and is detrimental for forest biodiversity.

Haze Related Policies

Compelled by the severe effect of the haze as detailed above, the Malaysian

government has incorporated fore, smoke and haze considerations into their

policymaking and administrative frameworks. This has been complemented by

policies and initiatives at the ASEAN level as well, which shall be discussed in detail

below.

One of the most significant policies at the Malaysian level in relation to this

was the Environment Quality Act 1974, which was amended in 1998 to provide a

more stringent policy for open burning offences. According to the Act, any person

found guilty shall ‘be liable to a fine not exceeding RM500,000 or to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding 5 years or both’. In addition to this, the Environmental Quality

(Declared Activities) (Opening Burning) 2003 act that prohibits open burning of

certain activities under specified conditions and in certain designated areas came

into force on 1 January 2004. The zero burning technique was developed and

promoted by Malaysian agencies as a way of replanting without violating any of the

regulations mentioned above. The technique is an environmentally sound practice in

which the old strands of oil palm or other tree crops are felled and shredded and left

in situ to decompose naturally. The technique also replenishes soil organic matter,

improves the physical and chemical properties of the soil and thus enhances its

fertility.

To further complement these policies, the government of Malaysia established

the National Haze Committee which is made up of representatives of all relevant

agencies. The Committee meets regularly to assess, weather conditions, the

preparedness of the relevant agencies in dealing with fires and the transboundary

haze as well as to consider further actions that needed to be taken. The Committee’s

activities are guided by the National Haze Action Plan (steps to be taken at different

API alert levels), the Fire Prevention Action Plan (surveillance to curb and prevent




open burning activities in fire prone areas), and the Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP;

strategies to improve air quality, including public awareness).

Other related initiatives at the national level include the Peatland Management

Programme and the ‘Fire Danger Rating System’ (FDRS). The Peatland

Management Programme is an imitative to prevent peat fires through the

construction of check dams, tube wells, and watch towers. The FDRS was

developed to provide early warning of the potential for serious fire and haze events,

using data available from the MMD. The effectiveness of the FDRS however is

dependent on a good understanding of local fire behavior and reliable forecasted

weather data. The CAAP mentioned above includes provisions for the development

of expertise in air quality prediction and modeling, however as explained above,

there is still room for improvement for the incorporation of forecasting techniques in

Malaysia’s air quality measurement and prediction systems.

The ASEAN approach to environmental management stresses three norms

(Koh & Robinson 2002): non-interference or non-intervention in other Member

States’ domestic affairs, consensus building and cooperative programme preferred

over legally-binding treaties, and preference for national implementation rather than

reliance on a strong region-wide bureaucracy. Haze was first placed on the regional

agenda on 1985, with the adoption of the Agreement on the Conservation of Nature

and Natural Resources which made a significant reference to air pollution and

‘transfrontier environmental effects’. The Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the

Environment held in 1995 witnessed the declaration that ASEAN constituted ‘one

ecosystem’, an acknowledgement that in principle, environmental problems could not

be adequately addressed solely within the domestic context and would require a

regional approach (Wan 2012).

A series of regional documents and initiatives relating to haze followed,

including the 1995 ASEAN Cooperation Plan on Transboundary Pollution, the Haze

Technical Task Force 1995, the 1997 Regional Haze Action Plan, the ASEAN

Peatland Management Initiative, the ASEAN Peatmand Management Strategy

(through which the National Haze Action Plans were developed), culminating in the

2002 ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (Haze Agreement) and

its related follow-up documents and initiatives. At the same time, dialogues on

Transboundary Haze Pollution were initiated at the Track 2 level, led by the ASEAN

Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ASEAN ISIS) and the Council for

Security Cooperation to the Asia Pacific (CSCAP). These dialogues were useful in

garnering the involvement from many different stakeholders, including regional non-

governmental organizations (NGOs), not-for-profit associations, think tanks,

academic institutions as well as private sector companies.

The Haze Agreement was adopted in June 2002 and entered into force in

November 2003, with the ASEAN Environment Ministers meeting as Conference of

Parties (COP) responsible for its implementation. It is legally-binding and reaffirms




Principle 2 of the Rio Declaration, which states that sovereign states have a

‘…sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their environmental and

development priorities, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their

jurisdiction do not cause damage to the environment of other States’. It provides for

a collective framework for dealing with forest burning and transboundary haze

problem within the overall context of sustainable development. However, the

Agreement is constrained by weak, ‘non-intrusive’ parameters range from requesting

and giving assistance, monitoring, reporting, exchanging information to absence of

enforcement and liability provisions. Indonesia only ratified the Agreement in 2015,

after 13 years.

The following table gives a helpful overview of the obligations of each ASEAN

Member State (AMS) or organization involved within the ASEAN haze cooperative

framework:

Table 3. Regional Measures in Terms of Preparedness and Prevention

There are many constraints to the success of these national and ASEAN level

initiatives. Studies by scholars such as Koh undated; Nguitragool (2011); Quah and

Varkkey undated; Tan (2005); Tay (2002); and Varkkey (2013) have documented

the complexity and magnitude of the problem, ranging from the law and policy to the

changing political scenario, economics and the rise of oil palm, an important export

crop, as well as the socio-cultural dimensions. Firstly, effectiveness of ASEAN level

initiatives like the Haze Agreement depends very much on compliance from one

state party – Indonesia. The complexities of compliance at the Indonesian level can

only be understood by appreciating the political economy of forest resource

exploitation, environmental governance, and regional autonomy of Indonesia (Wan




2012). Indonesia faces problems of weak enforcement because of its relative poverty

and legal shortcomings as well as the decentralized democratic system in Indonesia.

Indonesia’s own anti-burning law does exist and the penalties are not

inconsequential, however there are conflicting applications of rules such as

Indonesia’s Law 32 that allows burning in forests for traditional uses, which further

complicates enforcement.

Another factor is the sheer cost of clearing land using zero burning

techniques. Malaysia’s zero burning technique was adopted at the ASEAN level in

1999. However, costs related to zero burning can be as high as USD 665 per

hectare (estimate by Center for International Forestry Research or CIFOR), when

burning methods can be as low as USD7 per day. In legal terms, international law

holds that a state is responsible for transboundary harm that results in activities on

its territory, caddied out by the state, or within its control. However, ASEAN members

states, including Malaysia, are constrained by the ‘ASEAN Way’ which makes it

unlikely that any ASEAN member state will impose ‘state responsibility’ on Indonesia

(Tay 1999). Indeed, the usage of the term ‘haze’ by ASEAN was a diplomatic choice,

to avoid having to confront the state that causes the problem by linking it with

principles of state responsibility under international law.

On a more local level, Malaysia is currently studying the possibility of adopting

the Singaporean model of a Transboundary Haze Pollution act, which empowers a

country to take legislative measures against local or foreign companies that cause or

contribute to the haze pollution in that country. However Malaysia must be wary of

the similar types of challenges that Singapore is currently facing in the effort to

implement this law, including the difficulty of obtaining indisputable evidence, proving

causation, and evaluating claims for damages.

Conclusion

The report produced by Working Group 1 has highlighted several important things.

Most significantly, haze is not entirely a natural phenomenon. Indeed, while wildfires

have been a feature of Southeast Asia ecology for centuries. However, in recent

years, increasing evidence has surfaced linking fires and haze to manmade

activities, namely slash and burn activities by smallholders, and land clearing

activities of medium and large-scale plantations. In relation to this, the perception

that haze is directly linked to the El Niño phenomenon is flawed. While El Niño does

not start the fires, they merely provide a suitable environment for the fires to flourish,

once lit. It also provides a suitable environment to facilitate the transboundary

transmission of the smoke. However, good knowledge of ENSO patterns allow for

effective long-range and near real-time forecasting for better haze mitigation and fire

management, and also for quicker emergency response. Unfortunately, despite the

availability of forecasting technologies, its applicability in Malaysia’s FDRS, and the

CAAP initiative that provides for the development of expertise in air quality prediction




and modeling, there is still room for improvement for the incorporation of forecasting

techniques in Malaysia’s air quality measurement and prediction systems.

Furthermore, haze mitigation at the ASEAN level is constrained by the unwillingness

of ASEAN member states, Malaysia included, to impose ‘state responsibility’ on

particular states.




Way Forward

There is renewed vigour at the ASEAN level following Indonesia’s ratification

process in 2015. However, in connection to this, the Indonesian President Joko

Widodo recently announced that “it would take three years for results to be seen

from efforts to end the huge annual fires” (The Jakarta Post, 30 September 2015).

While three years may be considered highly ambitious by some scholars, Working

Group 1 has explored prospective options that could be implemented at within this

timeline and beyond, which could bring about more effective and innovative

approaches to the transboundary haze problem. On climate science, various

members of Working Group 1 have drawn extensively on their knowledge and

expertise to create a vision for moving forward. The group has also put forward

recommendations for future trajectories from the perspectives of health, economy,

and engagement at the regional as well as society level. By bridging lessons learned

from the research findings and by analyzing viable science-policy options, it is hoped

that this paper can serve to shed some light on achieving real progress.

Firstly, scientists could contribute to a better understanding of the

characteristics and origin of transboundary haze. The composition of organic and

inorganic substances in atmospheric aerosols or haze particles, for example, could

be traced back to biomass burning and in some cases be identified as an ideal

indicator or marker of biomass burning. Equally important is the understanding of

meteorology and the ability of the atmosphere to disperse or dilute pollutants, for

example, the source of the pollutants (biomass burning or vehicular emissions) as

well as the impact on the air quality in urban areas (eg. the effect of inversion) during

the haze. At the same time, weather data is crucial for the FDRS to mitigate fire-

related problems. On the other hand, while better and more advanced satellite

technology is helping to identify locations and patterns of fires, the pairing of satellite

data with on-the-ground investigations is crucial. Thus, strengthening the science-

policy interface calls for the scientific parameters described to be included in future

analyses to address transboundary haze.

Secondly, science involves complexity, uncertainty and indeterminacy but

science produce knowledge as well as to a lesser extent predictions (van den Hove

2007). As pointed out, El Nino is a predictable event, and the information is relevant

in preventing the risks of fires and recurrence of haze. Seasonal forecast outlooks by

meteorological centers (such as the APEC Climate Center) are increasingly

becoming more accurate especially during El Nino years. Moving forward, it is crucial

to perform more related research, for example, the influence of El Nino and how the

trajectory of the haze is likely to change in the future. Other targeted studies should

also include the relevance of climate change for El Niño periods which may change

future drought characteristics. The information on the forecastibility of the El Nino

phenomenon is important for Malaysia and ASEAN in designing a more viable policy

framework to respond pro-actively to the challenges. For instance, it has been




discussed above how improved forecasting can greatly improve the effectiveness of

Malaysia’s FDRS system. A preventive approach would be of great benefit to the

region.

Thirdly, and more generally, innovative efforts are also emerging with

mapping software and tools. Available technologies are also being constantly

upgraded, hence there are opportunities to look into the usage of things like special

sensors and drones to map burn scars to indicate a more reliable percentage of real

fires.

In the field of health, the short-term mortality effects of high air pollution

suggest that there may be long-term effects associated with exposure to elevated

levels of air pollution over an extended period. There is tremendous value in

shedding light and developing a better understanding of the mortality and morbidity

particularly in areas of high exposure and equally important of the long-term effects

of air pollution even though the interpretation is not straightforward. One implication

of the results from studying the short-term effects in Malaysia of the haze is that the

effects in Indonesia itself must have been huge. The indications of mortality effects in

Malaysia many miles away from the main fires strongly support this notion. Another

implication is that like many other environmental risk factors such as unsafe water,

air pollution, the mortality burden attributable to haze falls disproportionately on low-

income regions of ASEAN.

To overcome the economic challenges standing in the way of proper

implementation of policies in Indonesia and elsewhere, the working group proposes

the stakeholders’ approach to cost-sharing. The idea is that the cost of an effective

fire prevention and control programme in Indonesia should be shared among the

various stakeholders and other interested institutions both inside and outside the

region (Tan 2005). For instance, it is not uncommon to witness at the international

level, processes such as Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and

Intergovernmental Platform on Biological Diversity and Ecosystem (IPBES) re-

inforcing their interfaces and shaping responses to global environmental challenges.

Past pilot ‘Adopt-a-District’ projects in Riau (supported by Malaysia) and Jambi

(supported by Singapore) can be re-examined and adapted to fit this cost-sharing

approach, focusing particularly on maximum stakeholder involvement for maximum

ownership at all levels.

Another way to overcome economic constraints is the ecosystem services

approach. Ecosystem services are the economic benefits that ecosystems provide to

humanity. According to Schrier-Uijl et al. (2013), tropical forests provide a large

number of ecosystem services both at the global level (eg. climate control) and at the

local level, including cultural, provisioning and regulating services such as soil

erosion, hydrological control, delivery of natural forest products, fisheries and

tourism. Under the ‘one ecosystem’ concept, ASEAN can adopt this approach to

help member states understand the ‘true’ or real value of the natural resources (such




as forests) so that the way the resources are being used and the policy decisions

made will reflect those values.

The increasing interest and concern from society concerning haze issues in

general also provides an interesting opportunity moving forward. Media content

research by Forsyth (2014) for example, has discovered that the public is

increasingly critical of the policy approaches to haze as well as the errant companies

that are investing in palm oil activities. Public concerns about environmental

problems such as transboundary haze create narrative structures that do have an

influence on policy by allocating roles of blame, responsibility and appropriate

behaviour. Hence, the potential role of the public cannot be ignored, as haze

mitigation efforts do not need to be confined solely to the government or academia.

One area that is worth exploring is in terms of public pressure on errant companies,

a strategy that has proven to be very powerful in other parts of the world.

As a whole, the recommendations to the government as presented by

Working Group 1, roughly progressing from national to regional level, can be

summarised as follows:

(1) The government should invest in enhanced monitoring and the

inclusion of other scientific parameters even at times when there is an

economic downturn.

(2) A priority area of transboundary haze risk management should be the

development of systematic health preparedness. Towards this goal, the

government should support the development of a better understanding

on not only mortality, but also morbidity related to haze, particularly

over long periods of exposure (long-term effects) and in areas of

especially high exposure.

(3) There is a need to recognize a country’s limitations and explore

collaborative actions in monitoring, predicting and conducting

assessments. Related to this, efforts by Malaysia in Riau and

Singapore in Jambi should be re-examined so as to address the gaps

and get full participation of the target groups such as the small-holders

and the large actors in future initiatives.

(4) At the ASEAN level, Malaysia should propose for its FDRS to be

adopted at the ASEAN level, and to provide the foundation for regional

resource-sharing and for the resources to be deployed during times of

extreme danger.

(5) ASEAN should enshrine and adopt the concept of a ‘true’ or real value

of the natural resources (such as forests) so that the way the resources

are being used and the policy decisions made will reflect those values.

This would complement the already accepted concept of ASEAN as

‘one ecosystem’. This unified concept of an ecosystem would also help




in moving towards some region-wide consensus on breakpoints used,

for a more uniform and useful AQI.

While all the suggestions above may fall into the category of ‘long term’

strategy and planning, one particularly interesting finding highlighted by Working

Group 1, which could be useful for more immediate policy intervention is research by

Amil et al (2016). This research estimated source apportionment during haze

episodes of around 300 API, pictured below. These findings may be useful to

determine what local level action can be taken during severe haze episodes and

emergencies (since regional level action may be slow or improbable). The illustration

below shows that about 18% of the haze can be traced back to local sources.

Hence, these could be potential targets for policy intervention during periods of

emergency; particularly the government can call for an immediate stop to local

burning, fuel combustion, industry activity and traffic, which may bring down haze

levels by at least 18% - a significant amount.

Figure 3. Contribution of different sources with API at 300




Peat Area & Water Management

As indicated in the previous summary report, fires in peatland areas have been

found to be the main cause of haze episode in the region. This is because fires in the

peatswamp forest zone produce a disproportionately large amount of smoke and

haze per hectare burnt (Murdiyarso et al. 2002). Rapid expansion of plantations in

the Southeast Asian region, especially in Indonesia and Malaysia, has increased

demand for peatland forests for development. Peatlands are very delicate

ecosystems that are very sensitive to disturbances, and extreme disturbances will

result in fires.

There is currently an active debate in academic circles on whether peatlands

should be preserved in its pristine condition, or if it can be developed, in a

sustainable manner. Working Group 2 does not intend to provide a conclusive

answer to this debate, but instead takes a pragmatic approach that accepts that vast

swathes of peatlands have currently already been developed for plantations, both in

Indonesia and Malaysia. Therefore, given the current situation, it is important to shed

light on best management practices on peatlands that have already been developed,

to reduce as far as possible the negative impact of human disturbances so that

untoward incidences, like fires, can be avoided or reduced in the future.

Malaysia has committed at the ASEAN level to achieve zero haze emissions

by 2020. Hence, a better understanding of tropical peat and its sustainable

management will help Malaysia achieve this commitment. As such, tropical

peatlands deserve to be better studied and understood so that all stakeholders can

take preventive and remedial action to overcome this annual scourge which affects

populations, economies and international relations. The detailed report of Working

Group 2 is reproduced at the end of this publication, however the key findings of the

report are highlighted here.

Tropical Peat

Tropical peatlands are found in Southeast Asia (SEA), the Caribbean, Central

America, South America and Central Africa. Page et al. (2011) estimated the area of

tropical peatlands at 44.1 million hectares (MHA), equivalent to 11% of the global

peatland area. Fifty-six percent (56%) of the world’s tropical peatlands are located in

Southeast Asia, equivalent to approximately 23.7 MHA (Page et al. 2011). Peatlands

in Southeast Asia mostly occupy low-altitude coastal and sub-coastal environments

and are usually located at elevations from sea level to about 50 m (Rieley et al.

2008). Peatland distribution in the region is presented in the following map.




Figure 4. Map of peatlands in Southeast Asia

(ASEAN Peatland Forests Project)

Peat is comprised of partially decayed organic matter such as leaves, stems

and roots. Most of the peat found worldwide is temperate peat (peat found in

temperate regions), which is largely composed of non-woody material such as

sedges and mosses. However, the peat found in Malaysia and Indonesia is

considered tropical peat (peat that is found in tropical regions), consisting largely of

un-decomposed and semi-decomposed woody materials originating from dead trees

and often contains logs and tree roots. Tropical peats have very low bulk density

(compared to mineral soils) and extremely high compressibility, porosity and

permeability. Tropical peat comprises largely of organic carbon, ranging from 35% to

60% in dry weight (Melling and Henson 2011). Other chemical properties of peat are

presented in the table below.

Table 4. Chemical properties of surface peat (0-50 cm)

(Lim et al. 2012)

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES Lim, 2006 Melling et al, 2006

(Riau, Indonesia) (Sarawak, Malaysia)

pH 3.7 3.7

Organic C (%) 41.1 45.4

Total N (%) 1.56 1.69

C/N ratio 26.3 26.9

Exch. Ca (cmol/kg) 6.68 0.76




Exch. Mg (cmol/kg) 9.55 1.01

Exch. K (cmol/kg) 0.61 0.19

CEC (cmol/kg) 70.8 41.4

Extr P (mg/kg) 120.0 21.4

Total Cu (mg/kg) 4.1 1.4

Total Zn (mg/kg) 28.0 17.1

Total B (mg/kg) 5.0 1.1

Total Al (mg/kg) 1.35

Total Fe (mg/kg) 108.8 67.7

Hydrology is the dominant factor controlling peat formation (size, functions

and ultimately the preservation of peat swamps) (UNDP 2006). Peat water contains

tannins that are derived from incompletely decomposed organic matter. The tannins

give peat water its characteristic appearance: tea-coloured by transmitted light and

black by reflected light. Moisture content increases with depth, from 100-400% at

about 50 cm depth to about 1200% to 1400% at 1 m depth. The waterlogged

condition creates an anaerobic environment which slows down the decomposition of

organic matter. Peat is formed when the accumulation rate of organic matter

exceeds its decomposition rate. Peat accumulates in layers year after year to form

deposits which may reach 20 m deep. A peat swamp can be regarded as a single

hydrological unit which may consist of various interconnected sub-catchments

(Kselik and Liong 2004). Lowland peatlands are characteristically dome-shaped (the

cross section is lenticular or lens-shaped) and thus the peat thickness varies -

shallower at the peatland edge and increasing towards the peat dome apex. A

depiction of how the peat dome is formed is available below.




Figure 5. Formation of tropical peatlands

Malaysian peatsoils are defined as soil with high organic matter content (more

than 65%) and a depth of at least 50 cm. Estimates of the extent of peatlands in

Malaysia range from 2.3 to 2.8 MHA with most around 2.7 MHA. Originally peat

swamp forests (PSF) covered all peatlands in Malaysia. Over the years development

pressures on PSF have seen its total area reduced. An estimated 1.5 MHA of PSF

still remains in Malaysia; 70% located in Sarawak, less than 20% in Peninsular

Malaysia and the remainder in Sabah (UNDP 2006). The area of PSF under

Permanent Reserved Forest in Peninsular Malaysia is 0.26 MHA (Forestry

Department of Peninsular Malaysia 2014), and in Sarawak 0.32 MHA remains as

Permanent Forest Estate (PFE) (Chai 2005).

Importance of Tropical Peatlands

The uniqueness of tropical peat as discussed above allow it to also support a unique

ecosystem that is an important reservoir of biodiversity and performs invaluable

ecosystem services, and have national and local economic significance as well as

educational and research value, as detailed in the table below.

Table 5. Benefits of intact peatlands




Whilst PSFs are less species-rich than mixed dipterocarp forest in terms of

tree species, it comprises vegetation communities that are globally significant for

biodiversity conservation (most significantly those of the peat domes in Sarawak).

For example, Alan (Shorea albida) and Kapur paya (Dryobalanops rappa) trees are

endemic to north-west Borneo. These ecosystems are also home to many rare and

endemic flora and fauna species due to the ecosystem’s unique characteristics

(Posa et al. 2011). They are home to at least 60 vertebrate species listed as globally

threatened. These include the Orang-utan (Pongo pygmaeus), Proboscis monkey

(Nasalis larvatus) and Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatranus) (UNDP

2006). A range of reptile species has been recorded in peatlands in Malaysia,

including four species of global significance. The black waters of the peat swamp

forests are known to have some of the highest freshwater fish biodiversity in the

world.

The peatland ecosystem provides various ecosystem services to communities

(Maltby and Acreman 2011), especially in terms of reservoirs of water. As explained

above, in their natural state peatlands are waterlogged due to a high water table,

high permeability and high water retention capability. During periods of heavy rainfall

peatlands act as natural reservoirs, absorbing and storing water like a sponge and

thus mitigating floods. They release this water gradually during dry periods, thereby

maintaining base flows in rivers and mitigating droughts in surrounding areas. Other

hydrological functions are sediment removal and prevention of saline water intrusion

(UNDP 2006). Thus, peatlands can provide a supply of water for potable and

industrial purposes year-round. Such functions are crucial to maintaining the integrity

of downstream ecosystems and in preventing economic losses to agriculture and

industry.

Tropical peat forest also provides climatic regulation services on a global level

(UNDP 2006). Peatlands are one of the few ecosystems which, in their natural state,

accumulate carbon. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is sequestered as organic carbon in the

dead organic matter comprising the peat. Peatlands are thus important carbon sinks,

preserving carbon in the organic matter accumulated over long periods of peat




formation (Page and Banks 2007). Maltby (1997) estimates that 70 gigatonnes (GT)

or up to 20% of total soil carbon, is stored in peatlands.

Peatlands also play an important role in a country’s economy, as a source of

both timber and non-timber forest products (NTFP). In Malaysia a substantial

number of poor households lives on and adjacent to peatlands, which can play a vital

socio-economic role in local communities’ well-being. The ecosystem has long

provided these local communities with sustenance (meat from wild animals, fish),

building materials and NTFP such as vegetables and medicinal, ornamental or resin-

producing plants. These they collect to use and also sell for cash (Page et al. 2006).

They also use peatlands as reserve areas for agricultural extension.

An a larger scale, peatlands are also important in terms of its role in the oil

palm sector. In 2014, Malaysia contributed 42% of the global palm oil trade, making

it the fourth largest contributor to the Malaysian economy, employing some 600,000

people (JPM 2015). World demand has led to the opening of even more areas for

plantations, and the scarcity of suitable agricultural land areas forces peatland areas

to be used. In 2009, 13% of total plantation area was on peatlands (Wahid et al

2010). Sarawak has 37% of its oil palm plantations on peat, as the figure below

shows. These plantations have brought socio-economic benefits to rural

communities, especially in terms of employment. In this way, local communities living

on peatland areas are able to supplement their income received from collecting

NTFPs.

Figure 6. Percentage of oil palm area planted on peatland

Peatlands are also a precious educational and research resource. Peatlands’

unique ecosystems provide huge potential for research and development in various

scientific fields such as socio-economics, biodiversity, climate change and

biotechnology. It is also likely that many new plant and animal species will be

discovered in peat swamp forests in the future, since only a relatively small number




of biodiversity surveys have so far been conducted in PSF, compared to other types

of forest in Malaysia.

Peatland Use and Conversion

Even though it is clear that pristine peatlands offer many important benefits,

developmental pressures on PSF have seen a substantial change in its use. Land

use change in the peatlands in Southeast Asia, especially in Indonesia and

Malaysia, can be broadly categorised into three types: timber extraction, conversion

to agriculture, and to a lesser extent, development of settlements and infrastructure3.

Although the variety of timber species in PSF is lower compared to its lowland

counterparts, the species found in PSF are of high value, for example the highly

sought-after Ramin (Gonystylus bancanus) (Fatimah & Indraneil, 2006; Chai, 2005).

Ramin and other commercial species are harvested from tropical PSFs, mostly

under selective management system monitored by the forest departments, but also

sometimes illegally. Illegal logging in PSFs is often linked to clear-felling as a way to

prepare for conversion into agriculture (explained below). Timber extraction in a PSF

required canals to be built to transport the logs out of the forest.

Agriculture has also been a major driver for land use change in peat areas.

Over the past 20 years, more than 1 MHA of peatlands having been converted for

agricultural purposes in Malaysia. To prepare peatlands for agriculture purposes,

canals have to be built to lower the water table, vegetation (including the stumps of

residual trees ) have to be removed, and sometimes the peat has to be compacted

to improve water moisture management. Because of the high moisture levels, only

certain crops are suitable, for instance oil palm, rubber, sago, coconut, paddy and

pineapple. In Malaysia, oil palm occupied the largest agricultural area on peat with a

total of 666.038 ha, with 66% of the total area in Sarawak (see table below).

Table 6. Oil palm crop area on peatland (Adapted from Wahid et al., 2010)

Region Area

ha %

Peninsular Malaysia 207,458 31.2

Sabah 21,406 3.2

Sarawak 437,174 65.6

Total 666,038 100

The conversion and development of peatlands without proper management

can result in various deleterious outcomes. Peatland conversion leads to changes in

3 The high costs involved in specific construction methods to avoid consolidation and settlement

makes urban development rare on peat.




the composition and structure of the pre-existing vegetation. For instance, logging

leads to a loss of canopy cover. Miettinen et al. (2011) showed high levels of canopy

loss in peatland areas of Southeast Asia that relate positively with the rate of

deforestation. In less than 20 years 5.1 MHA of the total 15.5 MHA of peatlands had

been deforested (Miettinen et al. 2010).

Canals that are constructed for logging and other drainage activities inevitably

drain the water out of the peat dome and lead to changes in the hydrological regime,

causing a decrease in peat moisture (Seigert et al. 2001, Ainuddin et al. 2006). Dry

peat is extremely combustible and fires spread easily even when water tables are

close to the surface (Sabah Forestry Department 2005, Lo and Parish 2013). Most

fires burning in peat soil occur as smouldering combustion below the peat surface,

and can persist for weeks or longer. Fires have been found to occur in unmanaged

peatlands commonly within or near plantations. Fire incidents in Raja Musa Forest

Reserve for the past 10 years have been linked back to drainage resulting from

existing logging canals. Furthermore, there is a trend of recurrent fires in peat areas.

Grasses such as Lallang (Imperata cylindrica) and ferns such as Gleichenia spp.

colonise burnt peat swamp forest and suppress the regeneration of trees (Ainuddin

and Goh 2010). The burnt areas are thus open and become drier and more

flammable during dry periods and these conditions encourage the recurrence of

fires.

Burning causes changes in peat physical characteristics such as hydraulic

conductivity and peat bulk density (Lailan et al. 2004). Combustion of biomass fuels

also produces gases such as carbon monoxide (CO), methane and nitrogen oxide.

High concentrations of total suspended particulates (in smoke) degrade air quality,

cause light scattering and lower visibility, or in other words, haze (Cheang et al.

1991). Other detrimental impacts of peat fires include the significant decrease or loss

of important endemic flora and fauna populations (which may lead to a long term

reduction in biodiversity), and negative effects on the socio-economic status of

communities dependent on peatland resources.

Most importantly, fires can also cripple an important ecological service that is

provided by peatlands, which is carbon sequestration. Fires lead to the release of

high levels of CO2 (as mentioned above, peatlands are a vitally important carbon

sink) and other greenhouse gasses (GHG) like methane (CH4) into the atmosphere

(Page et al. 2002), due to the decomposition and degradation of the exposed and

burnt organic materials. CO2 emissions from drained peatlands in Southeast Asia

were estimated at between 355 and 855 metric tonnes per year (MTy-1) in 2006

(Hooijer et al. 2010). CO2 is also, of course, implicated in global climate change.

Policy and Administrative Frameworks

The use and conversion of peatlands in Malaysia is underpinned by an extensive

policy and administrative framework, with a general aim to reduce the negative




impacts of peatland development as detailed above. These policies further intend to

integrate biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management in development and

planning processes.

While land and natural resources in Malaysia are mainly managed at the state

level, there are several overarching national policies that guide the formation of state

government’s own policies and regulations 4 . The National Forest Policy 1978

(amended 1992) was formulated to ensure sustainable forest resource management

and development including in peat swamp forests in line with national interests and

goals. In 1992 the policy was revised as a consequence of growing concern over the

importance of the conservation of biological diversity and sustainable use of genetic

resources and the role of local communities in forest development. The policy

establishes that Permanent Forest Estate (PFE) should comprise sufficient areas,

strategically located throughout the country and designated in accordance with the

concept of rational land use5. Other policies that support the National Forest Policy

are the National Policy on Biological Diversity 1998, the National Policy on the

Environment 2002, the National Agricultural Policy 2003, and the Common Vision for

Biodiversity 2009. Malaysia’s Five-year Development Plans also reflect the

promotion of natural resources management.

There are also policies that more specifically deal with peatland management.

The National Wetland Policy 2004 calls for sustainable and wise use of wetlands

with respect to their ecological characteristics. The National Physical Plan

complements this policy by recommending that all important wetlands be conserved

and gazetted as Protected Areas and managed as Environmentally Sensitive Areas

(ESA) (areas of critical importance in terms of the goods, services and life-support

systems they provide, such as water purification, pest control and erosion

regulation). All these policies are tied in to Malaysia’s larger National Policy on

Climate Change 2010, due to peatlands’ well-understood role in climate regulation.

The above policies are supported by institutional arrangements consisting of

both formal government organizational structures as well as informal structures6 that

are in place. These arrangements are crucial as they provide the government at all

levels (federal, provincial and local) with the administrative framework within which to

formulate and implement policies. In Malaysia, federal level agencies are responsible

for implementing policies, action plans and guidelines. They require state

governments’ cooperation on enforcement because land is a state matter and state

4 In Sarawak the Sarawak Forest Ordinance 1954 provides the necessary legal framework while in

Sabah, the Sabah Forest Enactment 1968 provides the legal backing to ensure the implementation of

state forest policy (Woon and Norini 2002).

5 The peatlands classified under PFEs in Sarawak are managed under this policy.

6 Informal institutional structures include the general public, non-government organisations and private sector groups that are not official institutions.




governments decide on land use planning and enforce the necessary requirements.

As such, coordination between different agencies, both at the federal and national

level, is important to ensure the success of any programme related to conservation

of natural resources.

In terms of an overall administrative framework, the Economic Planning Unit

under the prime Minister’s Department has established an Environment and Natural

Resource Economic Section that is responsible for leading and coordinating the

national environmental and natural resources stability with better efficiency and

effectiveness. Under this framework, the key ministries and agencies involved in

forest, land, agriculture, water and wildlife resources management include the

Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) and its Department of

Environment (DOE), Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC),

Ministry of Agriculture and Agrobased Industry (MOA), Ministry of Energy, Green

Technology and Water (KeTTHA), Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local

Government, Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD, focal point for the FDRS

detailed in the previous group’s report), and the Department of Agriculture (DOA).

At the regional level, there are several peatland specific plans that have been

briefly mentioned in Working Group 1’s report, which can be dealt with in a more

detailed manner here. Specifically, the ASEAN Peatland Management Strategy

(APMS) 2006 aims to promote sustainable management of peatlands in ASEAN

region through collective actions and enhanced cooperation to support and sustain

livelihoods, reduce risks of fire associated haze and contribute to global environment

management. Implementation at the national levels would be through the

development and implementation of National Action Plans (Malaysia’s NAP has

been discussed in Working Group 1). Implementation at the regional level is through

the the ASEAN Peatland Forests Project (APFP-SEApeat) (2009-2014) run by

Global Environment Facility and funded by the European Union. Following the

success of the APFP and SEApeat projects, the ASEAN Environment Ministers

endorsed the development of the ASEAN Programme on Sustainable Management

of Peatland Ecosystem (APSMPE) for the years 2014-2020.

Issues and Challenges

With continuous peatland degradation and fire incidences taking place, questions are

being asked about the effectiveness of the available governance infrastructure and

tools detailed above. The root cause of these problems must be identified in order to

move forward towards a haze-free region. Working Group 2 has identified several

root causes, namely ineffective policies and implementation, improper peatland and

water management, and socio-economic issues. These root causes lead to further

issues, e.g. failed projects on peatlands and abandoned degraded peatlands.

If examined closely, it becomes clear that the plethora of policies detailed

above are actually not harmonised, especially in terms of peatland management.




The Malaysian policy framework suffers from serious gaps that create conflicts for

peatland management, and are insufficient to prevent peatland degradation and

particularly fires. Sometimes, resistance from stakeholders have prevented cetain

sensitive things to be included into policy guidelines, like preventing soil emissions

from being better represented in the formulation of climate policies. The potential for

peatland management measures to mitigate soil emissions could be better utilised

by reviewing agricultural and land use policies to include soil type and societal costs

as criteria in decisions affecting croplands management. Policies should be

supported by other mechanisms to yield success stories about GHG mitigation by

land use measures. This is further compounded by ineffective law enforcement that

enables illegal activities in forest and peatland areas, such as land clearing by

burning, particularly in forest and land concessions belonging to corporations, to

continue.

Apart from policy weaknesses, peatlands in Malaysia are poorly managed

because there is a lack of understanding of peat in itself. The lack of understanding

on peatlands is exemplified by the lack of an approved definition for, and

classification of, peatlands, due largely to a poor understanding of peatland

ecosystems, functions, issues and management options. Such knowledge is

important for policy makers to write policy, land use decision makers to base

decisions, management to write guidelines and local communities to make decisions

on how to make a sustainable living from peatlands. Furthermore, there are also

difficulties in accessing whatever existing information from government ministries,

departments and agencies. Consequently stakeholders often disregard the

complexity of peatlands, resulting in outcomes such as peatland utilisation heavily

focused on meeting short-term objectives rather than long-term sustainability.

A lack of understanding of peatlands leads to another problem, which is the

lack of knowledge on how to safely prepare land on peat for development. The

selected site must be assessed thoroughly (including its topography, types, depth

and hydrology) to ensure the correct implementation of various operations during

land clearing and preparation. However, this is rarely conducted because it is a very

laborious and time consuming process. The drainage process also must be done

very carefully. From a hydrological perspective, peat swamp forest and adjacent

peatlands must be managed and monitored as a single hydrological unit in order to

maintain the integrity of a healthy peat swamp forest (Zakaria 1997, Pahang Forestry

Department 2005), and this is difficult to do without proper knoweldge. Thus,

drainage in developed areas often influence adjacent non-drained peat areas,

exacerbating the drying process. As a whole, peatland utilisation without proper

management is subject to inherent degradation which continuously lowers the land’s

economic value. Over time, these landscapes may achieve low productivity or lack

productivity, leading to a large-scale abandonment. These abandoned areas are at

an even higher risk of fires because of a lack of active management.




Another challenge in land preparation is the land clearing work. When a peat

swamp forest is initially cleared for development, the surface is full of un-

decomposed woody materials. The presence of these materials prevents the land

from being used for cultivation. It is difficult and expensive to use heavy machinery to

clear these woody ‘waste’ as the peat soil is soft. Thus, smallholders and developers

often resort to using fire as a cheaper alternative to clear these materials. Working

Group 3 specifically focuses on this challenge, namely on how to incentivise

smallholders and developers not to burn these waste materials.

All the above are especially out of reach for local communities living around

peatlands and relying on these lands for their livelihoods. Most people living in and

around peatlands are relatively poor and possess only primary levels of education.

They may inadvertently degrade peatlands through the way they manage the land,

which will result in gradual losses of their livelihoods. And of course, they may also

resort to burning for their own agricultural needs simply because they cannot afford

to do it any other way. There is a lack of material designed to engage society and

make the scientifically complex and technical ideas related to sustainable peatland

use understandable to local communities. Cross- or inter-sectoral coordination and

communication between the government agencies, scientists and other stakeholders

with local communities are essentially weak. This has further led to the emergence of

conflicts over peatland utilisation, and as mentioned above, sometimes communities

resort to burning to resolve these conflicts.

Conclusion

The report produced by Working Group 2 has highlighted several important things.

Most importantly, it has clearly sown the importance of, firstly the conservation of

pristine peatlands, and secondly, the sustainable management of peatlands that

have already been developed. Both of these things are vitally important in terms of

the maintenance of biodiversity, the provision of ecosystem services (water

management and climate regulation), economic livelihoods of surrounding

communities, and most importantly, the avoidance and reduction of fire incidences

which lead to haze episodes. However, it has become clear that the sustainable

management of peatlands face many challenges. Communities living adjacent to

peat areas often are not made aware of their impact on the peatlands. Commercial

developers are also no different, suffering from a combination of ignorance and also

the impetus to be most economically efficient in their business. The policy and

administrative frameworks presently in place in Malaysia and at the regional level are

still inadequate and ineffectively implemented, made obvious by the fact that

peatlands in the region continue to be degraded and catch fire at an alarming rate. A

serious underlying cause for all this is the unique nature of tropical peat, which

requires highly specialized knowledge to manage and conserve effectively. There is

much room for improvement, especially in communicating the uniqueness and

importance of these peatlands to all stakeholders involved.




Way Forward

The above exercise to determine peatland-related issues and challenges in the

Action Area section allow strategies to be developed that are focused directly at the

source of the problem. Working Group 2 has harnessed its group members’

extensive expertise in various aspects of peatland-related knowledge to come up

with an extensive plan moving forward. Working Group 2’s strategy is divided into

two clear approaches, one being solutions that can be implemented in the short-

term, and the other for the long-term outlook. As a whole, these recommendations

aim to first of all reduce and eventually eliminate haze-causing fires on peatlands

(especially in Malaysia), and secondly, to ensure best management practices on

developed peatlands in general. This strategy is clearly depicted in the table below.

Table 7. Summary Table

Solutions Details

Short Term Strategies to prevent, reduce risk of, and ameliorate results of fire through Integrated Fire Management (IFM).

Long Term Effective Policies and Regulations

Social and Economic Issues

Introducing sustainable income-generating activities to local communities.

Effective Communication

Current knowledge, understanding and technology need to be circulated transparently through the peat knowledge chain.

Society need to be educated on the importance of continued protection and rehabilitation of damaged peatland forests

Effective Peatland Management

Accurate and up-to-date information

Good land preparation

Best water management practices

Prevention of fire on abandoned peat swamp forest.

Dam construction and canal blocking strategies

Research and Development

In the short term, Working Group 2 prescribes strategies to prevent, reduce

the risk of, and ameliorate results of fire through the Integrated Fire Management

(IFM) method. The IFM method aims to address the problems and issues posed by

unwanted fires holistically within the context of the natural environment and socio-

economic systems. It combines the components of fire management, namely

Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Recovery, to provide a holistic and

scalable framework. It also provides all stakeholders with guidance on how to

implement actions at the appropriate time and scale to prepare for, and manage any

fire situation. The 80:20 rule is key to this approach: 80% of the effort/resources




need to be put into fire prevention as compared to 20% toward fire suppression. A

failure to emphasise the prevention and preparedness aspects of fire management

(even if there are only limited resources to begin with) will cause the continued cycle

of unwanted fire spreading across the wider peatland landscapes. IFm should be

coupled with Community Based Fire Management (CBFiM) planning, which enables

the landscape to be drafted out according to local knowledge and planning for

peatland ecosystem management and protection from fire. Detailed step-by-step

guidelines of the recommended IFM method is outlined in the following diagram.

Figure 7. The components of Integrated Fire Management

In the long term, Working Group 2 has proposed 6 areas to improve upon

moving forward: policies and regulations, management of issues related to socio-

economic conditions, communications, peatland management, prevention of fire on

abandoned peatland, and research and development.

In the effort to improve policies and regulations, the group proposes the ‘multi-

door approach’ that seeks to establish coherence between the inquiry, investigation

and prosecution of forestry crimes. This approach encourages the consideration of

environmental crimes as equivalent to crimes such as corruption, money laundering

and tax evasion, and prioritizes crimes committed by corporations or corporate

actors. Under this approach, several changes should be done to the present system

of policy implementation in Malaysia:




(1) Investigators should collect data on landowners at the beginning of

planting season to ensure accountability. This can be done with the

assistance of satellite technology

(2) Licenses and permits for activities in peatland areas to concessionaires

who cause fires should be immediately revoked

(3) Dedicated personnel must ensure that the land now under government

control is well managed and there is no effort from other entities to

convert the land into plantations or sell the cleared land to individual

investors

(4) All this must be coupled with strong public campaigns to sensitize the

public and targeted stakeholders to the dangers of fires and peat

degradation

In terms of improving the management of issues related to socio-economic

conditions of the communities living adjacent to peatlands, there should be efforts to

introduce sustainable income-generating activities to them. This will provide the

locals with more livelihood options and could potentially contribute to solving other

more complex social problems related to peatland management.

Communication is definitely key in resolving an issue as complex as peatland

and fire management. According to recent research by Lakoff (2010), reframing

complex problems for public engagement is fundamental to break through

communication barriers and generate new ways of thinking by stakeholders. At the

technical level, current knowledge, understanding and technology need to be

circulated transparently through the peat knowledge chain. This will help ensure a

continued sense of ownership and empowerment at all levels of society and

stakeholders to protect the remaining peat landscape. At the policy-making level, the

importance of communicating scientific findings to support policy development is

especially important, as was demonstrated during a recent survey (Padfield et al.

2014) when respondents gave the highest priority (38%) to the question: “How can

current scientific knowledge be synthesized and translated into policy-relevant

information to aid policy and decision-making, management and to suggest further

research?” A better communication policy could be realized by better coordination of

research conducted by research institutions, better use of social media to promote

and create public dialogue on critical issues, multi-stakeholder activities such as field

visits and active public engagement with governmental agencies to positively

influence the policy process. Working Group 3’s report contains a detailed case

study on the Tropical Peat Research laboratory (TPRL) and its efforts to engage in

effective scientific communication with local communities in Sarawak for sustainable

peatland management, which could potentially be applied to other parts of the

country.

To improve the effectiveness of peatland management in the long term, three

things are needed: accurate and up-to-date information, good knowledge of land




preparation, and best water management practices. In terms of information

management, the locations, areas, and status of peatlands are a basic need, and

this would require investment and adoption of the latest Geographic Information

System (GIS) technologies.

Good planning and the correct sequence of land preparation steps are

important prerequisites prior to peatland conversion in order to achieve high yields,

lower susceptibility of these lands to fire, and overall sustainable peatland

development. There has to be concerted efforts to educate and assist stakeholders

on proper site selection (including its topography, types, depth and hydrology), drain

development (based topograpical surveys that can indicate the best location of

outlets), and compaction or re-compaction (to increase water retention capacity).

Detailed explanations of each of these methods are available in the full Working

Group 2 report in the Annex.

A good water management plan is an essential part of a good management

plan for any plantation on peat, not least to reduce the fire risk. A good water

management system for oil palm on peat is one that can effectively maintain a water

level of 50-70 cm below the bank in collection drains or a 40-60 cm groundwater

piezometer reading. The moist peat surface at this water level should also help to

minimize the risk of accidental peat fires. Water management on peat is site specific

and needs to consider the wider implications on surrounding areas, stormwater

detention periods, as well as to avoid un-drainable situations, especially in areas

where the mineral subsoil is below Mean Water Levels. Stakeholders and

developers must also be educated and assisted in the elements of a good water

management system on peatlands. This would include an initial hydrological survey

of the area, an integrated flood water management and water level management

system, good utilization of water management maps, and continuous drainage

system improvement and maintenance. In addition, oil palm plantations should also

have the in–house proficiency to develop and implement good water management

plans that take into account impacts on the surroundings. Details into each of these

steps are also available in the full Working Group 2 Report.

Abandoned peatswamps pose high risk of fires, not to mention also having

deleterious impacts on the global climate. These abandoned areas thus must be

managed ‘back to life’. New knowledge is needed on the current status of

abandoned agricultural peatland, the cause of abandonment, the impacts of

abandonment, and restoration approaches. Re-creation of moist conditions (usually

through dam construction and canal blocking) are believed to prevent fire outbreaks

and help initiate the re-establishment of forest vegetation. However, recent research

by Baekman (2006) indicate that there may be problems with the use of dams in

peat areas in the long term, so this area requires further investigation.

Finally, there is a lot more that we still do not know about tropical peatlands.

Research findings are the drivers for informed policy developments and effective




peatland management to prevent peat fires and other adverse environmental

impacts. The goal of zero haze in the region requires science that bridges institutions

and comes from various fields: natural disaster (fire science), soil, ecosystem,

hydrology, policy, politics and industry. Urgent areas of study include the invention

and deployment of technologies to preserve intact peatlands, build dams and canals

on peatlands developed for plantations and hybrid engineering systems to monitor

and manage water tables in peatlands to prevent over-draining that could lead to

peat fires. Researchers from multidisciplinary research areas need to communicate

with each other to close the knowledge gaps especially for tropical peat, and more

importantly to speak to the debate over utilizing versus conserving peat.




Waste to Resources: Energy or Materials

As the previous two sections have elaborated, finding long term solutions to alleviate

the regional haze problem is a complex challenge. The earlier working groups have

proposed multi-pronged strategies ranging from a direct approach of causal

elimination with the banning of open burning through legislation and enforcement, to

a more indirect socio-political approach of dealing with the root cause which many

believe to be associated to land grabbing. Other initiatives such as plans to build

drainage/canal systems in peatland areas as a means of underground soil wetting

have also been considered.

Working Group 3 focuses on another possible solution: an economic one.

This working group focuses on the fact that a substantial amount of biomass

residues are generated at various stages of the planting and harvesting process on

(small-, medium-, and large-scale) plantations. Especially in the preparation stage, a

lot of residue is produced in the process of clearing undergrowth and vegetation.

Often times due to, among others, the time-consuming mulching process and also as

a form of pest control, these plantations resort to burning the biomass residues on

site, as a quick and easy way to get rid of them. As detailed in the previous working

groups, such burning activity is a significant contributor to smoke in the atmosphere

during the haze season. Such a situation is especially dire when the burning is done

on fire-prone peatlands.

Hence, Working Group 3 explores a potential economic solution to the above

scenario; the possibility of utilizing the biomass produced on plantations to become a

higher value bio-product. The rationale is that the creation of value for the hitherto

burnt biomass should provide the incentive for plantations and farmers to view the

biomass as a source of ‘wealth’, not ‘waste’. Should this sustainable practice of

economic harvesting (‘earn, not ‘burn’!) prove to be economically sound, there

should be less plantations and farmers resorting to fire as a way to clear the biomass

residues. When fires are no longer used, there should be much less incidences of

haze resulting from manmade fires that have spread out of control. This would then

be a positive step towards substantially reducing the severity of haze episodes in the

region.

Various technologies exist to convert biomass resources into heat and power,

such as gasification and direct firing combustion. However, technologies for

converting bioenergy are still new and only several have been successfully

commercialised. Many of these technologies are still being piloted or are in the R&D

stage. This report explores technologies related to the conversion of biomass into

heat and power as well as bioethanol, considering the suitability of each method as a

promising strategy to help mitigate transboundary pollution experienced in the

region. Case studies are also presented for possible extension into detailed studies

at a later stage.




Biomass Residues

Biomass refers to any organic, decomposable matter derived from plants or animals

available on a renewable basis. Its availability is distinguished between those

generated on the site of growth (forests, plantations) and those generated at the

point of processing. Biomass residues generated in the forests, fields or plantations

are the major contributor to haze episodes in Southeast Asia due to on-site fires

occurring during the dry, field preparation season. Additionally, parts of Malaysia and

Indonesia are made up of large areas of peat forest which is also highly combustible

during dry season. As explained in the previous working group report, peat forest fire

becomes very difficult to control, due to its abundance of underground biomass.

For example, the island of Sumatera, Indonesia, consists of 9,680,020ha of

dipterocarp forest, 7,447,358ha of peat forest, and 12,209,475ha of oil palm

plantations, as shown in the map and table below. In the year 2015, it was estimated

that approximately 5,385,815,232Mg of biomass could be obtained from Sumatera,

with 1,675,655,508Mg of biomass from peat forests and 1,080,538,533Mg of

biomass from oil palm plantations.

Figure 8. Land use distribution in Sumatera, Indonesia




Table 8. Land use in Sumatera in year 2015/2016

Type of Land use Area (Ha) Biomass (Mg/ha)

Biomass (Mg)

Dipt Forest 9,680,020 149 1,439,419,021

Peat Forest 7,447,358 225 1,675,655,508

Mangrove Forest 4,675,206 250 1,168,801,419

Oil Palm 12,209,475 89 1,080,538,533

Rubber 2,922,534 2 6,517,252

Paddy 741,089 2 1,482,178

Other Agriculture 6,700,660 2 13,401,320

Non vegetated 3,000,000 - -

TOTAL 47,376,343 5,385,815,232

For the purpose of this report, only lignocellulosic biomass residues

originating from primary or secondary forest, agricultural plantations and peat forests

shall be considered. The typical composition of lignocellulosic biomass is 5-30%

lignin, 19-27% hemicellulose and 30-50% cellulose (Liu et al., 2014).

Open burning of forest biomass residues and oil palm plantation biomass

residues have been found to be the most likely sources of smoke haze. The

chemical composition of forest biomass and oil palm plantation biomass are shown

in the table below. The ultimate analysis measured the elemental contents for

carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur (C, H, O, N, S) which are important

indicators for energy processes and gas emissions during combustion of the

resource materials. The forest biomass showed a higher value of C (48.10%) as

compared to that of the trunk (40.64%) and frond (44.50%) of oil palm. In terms of

the lignocellulosic content which is the important composition indicator for conversion

to biofuels and biochemical, Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) have highest amount of

cellulose (57.80%), while each type of biomass have similar lignin and hemicellulose

contents. The higher heating value (HHV) of the biomass was also compared, where

EFB has the highest value of HHV with 20.54MJ/kg, while both the trunk and frond

has slightly lower HHV than the EFB, with 17.27MJ/kg and 17.28MJ/kg respectively.

Table 9. Properties of biomass

Forest biomass

a

Oil Palm Plantation Biomass Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) c, f Oil Palm Trunk

b, c Oil Palm Frond

d, e

Proximate analysis (wt% dry basis)

Moisture content - 8.34 16.00 4.68

Volatile matter - 79.82 83.50 76.85

Fixed carbon - 13.31 15.20 5.19

Ash 1.70 6.87 1.30 18.07

Ultimate analysis (wt% dry basis)




C 48.10 40.64 44.58 46.36

H 5.99 5.09 4.53 6.44

O 45.72 53.12 48.80 38.91

N - 2.15 0.71 2.18

S - - 0.07 0.92

Lignocellulosic content (wt% dry basis)

Cellulose 45.80 45.90 50.33 57.80

Hemicellulose 24.40 25.30 23.18 21.20

Lignin 28.00 18.10 21.7 22.80

HHV (MJ/kg) - 17.27 17.28 20.54 (Source: a. Saidur et al., 2011; b. Nimit et al., 2012, c. Oil palm biomass (www.bfdic.com),

d. Guangul et al., 2012, e. Abnisa et. al., 2011, f. Abdullah and Sulaiman, 2013)

Conversion Pathways

Transforming biomass residues to value-products and energy or biofuels involve

thermochemical, biochemical, and physical conversion processes. The pathway is

best illustrated in Figure 1. Products that can be derived from biomass can be

categorised based on economic value, namely low, medium and high value

products, as shown in the table below. Low value products such as compost require

very low investment cost and simple conversion technologies, but the product value

is relatively low. Heat and power products from biomass are considered as medium

value products, while biofuel and biochemicals products require high investment cost

resulting in the highest product value among the three categories.

Table 10. Types of product derived from biomass

Type of product Product

Low value product Compost

Medium value product Heat and power

High value product Biofuel and bio-chemicals

Composting (low)

Aerobic composting is the most commonly used biological treatment for the

conversion of organic portions of waste. It is defined as the biological decomposition

and stabilisation of organic substrates under conditions that allows development of

thermophilic temperatures as a result of biologically produced heat and compost.

http://www.bfdic.com/




Products Conversion Technology

Oil Palm Frond

Oil Palm Leaves

Oil Palm Trunks (OPT)

OPT Sap

Squeezed Sap

Residue (SSR)

Old Oil Palm

Plantation Site

Secondary Forest

Woody

Biomass

Peat Land

Peat/

Woody

Biomass

Biogas

Bio-

ethanol

Fuel

Pellet

Bio-coke

Biochemical

Conversion

Anaerobic

Digestion (AD)

Fermentation

Physical Processing

Drying and

Pelletisation

Compression

with Heating

Bio-

methane Biogas

Upgrading

Bio-solid Bio-liquid Biogas Bio-energy

Electricity

Steam

Char Bio-oil

Pyrolysis

Gas

Syngas

Torrified

Biomass

Thermochemical

Conversion

Incineration

Pyrolysis

Gasification

Torrefaction

Boiler

Steam

Turbine

Primary Secondary Bio-

chemical

Bio-

chemical

s

Composting Compost

Figure 9. Conversion of biomass to product




Biofertilizer microorganisms are incorporated into the biomass compost to

produce bioorganic fertilizer or biofertilizer. Examples of biofertilizer microorganisms

are N2 fixing bacteria (Rhizobium spp.., Azospirillum spp. Azotobacter spp.),

phosphate solubilising microbes (Bacillus spp., Klebsiella spp.,Penicillium spp) and

plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria, (Azotobacter spp., Enterobacter spp.).

Several large plantation companies in Malaysia, e.g. FELDA, FELCRA and

Sime Darby are embarking on their own biofertilizer production, especially for oil

palm. Oil palm production has largely been dependent on chemical fertilizers. These

companies’ interest in biofertilizer is partly due to the increasing cost of chemical

fertilizers, particularly urea, and partly to awareness on green technology for crop

production. It is estimated that 60% of costs of production in oil palm are on

fertilizers. On top of that, Malaysia is facing infertile soil due to the loss of top soil

and years of planting on the same soil, in addition to increasing pest and diseases.

Power generation (medium)

Conversion of biomass resources to power and heat requires several steps including

biomass fuel preparation (pre-treatment, pre-drying, size reduction) and selection of

conversion technology. The fuel preparation (pelletising) process as shown in the

figure below improves the physical, chemical and combustion properties over those

of the raw biomass. It also improves the characteristics of the biomass in its

utilisation as direct fuel as shown in the table below.

Figure 10. Process of biomass pelletising

Table 11. Characteristics of shredded and pelletised EFB

Characteristics Shredded EFB Pelletised EFB

Calorific value, CV (kJ/kg)

8500 15051

Moisture content (%) 45 12

Amount of fuel required to produce 1 ton of

steam 350-400 kg 200 kg

Fuel cost (RM/ton) RM 15 – 70 RM 450 1Bulk Density (kg/m3) 150 689

1Combined Cycle Efficiency (%)

31.8 32.3

1Electricity generation cost ($/kWh)

0.063 0.072

Transportation cost RM 45/ton for distance of 80-100 km, extra cost will

be charged for additional distance

Biomass Drying Grinding Pelletising




(1Source: Pirraglia et al., 2012)

Biomass to power conversion systems fall into two categories, i.e. the direct-

fired and gasification systems. The direct-fired category includes stoker boilers,

fluidised bed boilers, and co-firing. The gasification category on the other hand

includes fixed bed gasifiers and fluidised bed gasifiers. The technologies for

conversion of biomass for power generation are summarised in the table below.

Table 12. Summary of Biomass to Power Conversion Technologies

Biomass Conversion Technology

Common Fuel Types

Feed Size

(inches)

Moisture Content

(%)

Capacity Range (MW)

Direct Firing Stoker grate,

underfire stoker boilers

Sawdust, bark, chips, hog fuel, shavings, end

cuts, sander dust

0.25 - 2 10-50 4-300

Fluidized bed boiler

Wood residue, peat, wide variety

of fuels < 2 <60 300

Cofiring—pulverized coal boilers

Sawdust, bark, shavings, sander

dust <0.25 <25 1000

Cofiring—stoker,

fluidized bed boilers

Sawdust, bark, shavings, hog fuel

<2

10-50 300

Gasifiers Fixed bed

gasifier

Chipped wood or hog fuel, shells, sewage sludge

0.25-4 <20 50

Fluidized bed gasifier

Most wood and agriculture residues

0.25-2 15-30 25

(Source: Based on Wright, 2006)

The current application of biomass to power in Malaysia is focused on the

utilisation of EFB due to it high HHV content and abundant feedstock from palm oil

mills. To date, there is no implementation of forest biomass or oil palm plantation

biomass to power in Malaysia. Nevertheless, forest biomass and oil palm plantation

biomass has been shown to have similar HHV content as EFB (20 MJ/kg compared

to 17MJ/kg), hence making these materials a potential source for power generation.

Malaysia started utilising biomass in power generation in the year 2003,

where a 7.5MW integrated biomass co-generation plant was established in FELDA

Sahabat, Lahad Datu, Sabah by the FELDA Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV).

The power plant uses EFB as feedstock generating heat and power for demands

within the company mill (kernel crushing), refinery and surrounding communities.




The project was the first Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Project in Malaysia.

With the investment cost of 38 million ringgit, the biomass power plant successfully

reduced 377,902t of CO2 emission by the end of 2012 (CDM, 2006). The project is

marked as one of the key success of renewable energy development in Malaysia as

it is the first large scale co-generation plant in the world to solely utilise treated EFB

combustion fuel. Malaysia’s industries were encouraged by the government to invest

R&D efforts and to study the feasibility of applying this model throughout the

country's industrial sector.

Biomass to Biofuel/Biochemical (high)

Maximum valorisation (value) of biomass can be achieved by its conversion into

biofuels and biochemicals. The conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to biofuels and

biochemicals follow similar routes that consists of pretreatment, hydrolysis, microbial

conversion and purification, as illustrated below . While the process of conversion to

biofuels in the form of bioethanol has been commercially established, the processes

for conversion to other biofuels such as butanol and biochemicals are not

commercially available at the present time.

Figure 11. Process of conversion into biofuels and biochemicals

Pretreatment is required to disrupt the lignin outer layer and expose the

carbohydrates for hydrolysis to produce monomeric sugars compatible for

fermentation. This may encompass physical (i.e. crushing, pulverisation, etc.) and

thermo-chemical processes optionally coupled with biological pretreatment.

Hydrolysis refers to processes that convert the polysaccharides into

monomeric sugars prior to microbial conversion. There are two different types of

hydrolysis; acid hydrolysis and enzymatic hydrolysis. While acid hydrolysis is able to

produce high yields of simple sugars, it suffers from the disadvantage of extensive

acid requirement, costly acid recycling and undesirable degradation of products

which renders it commercially less appealing. Enzymatic hydrolysis needs an

efficient pretreatment which increases the porosity of the lignocellulosic substrate,

making the cellulose more accessible to cellulases and improving the enzymatic

digestibility of the substrate. Cellulase enzymes from the fungus Trichoderma reesei

have a proven efficiency and productivity in this function. Advances in enzyme-based

technology for ethanol production have been substantial over the years, and as a

result, ethanol production costs have been reduced considerably.

The monosaccharides formed by the hydrolysis process are then fermented to

produce ethanol (conversion). Industrial yeasts such as S. cerevisiae have proven

track records with high yields in the brewery and wine industries. However, wild

Pretreatment Hydrolysis Conversion Purification




S.cerevisae is capable of fermenting only C6 hexoses which makes it incompatible

for saccharification of a large proportion of hemicellulosic biomass mainly constituted

by pentose sugars such as D-xylose (Martin et al., 2002). In response to such

limitations, genetically engineered microorganisms have been extensively employed

and are capable of concurrently fermenting pentose and hexose sugars with little

amounts of toxic end-products, while having high tolerance to chemical inhibitors

derived from the pretreatment and hydrolysis processes. Process variations such as

a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process has been

developed to enable parallel hydrolysis and fermentation reactions in one single

reactor, but these processes tend to compromise on yields due to different operating

temperatures of the hydrolysis and fermentation processes.

In the final step, the ethanol is then recovered and purified through a

distillation process incorporating normal and azeotropic distillation.

Economic Potential

Economic conversions of biomass range from low investment and low returns

biofertilizer to high investment and high returns biochemicals. Biofertilizers are

economical only when the biomass residues are readily available for conversion

without additional transportation costs such as EFB from palm oil mills. Biopellets

can command a higher price, but only if exported to energy deficient countries. It is

not economical for local consumption due to the abundance of biomass available

locally and that extra costs involved in the pelletising process. Biochemicals on the

other hand are not fully commercialised yet. Most of the biochemicals produced are

still in piloting stage, hence the lack of data available for the purpose of this study.

Thus, this report focuses into the economic potential of biomass-to-power and

biomass-to-ethanol conversions.

Taking off from the FELDA case stated earlier, this report presents the

economic potential using 2,000t/d forest and oil palm plantation biomass (OPF and

OPT) as the feedstock for power generation with main focus on electricity

production. The proposed technology is a 27MW capacity direct combustion system

with a 76% efficiency comprising of a pre-treatment drying system, fluidised bed

boilers for conversion of biomass to heat and steam, and generation of electricity

through extraction-condensing turbine. The biomass feedstock with an assumed

calorific value of 15.82MJ/kg with 16% moisture content (dry basis) (Fiseha et al.,

2012). The direct combustion technology has a 30 years plant life with investment

cost of $ 900/kW and $1050/kW for boiler and turbine respectively.

Using the net present value (NPV) economic analysis, the correlation between

the minimum electricity production cost and the equity financing is presented in

Figure 12. Minimum electricity product cost ranged from $ 0.23/kWh to $ 0.19/kWh

with variations of equity financing share of 30% to 70%. The minimum product cost




is consider high even with the equity financing adoption as compared to the current

feed-it-tariff (FiT) incentive of $ 0.10/kWh.

The case study is repeated with different capacities (2000t/d, 1000t/d, and

500t/d), and there are plotted in Figure 12. It can be seen that there is only a

marginal reduction in the minimum electricity price (ranged from $ 0.24/kWh to $

0.19/kWh) due to economy-of scale capacity increment. This is due to the high fixed

investment cost (approximately $3000/kW), while the current FiT scheme is relatively

low. The low FiT scheme renders the biomass-to-power to be less competitive at the

current power industry market.

Figure 12. Breakeven of electricity selling price for biomass-to-power in Malaysian

context

Electricity price for changes of equity financing for conversion of biomass to power

For the case of biomass to bioethanol, an economic evaluation was also performed

to determine the minimum selling price of ethanol and power in the current economic

conditions.

The case study for biomass to bioethanol presents the economic potential

using 2000t/d biomass as the feedstock. The proposed technology is enzymatic

hydrolysis followed by fermentation with the cellulosics content in biomass of 70%

and conversion yield of the cellulosics to C5 and C6 sugar of 95%. The fermentation

process is using high substrate tolerant recombinant yeast capable of converting

30% fermentable C5 and C6 sugars to 15% ethanol. The technology has a 30 years

plant life with the total capacity cost of $ 1,094,065,600.00. The major variable cost

is assumed to be the enzyme cost of about 0.6$/gal of ethanol.




Figure 13. Breakeven of ethanol selling price for biomass-to-ethanol in Malaysian

context

Figure 14. The price of ethanol with different capacity and capacity cost

Using the net present value (NPV) economic analysis, the correlation between

the ethanol production cost and equity financing is presented in Figure 13. For a

production capacity of 2000t/d, the production cost ranged from $ 0.64/l to $ 0.62/l




with the movement of equity financing share from 30% to 70% which is higher than

the current market ethanol price of $ 0.58/l. Figure 13 also shows the variation of

ethanol production cost at different capacities and with variation in enzyme costs.

The plot demonstrates that economic viability from lower ethanol production cost can

be achieved at favourable equity financing ratios, higher capacities (due to economy

of scale) and lower enzyme costs.

Figure 14 shows the price of ethanol for different capacities and capacity

costs. The analysis compared the local scenario as presented above and the U.S

scenario (NREL report). In U.S scenario, the production cost is $0.67/l while in the

local scenarios it is $0.58/l and $0.63/l for capacities of 1000t/d and 2000t/d,

respectively. It shown that with the localised condition, the value of ethanol cost can

be significantly reduced

Table 13. Ethanol production cost ($/l) reduction by improving the debt: equity ratio

or interest rate

Debt : Equity ratio Interest Rate

8% 5% 3%

95:5 0.77 0.61 0.52

70:30 0.73 0.60 0.53

60:40 0.71 (0.57a) 0.60 0.53

50:50 0.69 0.60 0.54

40:60 0.67 0.59 (0.52ᵇ) 0.54

Table 13 presents the potential of ethanol production cost reduction by

improving the debt: equity (D:E) Ratio or interest rate (iR). It is shown that at the iR

of 3%, the ethanol production cost could be reduced significantly and makes it

competitive to current market value.

The two case studies presented above reviewed the economic potential of

localised biomass-to-power and ethanol in current market. For biomass-to-power,

the current FiTscheme is relatively lower than the electricity production cost,

rendering the biomass-to-power option less attrative to investors. The rate of FiT

scheme in Malaysia was established in year 2011, and is considered not up-to-date

on current renewable resources market as various RE resources have been more

economically competitative in recent years. In order to promote the utilisation of

biomass to power, the current Fit should be reviewed and revised.

The case study of biomass to ethanol, on the other hand, demonstrated a

favourable scenario to investors demonstrating that with a financial interest rate of

3%, ethanol production is economically competitive in the current market.

Nevertheless, the current interest rate stands at the rate of 5%-8% and with high




cost of enzyme in Malaysia, there needs to be some policy and technology

intervention to enable a sustainable bioethanol industry in Malaysia.

Challenges of Biomass Conversion in Malaysia

In additional to pricing constraints as discussed above, there are also other

challenges in the way of biomass conversion in Malaysia, including investment,

technology or technical, transportation and logistics, and also socio-cultural

awareness on the issue. The following discussion details each of these challenges in

turn.

Briefly, full-scale investment into biomass conversion technologies in

Malaysia is hindered by several factors, including limited access to biomass

feedstock, limited financing resources for biomass conversion technologies, and a

lack of support from domestic market.

The technological and technical challenges of biomass conversion into

Malaysia can be divided according to type of product. Composting (low value)

technology is mature and anaerobic composting process is commonly applied.

However, this technology would result in large carbon footprint, and would lead to

odour problems if there is no proper containment of biomass waste being

composted.

For biomass-based power generation (medium value), gasification and

pyrolysis are generally less mature than direct combustion, and are more vulnerable

to technical breakdowns, accidents, or explosions due to malfunctioning. In

particular, pyrolysis has low thermal stability, and has been associated with corrosion

problems, which may hinder further upgrading of the product into bio-oils (for more

market value) (McKendry, 2002a).

In terms of biochemical and biofuel production (high value), biorefinery

processes designed to synthesise biochemicals (i.e. lactic acid, bio-sugar, polylactic

acid, food additives, zeolite and catalysts, etc.) is still at its infancy in Malaysia. This

is manifested in the lack of pilot or demonstration plants, a deficit of market-focused

research and development (R&D), and a lack of local market support for these

technologies due to their high technical and financial risks. IPs for conversion

technologies for biochemical production are now highly prized and are in the domain

of large international private companies such as DuPont and DSM.

Moving on, costs associated with transportation and logistics vary for

different biomass residues and the sites of its availability. Biomass which are

generated post-processing such as EFBs, rice husks and wood chips are available




at the processing sites so transport costs are minimised. However, for non-

processed biomass such as oil palm tree trunks, rice straws, and non-processed

forest products, the transportation costs are a function of its distance to the

transportation network. Cost estimates range from RM0.20 to RM 10 per kilometre

per tonne based on road transport (trucks), but may differ upon the availability of

other modes of transport such as trains or barges, however in these cases transport

interfaces need to be factored in. For long distance haulage, compression and

pelletisation of biomass resource into compact forms (i.e. pellets or briquettes) would

be required (BioEnergy Consult, 2016).

Low socio-cultural awareness among stakeholders on the importance and

benefit of achieving sustainability via maximum harnessing (reuse) of biomass could

be another challenge in Malaysia. Locally, the concept of carbon footprinting is not

widely adopted or understood, and sustainability is not a major concern in business

decision-making. Moreover, in Malaysia, the concept of environmental sustainability

is not ingrained among the population. Among the three pillars of sustainability (i.e.

economic, social and environmental), practical engineering considerations only

emphasise the first two aspects. Without the enforcement of regulations, application

of biomass resources for the sake of environmental protection is not imperative for

existing businesses.

Science and Policy Interface

The Malaysian government has declared biomass as a potentially important source

of energy for Malaysia. In order to promote and enhance the development of

biomass energy, several energy policies have been developed, including:

a) Fifth Fuel Policy (2000)

b) National Bio-fuel Policy (2006)

c) National Green Technology Policy (2009)

d) National Renewable Energy Policy (2010)

These policies have been developed based on three principals, which focus

on supply, utilisation and the environment. The Government of Malaysia has also

launched several programmes to explore and promote the use of renewable energy

as an alternative fuel source. The on-going incentives and programs include Feed-in

Tariff (FiT), EU-Malaysia Biomass Sustainable Production Initiative (Biomass-SP),

East Coast Economic Region (ECER), Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) and the

National Biomass Strategy (NBS) 2020. The applicability, or lack thereof, of these

existing policies into the proposed strategies will be discussed further in the ‘way

forward’ section further below.




Conclusion

As haze episodes may evolve into potentially complex emergencies, the

development of an effective technology for biomass utilisation is critical. Hitherto,

burning has been the preferred method for clearing biomass residue as it is the most

economical form of land clearance. Hence, it can be said that one of the main causal

factors of the transboundary haze is in fact economic motivation. In the same way,

this working group proposes an alternative economic motivation, to disincentivise

burning and incentivise ‘earning’ instead. The group argues that if an economically

sound method can be presented to plantations and farmers, this will be a great

motivator for them to move away from fire-based methods of land clearing which do

not yield any economic benefits.

The above discussion has detailed how biomass residue can potentially be

turned into value-added products such as compost, fuel, power, and biochemicals.

This will potentially create economic benefits for the stakeholders involved, and

ultimately reduce open burning practices and contribute to haze mitigation. However,

the preliminary findings of this working group show that at current local economic

conditions, products from biomass would be more expensive than the currently

available energy and fuel. In addition to this economic challenge, other issues like

investment, transportation, and awareness may create further resistance to this

solution.

However, such a situation is not all that stark. There have been many

instances where a potentially beneficial strategy is not immediately economically

viable and cannot break even, due to, among other, the lack of market demand. It is

then the role of the government or other interested parties to create various

incentives to close the economic gap, to enable these strategies to take hold in the

market, until demand is sufficient. Potential approaches in the effort to make

biomass residue conversion in Malaysia viable are expanded in the ‘way forward

section’ below.

Way Forward

As mentioned above, governments and other interested stakeholders should play an

important role in creating various incentives to create markets for certain beneficial

technologies and to make them more economically feasible. Especially in the case of

the transboundary haze, which amounts to billions of ringgit of economic losses

throughout the Malaysian economy on an almost yearly basis, the government of

Malaysia should be even more interested to invest in a solution that could have a

positive trade-off towards a haze free Malaysia.

While the utilization of biomass for lower value products such as fertilizers and

fuel in direct combustion is now well established in the Malaysian commercial




domain, there are still challenges in moving up the value chain to biochemical

conversion (which include the biofuels ethanol or butanol). Through the years, the

government of Malaysia has formulated policies and programmes related to the

utilisation of biomass for economic gains (as detailed above), however these policies

lack specificity and still have room for improvement. In particular, to complement

existing policies, further policies should be developed for

(1) securing biomass resources

(2) supporting biotechnologies, and

(3) creating a platform for biomass product marketing

One hurdle related to this is the Malaysian government’s lack of mandate on

biodiesel B5 and bioethanol E10 which hinders full uptake on any bioethanol

investment. Without a firm biofuel policy mandate, the case for bioethanol is hard to

defend due to its high investment cost. This is further compounded when

investments are undertaken through the acquisition of bank loans, hence increasing

operational costs due to interest repayments. Working Group 3 proposes that the

government provides significant funding involvement (that can be converted into

equity) to minimise the interest charges from massive loans. In other words, from a

purely financial standpoint, the equity-loan ratio needs to be optimised to maximise

margins on the sale of ethanol. This will help enable ethanol to competing against

traditional fuels at a similar price point.

The economic case for bioethanol or any biochemical is not helped by the

imperfect development of the local biomass market. As it stands, the local biomass

market is quite fragmented and unorganised, and is far from a full-fledged

commodity market. In order to ensure proper management and trading of biomass,

this working group proposes the establishment of a ‘Centre for Sustainable

Mobilisation of Biomass Resources’, which would include within its remit biomass

logistics and trade centres. The Centre and complementary regional branches

should help to optimise logistics and trading organization, where different biomass

fuels such as firewood, chips, pellets and energy crops can be marketed at

guaranteed quality and prices. Both of the above suggestions will also go a long way

in helping to create the market demand among public which is so needed for a

sustainable commodity.

Admittedly also, current research and development on potential biomass

utilisation directly related to the mitigation of the haze problem is still at its infancy.

There is a need for more research funding in the area, as well as the development of

databases and support systems for researchers. More specifically related to this

report, the choice of technology or combination of technologies to be selected for

possible demonstration or even commercialisation requires a more detailed study.

This is to determine with greater accuracy on the investments needed and the




possible economic returns to complement the social and environmental benefits of

potential solutions to the haze problem.




THE WAY FORWARD

1. Recognizing that “slash, not to burn, to earn additional income,” as a fresh

approach to solving haze problem, it is recommended that:

i. The concerned Government should consider investing through its privately

linked companies in the development of biomass conversion to material or

energies facilities through private-public equity partnership; and

ii. The concerned government should provide conducive investment

environment, including low interest rates and concession areas7, in order

to promote investment in the proposed facilities.

2. Noting that the proposed conversion of biomass to energy would be viable, it is

recommended that:

i. The private sector ought to be encouraged to take the lead in the

proposed investments with the participation of government investment

arms or linked companies, as well as with local communities made up of

farmers, settlers, smallholders, and adjacent plantation companies; and

ii. Interested parties should conduct the necessary techno-economic

environmental feasibility studies prior to investment, namely, conversion of

biomass to ethanol or biomass to electricity, or if not, hydrogen fuel by

mobile8 gasification and hydrogen generation (by electrolysis) unit.

3. Recognizing that water management is critical in peat areas, it is recommended

that:

i. Those who develop peat areas for plantation or any other agro-forestry

land development should carry out the following measures: (a) suitable

site selection, (b) maintenance of natural drainage 9 or sound drain

development, (c) land clearing and stacking, (d) compaction, and (e) re-

compaction to reduce the fire risk,

ii. Those who have developed plantations in the peat areas have to maintain

high water table by containing stream flows throughout the plantation

irrigation systems; and

iii. Disturbed, abandoned, or underdeveloped peat areas should be identified

and promoted for investments and rehabilitation by undertaking the above

measures (3 (i) and (ii)) in order for such lands to be no longer a fire

hazard.

7 “Concession area” refers to the size of a land area that could support a sustainable supply of biomass to a

designated biomass-to-energy conversion facility. 8 This is an alternative to overcoming the high cost of logistics to centralised facilities.

9 There is evidence showing the forest areas adjacent to the drains constructed along the periphery of

plantation areas have caught fire, and those without such construction have not.




iv. If not, such disturbed peat areas should receive excess flood water by

allowing back its natural flow10.

4. Recognizing that not at all times transboundary haze could be effectively

controlled, it is recommended that:

i. The enforcement agencies must step up measures such that no open

burning be allowed, particularly during the southwest monsoon period

from months of June to early October; and

ii. A local contingency plan be developed and put into operations during any

severe haze episode11 in order to reduce local sources of pollution by

source apportionment method.

5. Noting that El Niño does significantly influence the severity of haze, and that it is

now possible to predict any El Niño event six months ahead of time since well-

established forecasting systems are already in place, it is recommended that;

i. The relevant authority should disseminate the forecast and alert all

concerned; and

ii. Every relevant authority and other concerned stakeholders take

precautionary measures, well in advance before any El Niño event set in.

6. Noting that there are still gaps in knowledge, it is recommended that;

i. Systems studies, including socio-economic and legal implications of the

proposed local contingency plans to respond in the event of severe haze

episode, be undertaken in order to formulate the detailed measures to

control local sources of pollution; and

ii. R&D, including radioisotope tracing and modelling studies, on the high

percentage of unidentified sources of pollution be carried out.

iii. To better understand the impact of haze towards health, social life and

economy, studies need to be conducted especially in the areas that most

affected by haze episode in Malaysia. Study on health should focus on the

toxicological properties of haze particles and to systematically assess the

health and social burden of diseases due to haze episode. Among others

are:

a. Epidemiological study on the burden of diseases of air pollutants;

b. Toxicity assessment of particulates from forest fires; and

c. Evaluation of the indoor school environment during haze episode.

iv. Since that current research and development on potential biomass

utilisation directly related to the mitigation of the haze problem is still at its

infancy stage, there is a need for more research funding in the area, as

well as the development of databases and support systems for

10

There is evidence that where by not allowing its natural flow, disturbed peat areas have caught fire. 11

It is generally understood when API reaches 500 and beyond




researchers. More specifically, related to this report, the choice of

technology or combination of technologies to be selected for possible

demonstration or even commercialisation requires a more detailed study.

This is to determine with greater accuracy on the investments needed and

the possible economic returns to complement the social and

environmental benefits of potential solutions to the haze problem.

7. “How can current scientific knowledge be synthesized and translated into policy-

relevant information to aid policy and decision-making, management and to

suggest further research?” This question addresses the all-important science-

policy interface that is the core of ASM’s work. At the policy-making level, the

importance of communicating scientific findings to support policy development is

especially important. A better communication policy could be realized by better

coordination of research conducted by research institutions, better use of social

media to promote and create public dialogue on critical issues, multi-stakeholder

activities such as field visits and active public engagement with governmental

agencies to positively influence the policy process.




ANNEXES

A. Air Quality & Haze Episodes

B. Peat Area & Water Management

C. Waste to Resources: Energy or Materials

Bibliography, Indexes & Acknowledgement



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INDEX BY AUTHOR

A Abas 88, 99, 103 Abdullah 10, 27, 64, 88, 89, 91, 116 Abnisa 64 Acreman 46 Afroz 29, 91, 102, 116, 117, 128 Ainuddin 11, 49, 88 Aldrian 118 Allen 101 Amil 24, 41, 88, 99, 101, 104, 105, 106 Andreae 102, 104 Ansari 113 Applegate 27, 112 Awalludin 28, 113, 114 Awang 92, 129 Azimi 116 Azman 91 Azmi 88, 99

B Badgery-Parker 148 Balasubramanian 101, 107 Barber 27, 111 Behera 88 Bergauff 103 Blake 115 Brauer 127, 129 Brunekreef 128 Busch 114

C Chai 7, 45, 48 Chameides 131 Chan 19, 82 Chang 118 Cheang 50 Claeys 103 CNN 129 Cohen 127 Cotton 112

D Dauverge 28, 111 De Groot 145 DOE 94, 95, 133, 134, 135 Du 29 Elias 103

Emmanuel 88 Engling 103

F FAO 113 Fatimah 48 Field 30, 111, 122 Field 30 Florano 138 Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia 45 Forsyth 40, 88, 132, 143 Fraser 103 Fujisaka 113

G Gaveau 28, 112, 115 GBD 127 Gelencsér 104 Glover 31, 128, 130 Goh 8, 49, 88 Goldammer 122, 128 Gonçalves 101 Goodman 129 Graber 104 Graham 102, 104 Grishin 115 Guangul 64 Guldmann 29

H H Han 116 Harrison 115 Havers 104 Hawkins 102 Hecht 113 HEI 127 Heil 98, 122, 128 Henry 104 Henson 32, 43, 131 Hertwig 125 Hoffer 104 Holmes 103 Hooijer 115 Hopke 116 Hsu 101, 103




I Indraneil 48 Inness 30, 123

J Jaenicke 115 Jauhiainen 114 Jessup 31 Johnston 31, 128 Jones 102, 111, 112 JPM 47 Juneng 10, 30, 89 Jung 129

K Kalkstein 106 Kaskaoutis 104 Kawamura 103 Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan 98 KeTTHA 116 Keywood 26 Khan 88, 99, 104, 128 Khillare 128 Kim 29, 116 Koh 34, 35 137, 144 Kselik 44 Kumagai 103 Kunii 31, 127, 128

L Larsen III 103 Latif 9, 30, 89, 107, 117, 121 Lee 104 Lemieux 117 Letchumanan 137 Liong 44 Liu 63, 101 Lo 11, 49, 89 Lopez 116

M Mahmud 99 Maltby 46, 47 Mayer 88 Mayol-Bracero 103, 104 McKendry 75 Medeiros 103 Meena 131

Meijaard 19, 82 Melling 9, 10, 43, 89 Miettinen 49, 115 Mohd Shahwahid 128, 130 Mosarof 113, 114 Mosarof 14, 28 Murdiyarso 28, 29, 42, 112, 113, 114 Murray 31

N NASA 108, 110 Nasi 131, 132 NEA 96, 97 Nganje 112, 113 Nguitragool 35, 144 Nichol 131 Nimit 64 NOAA 107, 122

O Omar 8, 26, 89, 102, 129 Othman 9, 13, 31, 32, 89, 128, 130

P Paatero 104 Page 42, 47, 50, 112, 115 Parish 11, 49, 88 Pathak 131 Pinto 24, 99, 100, 101, 102 Pirraglia 68 Posa 46 Puxbaum 103

Q Qadri 27, 111 Quah 35, 144

R Radojevic 121 Ram 108 Reid 30, 101, 120, 123 Rein 115 Reisen 102 Rieley 42 Robinson 34 Rose 104 Ryder 27

S




Saarnio 103 Sahani 128 Saidur 64 Salma 104 Sani 26 Sansuddin 99 Sastry 128, 147 Schkolnik 103 Schmidl 103 Schrier-Uijl 39, 114, 132, 147 See 101, 102, 115 Seigert 49 Ser 136 Seth-Jones 28 Shafizadeh 102, 103 Sham 107, 143 Shen 26, 102 Simoneit 102, 103 Spessa 115, 122, 124 Sulaiman 10, 28, 64, 89, 113 Sundarambal 107 Suyanto 27, 112

T Tacconi 28, 111 Tan 144, 147 Tangang 8, 9, 30, 88, 118, 119, 120, 121, 123, 124 Tay 35, 36, 142, 144 The Jakarta Post 144 Thurston 104

U UNDP 44, 45, 46 Usup 115

V Varkkey 9, 28, 35, 88, 144 Varma 112, 113 Vasconcellos 102 Vayda 112 Vincent 147 Vogl 27, 113

W Wahid 13, 47, 49 Wan Mahiyuddin 127 Wan 10, 34, 35, 87, 90,127, 137, 138, 139 Wang 29, 103, 116, 119 Watson 104 WHO 99, 127, 129 Wooster 124 Wosten 27, 112 WSJ 146 WWF 131, 132

X Xian 30, 124

Y Yamasoe 101, 104 Yang 102 Yu 117

Z Zaccone 115 Zakaria 8, 53, 89, 90 Zappoli 104 Zheng 104 Zulhaidi 129




INDEX BY SUBJECT

A adjacent peatland 53 aerosol 101, 102, 106, 107, 108, 116, 117, 145 agricultural 90, 112, 114, 117 agriculture 6, 15, 23, 30, 31, 46, 48, 51, 68 Air Pollution Index 23 air pollution 88, 94, 96, 116, 127, 128, 134, 137, 146, 147 Air Quality Index 23, 87, 145 air quality 86, 87, 89, 90, 92, 94, 95, 96, 98, 117, 125, 134, 136, 145, 147, 149 anthropogenic 15, 29, 106, 116, 121, 122, 124, 145, 150 API 13, 14, 17, 23, 24, 25, 33, 41, 80 apportionment 86, 94, 104, 105, 145, 149, 150 ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution 34 ASEAN Cooperation Plan on Transboundary Pollution 34 ASEAN Peatland Management Strategy 52 ASEAN Peatmand Management Strategy 34 ASEAN Secretariat 135, 140 atmospheric aerosols 101, 102, 104, 107, 129, 131, 145, 150

B biochemical 63, 64, 75, 77, 78 biodiversity 87, 88, 113, 131, 132, 141, 150 bioethanol 60, 69, 72, 74, 77, 78 biofertilizer 67 biofuel 64, 75, 77 biomass burning 87, 88, 93, 98, 99, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 110, 116, 145, 149, 150 biomass 6, 13, 14, 15, 16, 26, 29, 38, 49, 60, 61, 63, 64, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79

C calorific value 71 capacity cost 14, 72, 73 carbon monoxide 24, 49 carbon monoxide 94, 96 carbon 19, 24, 32, 43, 46, 49, 50, 63, 75 Clean Air Action Plan 33 combustion 101, 102, 103, 105, 106, 115, 116, 117

compost 64, 65, 67, 76 concentration 88, 89, 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 98, 99, 101, 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, 116, 117, 123, 129 conversion 6, 14, 16, 48, 49, 50, 58, 60, 63, 64, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75, 77, 79

D density 23, 43, 49 DOE 94, 95, 133, 134, 135 dust fall 107

E economic 86, 113, 114, 130, 131, 137, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 150 El Niño 15, 17, 29, 30, 36, 38, 80 emission 88, 91, 103, 105, 106, 107, 115, 116, 123, 125, 131, 134, 149 energy 6, 16, 19, 63, 64, 69, 76, 77, 78, 79 Environmentally Sensitive Areas 51 equity ratio 13, 73

F FAO 113 feedstock 69, 70, 72, 74 fermentation 69, 70, 72 Fire Danger Rating System 33 Fire Prevention Action Plan 33 forecast 121, 124, 125 forest 6, 16, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 40, 42, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 55, 59, 61, 63, 69, 70, 75, 79

G gasification 16, 60, 68, 75, 79 gasifier 68 GBD 127 greenhouse gas 88, 116 ground level ozone 24, 94

H haze episodes 6, 15, 19, 24, 25, 26, 31, 41, 54, 60, 61, 76 haze episodes 87, 90, 121, 123, 129, 138, 143, 150 haze history 89




haze 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 49, 52, 54, 55, 59, 60, 61, 63, 76, 77, 78, 80, 82 haze 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99, 101, 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 110, 111, 112, 115, 116, 117, 121, 123, 124, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150 health 87, 88, 89, 91, 94, 96, 97, 98, 106, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 140, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150 heat 60, 65, 67, 69, 70 HEI 127 hemicellulose 63 high value 48, 64, 75 higher heating value 63 hotspots 90, 107, 108, 110, 140, 143 humic 104 hydrology 53, 58, 59 hydrolysis 69, 70, 72 HYSPLIT 26

I interest rate 13, 16, 73, 74, 79 inversion 126, 143

K KeTTHA 116

L La Niña 29 land use 87, 111, 115, 136, 137 levoglucosan 102, 103, 106 lignin 63, 69 lignocellulosic 63, 69, 70 low value 75 lowland 48

M medium value 64, 75 meteorological 23, 26, 30, 38 meteorological 86, 87, 94, 106, 110, 116, 121, 123, 125, 143, 145, 149 meteorology 94, 145 moisture content 71 moisture 23, 29, 48, 49, 71

monitoring 86, 92, 93, 94, 95, 121, 126, 133, 136, 138, 139, 141, 145, 146

N NASA 108, 110 National Haze Action Plan 33, 34 National Haze Committee 33 NEA 96, 97 net present value 71, 73 nitrogen dioxide 24, 94, 96 NOAA 107, 122

O oil palm 14, 28, 32, 33, 35, 47, 48, 58, 61, 63, 67, 69, 70, 75, 111, 113, 114, 131, 135, 137, 142, 144 open burning 6, 17, 33, 60, 76, 80, 89, 117, 133, 134, 139, 146, 149, 150 organic 98, 99, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 115, 135, 145, 149 oxalate 27, 107

P particulate 88, 91, 94, 96, 98, 116, 117, 127, 148, 149, 150 peat swamp forest 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 53, 55 peat water 44 peat 6, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 27, 29, 33, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 59, 61, 63, 68, 79, 80 peatland 13, 14, 15, 28, 42, 44, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60 peatswamp 29, 42 pelletising 14, 67 Permanent Forest Estate 45, 50 Permanent Reserved Forest 45 permeability 43, 46 plant life 71, 72 PM10 23, 25, 26, 30 PM2.5 24, 26, 29 Policy 6, 18, 19, 21, 33, 35, 38, 39, 40, 41, 50, 51, 52,

54, 57, 59, 74, 77 pollutants 87, 88, 94, 96, 98, 104, 106, 107, 108, 116, 127, 128, 143, 145, 149, 150 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon102, 129, 147 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon 26 porosity 43, 70 potassium 101 potassium 27




power generation 68, 69, 70, 75 power14, 19, 27, 60, 64, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75, 76 pretreatment 69, 70 Protected Areas 51 pyrolysis 75

R rainfall 105, 106, 113, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 125, 145 receptor models 104, 149 Regional Haze Action Plan 34 reservoir 45

S satellite imagery 87 slash 6, 16, 27, 36, 79 slash-and-burn 87, 112 smouldering fires 115, 135 sulfur dioxide 24

T The Jakarta Post 144 timber 15, 27, 47, 48

transboundary atmospheric pollution 23, 88 transboundary 4, 15, 16, 17, 18, 23, 29, 30, 31, 33, 35, 36, 38, 40, 60, 76, 77, 80 transboundary 86, 87, 88, 90, 108, 111, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, 133, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150 tropical peat 14, 19, 42, 43, 45, 54, 59 tropical peatland 14, 42, 45, 59

U UNDP 44, 45, 46 unmanaged peatland 49

V visibility 88, 91, 111, 129, 130, 131

W WHO 99, 127, 129

Z zero burning 33, 36, 135, 136, 138, 139, 143




ACKNOWLEDGMENT

ASM Transboundary Haze Study would not have been possible without the contributions and inputs

from numerous individuals and organisations. In particular, ASM would like to thank various

ministries, agencies and departments under the Malaysian Government, private sector, NGOs and

individuals who are involved either directly or indirectly in this study.

Collaborating Organisations:

Association of Environmental Consultants and Companies of Malaysia (AECCOM)

Centre for Tropical Climate Change System (IKLIM)

CERAH Group

Department of Standards Malaysia

Energy Commission Malaysia

Environmental Management and Research Association of Malaysia (ENSEARCH)

Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGVH)

France CIRAD

G&P Water and Maritime Sdn Bhd


Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), UKM

Malaysia Agro-Biotechnology Institute (ABI)

Malaysia CIRAD

Malaysia Department of Environment, NRE

Malaysia Institute for Medical Research

Malaysia Institute of Health Management

Malaysia Institute of Strategic & International Studies (ISIS)

Malaysia Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT)

Malaysia Medical Association

Malaysia NAHRIM Research Centre for River Management

Malaysia National Solid Waste Management Department

Malaysia Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Laboratory (TPRL)

Malaysia Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp Malaysia)

Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute

Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA)

Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia)

Malaysian Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism (KPDNKK)

Malaysian Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water (KeTTHA)

Malaysian Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment (NRE)

Malaysian Paediatric Association

Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency

Malaysian Timber Council

Messrs Wan Azlian & Co

MYBiomass

NexjenIP

Occupational Health and Environmental Sector, Ministry of Health Malaysia


Questel

Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)


Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)

Universiti Selangor (UNISEL)




Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)

University of Malaya (UM)

University of Nottingham

University Teknologi MARA (UiTM)

UPM Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Product (INTROP)

Wetlands International

World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia (WWF-Malaysia)

Fellows Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM), Members of ASM Haze Task Force and Working

Groups and other Contributing Individuals

A Bakar Jaafar FASc, Professor Dato’ Ir Dr

Aainaa Kamilah Roslee

Abd Malik Tussin

Abdul Rahim Nik FASc, Datuk Dr

Abu Hanipah Jalil

Ahmad Ainuddin Nuruddin, Prof Dr

Ahmad Hazri Abd Rashid, PhD

Ahmad Ibrahim FASc, Datuk Paduka Dr

Ahmad Makmom Abdullah, Assoc. Prof Dr

Ahmad Tasir Lope Pihie FASc, Datuk Dr

Ain Fatiha Aidil Fitri

Aini Hairida Mohamad Abas

Alia Husna Abdullah

Alias Mohd Sood, PhD

Aminah Ismail

Anis Salwa Kamarudin, Dr

Azizah Ariffin

Brenna Chen Jia Tian

Candice Ong Chu Lee

Chong Sun Fatt, Ir

Chuah Hean Teik FASc, Academician Professor Dato’ Ir Dr

David Yap

Eric Deleglise

Esther Wong

Ezahtulsyahreen Abd Rahman

Fadilah Baharin, Datuk

Faizal Ahya

Faizal Parish

Fateh Chand FASc, Academician Datuk

Fatin Athirah Amani Mohd Nasir

Fazrina Mohd Masrom

Francis Ng S.P. FASc, PhD

Fredolin Tangang FASc, Professor Dr

G Lalchand, Ir

Goh Swee Hock FASc, PhD

Hanashriah Hassan

Haslenda Hashim, Assoc Prof Dr

Hazami Habib

Helena Muhamad Varkkey, PhD




Heong Kong Luen FASc, Professor Dr

Ho Wai Shin, Dr

Intan Nurul Azlina

Intan Sazrina Saimy

Jayakumar Gurusamy, Prof Dr

Jean-Marc Roda, Professor Dr

Jegalakshimi Jewaratnam, PhD

Julia Lo Fui San

Kamaliah Kasmaruddin

Khalid Yusoff FASc, Senior Professor Dato’ Dr

Laili Nordin, PhD

Latifah Nor Ahmad Sidek

Lee Soo Ying FASc, Professor Dr

Liew Juneng, PhD

Liew Yuk San

Lim Jeng Shiun, PhD

Low Pak Sum FASc, Professor Dr

Lulie Melling, PhD

Mashitah Darus

Mavath Chandran

Matthew Ashfold, PhD

Mazlan Madon FASc, PhD

Maznorizan Mohamad

Mazrura Sahani, Dr (PhD)

Md Firoz Khan, PhD

Mohamad Iqbal Mazeli, Dr

Mohamad Yusof

Mohd Azuwan Abdullah

Mohd Erwan Misran

Mohd Fairuz Md Suptian

Mohd Jamil Maah FASc, Professor Dato’ Dr

Mohd Shafee'a Leman FASc, Professor Dr

Mohd Talib Latif, Professor Dr

Muhamad Zakaria, Professor Dr

Muhammad Amir Kamaluddin, PhD

Muhammad Awang FASc, Professor Dr

Muhammad Syazwan Alauddin

Murnira Othman

Nasehir Khan EM Yahya, Professor Ir Dr

Nasrin Agha Mohammadi, PhD

Nik Meriam Nik Sulaiman, Professor Dr

Nitia Samuel

Nur Azima Busman

Nur Hashimah Hanafi

Nurfatehah Idris

Nurul Aina Abdul Aziz

Omar Abdul Rahman FASc, Academician Tan Sri

Ong Li Ling

P Lal Chand Gulabrai FASc, Ir

Puvaneswari Ramasamy

Rahimatsah Amat FASc, Dr Hj




Raymond Ooi Chong Heng FASc, Professor Dr

Salahudin Yaacob

Salleh Mohd Nor FASc, Academician Tan Sri Dr

Salmah Zakaria FASc, PhD

Selliah Paramananthan FASc, PhD

Selva Kumar Sivapunniam, Dr

Siti Atikah Mohamed Hashim

Subramaniam Karuppanan

Tan Sie Ting, PhD

Tan Soon Guan, FASc, Professor Dr

Tan Swee Lian FASc, PhD

Tan Yew Chong, Dato’ Dr

Tengku Nazihah, Datuk

Veliana Ruslan

Wai Shin Ho, PhD

Wan Azlian Ahmad

Wan Portia Hamzah

Wen Hui Ting FASc, Ir Dr

Wickneswari Ratnam FASc, Professor Dr

Yong Huai Mei

Zaharin Yusoff FASc, Professor Dr

Zaharin Zulkifli

Zakri Abdul Hamid FASc, Academician Professor Emeritus Dato' Sri Dr

Zamzul Rizal Zulkifli

Zara Phang

Zubaidi Johar, Tuan Haji

Zuriati Zakaria FASc, Prof Datin Dr

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