Environmental assessment using environmental sustainability index (esi) for Labuan Island, Malaysia.
Mohd Fauzi Mohamad, Mohd Kamarul Huda Simon
Tuesday 30 june 2015
11:45 - 12:00h
at Amazon (level 1)
Themes: (T) Hydro-environment, (ST) Impacts of pollutants on the water environment
Parallel session: 5G. Environment – Ecosystem
The Labuan Island lies 8 km off the coast of the State of Sabah, Malaysia at the nearest, and on the northern edge of the Brunei Bay facing the South China Sea covering an area of 95.2 km². For safeguarding the environment Labuan Island from the negative impacts of proposed developments an Integrated Environmental Study (IES) were carry out. Integration of all components and parameters in Physico-Chemical, Biological and Ecology, and Socio-economic sectors under this study requires a mechanism to evaluate them. By assigning a predetermined numerical value for the components or parameters in each of the sectors and subsequently summing all of them systematically via an inter-related matrix, a ranking system can be obtained that will provide the integrated Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) for Labuan Island. The ESI is an indication of the sustainability of the sub-basin in relation to the processes operative in the environment. The Island are divided into 14 sub basin based on river catchment area. Each sub-basin is analysed based on the ESI derived from the Environmental Score (ES). ES is the cumulative score for all components ranked, and the index is expressed in percentages (Rank I: 1 – 20%, Rank II: 21 – 40%, Rank III: 41 – 60%, Rank IV: 61 – 80%, Rank V: 81 – 100%). The higher the percentage, the more susceptible the environment is to adverse impacts or is already in an unsustainable state. From the study a total of six sub-basins were ranked as Rank III and eight sub-basins were ranked as Rank IV, there are no sub-basins with ESI ranks of I, II and V. Keywords: Integrated Environmental Study, Environmental Sustainability Index, Environmental Matrix, Environmental Score and Sub-basin.
