ESI Mapping: A Pilot Project For West Coast
of Malaysian Peninsular
Mohamad Nor Said, Ibrahim Busu
Abd Razak Mohd Yusoff, Zamri Ismail
Norkhair Ibrahim, Mohd Safie Mohd
Faculty of Geoinformation Science & Engineering
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Skudai, 81310, Johor
MALAYSIA
Tel. (+607) 557 6160 ext 2964
Fax (+607) 556 6163
Email: m.nor@fksg.utm.my
Abstract
The Straits of Malacca has been one of the busiest international waterways since a
very long time as it links the navigational channels between the western side of the
world to the Asia Pacific region. The volume of traffic keeps increasing every year
and so do the number of accidents at sea, among which involving oil tankers passing
through the straits, thus making oil pollution as a significant threat to the Malaysian
Peninsular water.
With an abundance of tremendous economic value of coastal and marine natural
resources as well as the heavy fishing industries and tourism activities, a more
systematic plan is realized to be necessary to protect the coast from being damaged by
the oil in the case of any accident. However, no effective planning process can be
carried out without having an up-to-date and accurate information. Thus, a map
showing oil-sensitivity index is required in order to serve as a quick reference for the
coastal zone managers and more importantly for the oil-spill responders to take action
when the spill occurs.
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Abstract submitted for presentation at The International Workshop on the Environmental Sensitivity Index
(ESI) Mapping for Oil Spills in South East Asian Seas, Tokyo, 23 March 2000.
A pilot study to produce an Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) map was carried by
a research team from the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) recently. The project
was sponsored by the Japan Wildlife Research Center (JWRC) with a specific study to
map the location of oil-sensitive wildlife in the selected study area.
Larut Matang, an area of western side of the state of Perak was chosen as the study
site of the project. The choice was made for some reasons: (1) the area contains
mangroves which are one of the oil-sensitive species; (2) the mangrove forests as well
as the surrounding mudflat areas have been an attraction to many species of local and
migratory birds which are vulnerable to oil; (3) considerably large fishing industry
especially aquaculture makes the area so important to the local economy, hence any
oil spill will certainly leave a considerable amount of effects.
Three environmental elements were identified to be included in the ESI map. First is
the shoreline classes which are ranked according to their sensitivity, the natural
persistence of oil and the ease of cleanup. Based on the index produced by the United
States, three types of shorelines were identified and classified to be either less
sensitive, moderately sensitive or highly sensitive (ESI) to oil. The second
environmental element is the biological resources which include animal species
comprising birds (local and migratory), mammals (terrestrial and sea), fish (including
cage farmed), cockles and reptiles/ amphibians. Thirdly, the location of human-use
was also mapped to support the other information. This includes the recreational and
protected areas, shoreline access as well as the available emergency services in the
surrounding areas.
Having recognized the environmental elements associated with the proposed ESI map,
a database was established. This was done digitally using functionalities available
within a Geographical Information System (GIS) and by other mapping technology
such as satellite image processing system. Both spatial and attribute data were stored
in a GIS database which were then linked for the purpose of query and display.
Suitable symbols were created to show the location of the associated oil-sensitive
features. A simple and easy-to-use interface was also developed to assist the map user
retrieving any desired information from the ESI map.