UNESCO International Ecohydrology Forum

The UNESCO International Ecohydrology Forum has successfully held on 3 July 2019 at Dewan Seri Melati of Putrajaya Corporation, Putrajaya, Malaysia. It was attended by 160 participants, which composed of 21 International Participants (representing UNESCO Ecohydrology Demosites from all over the world), 9 participants from the ministries (representing 3 different ministries in Malaysia), 52 participants from Federal, State and Local Government Agencies in Malaysia, 41 participants from various Universities in Malaysia, 35 participants from Private Agencies, and 2 participants from NGOs in Malaysia. Total of 60 females and 100 males attended this halfday forum. The forum was started by a welcome remarks by Prof Dato Dr. Mazlin Bin Mokhtar, Director of LESTARI, UKM, followed by Datuk Dr. Aminuddin Hassim, President of Putrajaya Corporation (PPj), then Mr. Hans Dencker Thulstrup, Senior Programme Specialist, Water and Environmental Sciences of UNESCO Regional Science Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, Jakarta and Mr. Giuseppe Arduino, Chief Ecohydrology, Water Quality and Water Education Section, Division of Water Sciences, UNESCO IHP, Paris. Hons. Tengku Zulpuri Shah Bin Raja Puji, Deputy Minister of Water, Land and Natural Resources (KATS), Malaysia officially opened the forum on behalf of the KATS Minister i.e. Hons. Dr. Xavier Jayakumar. Slightly after that, the MoU Signing Ceremony between Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) (represented by Prof Dato Dr. Mazlin Bin Mokhtar) & UNESCO Chair on Ecohydrology @University of Algarve (UAlg), Portugal (represented by Prof. Dr. Luis Chicharo) was commenced, then followed by a Launching of Ecohydrology of Ecuador Book by the KATS Deputy Minister, all guest of honors and the book authors (Marco Albarracin, Jose Alberto Gaona Currea, Maciej Zalewski and Luis Chicharo). The Special Ecohydrology Lecture on “Ecohydrology for Sustainability” was delivered by Prof. Dr. Maciej Zalewski, European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology (ERCE) under the auspices of UNESCO, Lodz, Poland. Then, Ecohydrology Video Showcasing was shown to the audiences which appearing 5 short videos of interview with 5 Ecohydrology Experts (Giuseppe Arduino, Maciej Zalewski, Rahmah Elfithri, Ignasius Sutapa & Pascal Breil). Last but not least, a Forum Discussion Session on Ecohydrology was conducted and moderated by Dr. Rahmah Elfithri of LESTARI, UKM which 4 Panelists from UNESCO Ecohydrology Demosite representatives in each region i.e. Panelist 1: Dr. Ignasius Sutapa, Asia-Pacific Centre for Ecohydrology (APCE), Cibinong, Indonesia (representing Ecohydrology Demosite in Asia Pacific (ASPAC) Region), Panelist 2: Prof. Dr. Maciej Zalewski, Professor and Director European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology (ERCE), Poland (representing Ecohydrology Demosite in European Region), Panelist 3: Mr. Yohannes Zerihun Negussie, Coordinator Ecohydrology Coordination Office, Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (representing Ecohydrology Demosite in African Region), and Panelist 4: Prof. Marcelo Gavin?o Novillo, Coordinator Focal Point for Latin America and the Caribbean, Departamento de Hidra?ulica, Universidad Nacional de La Plata and Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina (representing Ecohydrology Demosite in Latin American (LAC) Region). Before closing, Prof. Dr. Luis Chicharo, Dr. Rahmah Elfithri and Mr. Pawe? Jarosiewicz introduced about new Ecohydrology worldwide initiative i.e. International Society for Ecohydrology (ISEH) and welcomed all participants to join this society. Finally, Prof Dato Dr. Mazlin Bin Mokhtar of LESTARI, UKM and Mr. Giuseppe Arduino of UNESCO closed the International Ecohydrology Forum.

In the afternoon of 3 July 2019, a site visit to Putrajaya UNESCO Ecohydrology Demosite was carried out i.e. to Putrajaya Lake and Wetlands, Malaysia. 40 participants gathered for briefing at Wetland Park Putrajaya then continued to visit upper wetland and central wetland areas for observing the natural filtration system of the constructed wetland in Putrajaya, as well as biodiversity component in Putrajaya Wetland, with explanation guide from the Putrajaya Corporation Lake and Wetland Division team. The participants also managed to visit the Nature Interpretative Centre (NIC) Putrajaya for understanding the overall ecosystem of Putrajaya Lake and Wetlands. The last visit was conducted to Putrajaya Lake where participants got opportunity to see beautiful view and good water quality of the lake by using Putrajaya Lake Cruise.

Report by Dr. Rahmah Elfithri.