IF it hadn’t been for the calling of the azan for Friday prayers last week, Professor Emeritus Dr Ibrahim Komoo would have gone on and on about his favourite subject: geology. I sat for two solid hours listening to him singing the praises of Langkawi as a world geopark site.
Incidentally, every student of geology must go to Langkawi if they wish to be serious geologists one day, said the country’s leading geologist.
In fact, Prof Ibrahim, from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, is also the world’s leading and pioneering authority on geoparks.
Langkawi, this Johorean said, is the “Mecca for every geologist in Malaysia” and to a growing number of geologists around the world, as well.
Prof Ibrahim has been studying the rocks and their formation and the earth landscape in Langkawi for more than 40 years. His understanding and knowledge of the legendary islands is second to none.
With his team of dedicated fellow researchers, Prof Ibrahim succeeded in getting Langkawi declared as one of the world’s geoparks by Unesco.
Mind you, this is no small feat.
A geopark, simply put, is a park for geologists. They would gather at geoparks to study the rocks and their formation, making fresh discoveries of who, or what, had inhabited the earth millions of years ago.
To a country, a geopark is God’s gift. It is a valuable source of revenue for the country, provided it is well protected and conserved in a sustainable manner.
It also has other significance to the country.
In Malaysia’s case, it has been proven, through the study of the rocks and earth, that Langkawi is where Malaysia, geologically speaking, was formed 550 million years ago.
This conclusion was arrived at after years of intense studies of the rock and earth formation in Langkawi.
Prof Ibrahim started his research on Langkawi’s rocks and fossils when he was a student in the early 1970s.
It would not be wrong to say that Langkawi was love at first sight. Otherwise, how would he explain returning to Langkawi six or seven times a year every year.
These frequent visits eventually gave him enough knowledge and courage to push for Langkawi to be made a Unesco geopark site.
After years of more research and presentations to several bodies in and outside the country, Langkawi was eventually declared a Unesco global geopark site.
This, in itself, is no mean achievement. It must be noted that “geopark” is a relatively new term universally. The term only came about in the mid-1990s.
Let’s hear Prof Ibrahim’s story: “The idea of a geopark came about in the mid-1990s. I toyed with the idea of geoheritage, whereby the earth’s geological findings are conserved in a sustainable manner for future generations to appreciate and learn.
“I then took the idea to Greece in 1997 where I met two other experts — Dr Wolfgang Eder, who was the director of Earth Science division of Unesco; and Prof Nikolaos Zouros from the University of Aeagen, Greece.
“It was an exciting period for all of us. We were like-minded in many ways and we realised that we were on to something new and great. Together, we came up with the term, ‘geopark’.
“We all agreed to get Unesco’s understanding and agreement to endorse this, which they did, eventually.”
It took years to get many countries to realise the importance of geoparks and what these sites could do for their country and the people economically, culturally and scientifically. It was perhaps this initial lack of understanding that made many people —in high places as well as the man in the street — wary of geoparks.
Fortunately, the Langkawi Development Authority (Lada) is fully committed towards sustainable conservation of the geopark.
Langkawi has three major geopark sites, but Unesco declared the whole of Langkawi as a geopark.
This means that Lada, UKM, the Federal Government, the state government and the people of Langkawi are direct stakeholders of Langkawi as a global geo-park site. They now have a duty to the rest of the world.
They (the stakeholders) must make sure that Langkawi remains a world geopark site and must do everything within their power to keep it that way.
Unesco declared Langkawi a geopark site in 2007, and validated it twice: first in 2011 and the second in 2015. Will Unesco do the same in 2019?
Every stakeholder must realise that if Langkawi, as a geopark, is found wanting or neglected, Unesco would not hesitate to withdraw its endorsement. That would be a tragedy. It must also be told that Malaysia is far behind other countries in developing geopark sites.
Prof Ibrahim recalled one incident: “I presented a paper in geoheritage and geopark at the International Geological Congress in Brazil in 2000.
“A group of officers from China sat around me, asking a million questions about geoheritage and geopark. Obviously, my presentation had triggered a big interest in the subject.
“Today, China, a country so vast and diverse, has 33 Unesco geoparks and 300 national geoparks within its boundaries.
“We, Malaysia that is, pioneered this new phenomenon. We, Malaysia that is, need to increase the number of geoparks endorsed by Unesco as a world site.
“My fellow researchers and I are working on five other sites to be submitted to Unesco — Gerai geopark, Lembah Kinta, Mt Kinabalu/Kinabalu, Delta Sarawak and the Tasik Kenyir area.”
A Unesco-endorsed geopark will encourage the right balance in integrated conservation — the development of natural resources in the geopark area and its own conservation processes.
Nothing can be more win-win than this.
Twitter: aat@pahitmanis
Ahmad A Talib is the chairman of Yayasan Salam Malaysia.