Sustainability continues to be emphasised through the success of “Transforming Lake K11 at UTAR Kampar Campus through Sustainable Fish Farming” project, spearheaded by Faculty of Science (FSc) academic Assoc Prof Dr Wong Wey Lim, under the Centre for Agriculture and Food Research.

Dr Wong explained, “Previous tin-mining activities in Perak have left us with many abandoned ponds, which are mostly used for aquaculture and other activities currently. To ensure the aquaculture activities run sustainably (benefiting all stakeholders including society and the environment), we have gathered expertise from other universities, namely Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) to collaborate and deliver our best-known knowledge to the local community through this Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP), which started in 2020. Our members have contributed knowledge on sustainable aquaculture, water analysis, fish disease control, eco-tourism, marketing and supply-chain model in this project.”

Collaborating on this project were UTAR FSc academics Ts Dr Teoh Chaiw Yee, and Dr Ooi Ai Lin; UMT academics Ts Dr Wan Nurul Nadiah binti Was Rasdi, Prof Dr Najiah Musa, Dr Nurul Aqilah Iberahim, Dr Zuha Rosufila Abu Hassan, and Assoc Prof Dr Mohd Nizam Lani; UUM academics Dr Chong Khai Lin, Dr Shahrina Othman, Dr Faizatul Akmar Abdul Nifa, Mr Suwannit Chareen Chit Sop Chit; and UPSI academics Dr Norhanizan Usaizan, Assoc Prof Dr Ridzwan Che’ Rus, and Dr Anisah Abd Wafi.

Selected due to its favourable size and its ideal location at UTAR Agriculture Park, Kampar Campus, the easy access also enabled students involved to safely and easily monitor and record their observations. The freshwater fishes cultured in this project included Tilapia, Patin, Rohu, Tongsan, and Jelawat.

Dr Wong also highlighted, “Apart from promoting sustainable aquaculture, we would also like to promote the awareness of harnessing our precious natural resource, especially water, in a sustainable way, to the local community. We hope that in years to come, the harmony between humanity and the environment can persist, fostering the creation of a more sustainable world. In this KPT project, we have performed community profiling, targeting the Malim Nawar aquaculturists and youngsters. The aims were to obtain their income status and socio-economic background. We hope to help them to improve their aquaculture farming and teach them the correct way to market and business.”

He added, “We have also engaged the local community, such as Persatuan Penternak Ikan Kolam Malim Nawar, Perak, and the community from Malim Nawar, Perak to participate in seminars, workshops and discussions to assist them in providing solutions to their problems faced in aquaculture in ex-mining ponds. We have obtained positive feedback regarding their acquisition of new knowledge in sustainable aquaculture.”

The successful transformation of Lake K11 into a model lake for running an aquaculture ecologically also enabled it to function as a model for KTP, to educate the local community on transforming abandoned ponds into a start-up commercialisation platform, through sustainable aquaculture. This project will continue to look into culturing local high-quality freshwater fish in Lake K11 in the future.

In support of the project, various activities were conducted, which included: -

1. Discussion with Malim Nawar representative, Mr Hasmi, and Chairman of Persatuan Penternak Ikan Kolam Malim Nawar, Mr Ashraf on 16 April 2021.

2. Community talk titled “Kelestarian Inisiatif Projek Perikanan Bersama Komuniti”, held in September 2021.

3. Community Project Sharing Malim Nawar (Adiwira Komuniti Malim Nawar), conducted in September 2021.

4. Discussion on Programme Implementation with all researchers involved on 10 November 2021.

5. Webinar Agriculture Technology Seminar Series XX: Advanced Technologies for Sustainable Aquaculture with Department of Fisheries Malaysia, Academia, and Industries, conducted on 4 December 2021.

6. The aquaculture workshop themed, Transforming Unused Ponds for Sustainable Aquaculture and Eco-tourism, was successfully held at UTAR Kampar Campus on 15 August 2022. The workshop was co-organised by UTAR Faculty of Science (FSc), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI).