Achieving Excellence in Sustainable Development Goals …
273
so heavily salt-laden that they are completely unsuitable for rice production. Rice
production in these areas was halted for at least two years (Roy et al. 2014). The
MANTRA model is currently applied to a research on analysing coastal groundwater and vegetation in two selected study sites near Kg. Pantai Acheh of Penang and
Pulau Kukup of Johor. The goal is to predict whether saltwater intrusion and frequent
storm surges due to monsoons coupled with SLR will have a long-lasting impact on
sustainable fresh groundwater supply and on vegetation growth. This model offers a
useful tool for sustainable management of coastal resources, both abiotic and living,
along the interface between the seas and the land (SDG 14: Life under water and SDG
15: Life on land). For this research, the third author has been awarded the prestigious
L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Malaysia National Fellowship 2017. Further, this research has received continuing collaboration and support over a decade
from the USGS. The collaboration focuses on monitoring and modelling potential
regime shifts in coastal vegetation in the Greater Everglades in Florida, in response
to SLR and storm surges such as hurricanes. This research will soon be extended
to other sites in the south-eastern coastal United States. This is a vivid example of
developing relevant skills and competences in SDGs to “solving global problems
with local innovations”. This research has sparked keen interest among researchers
in the wider Florida and beyond. MANTRA and associated simulation models will
provide the solid foundation for ongoing USGS research programs on climate action
(SDG 13). Research related to SDG 13 on climate action is an ongoing endeavour,
that requires continuous commitment, constant attention, persistent effort, sustained
funding and relentless passion.
Viewed from the perspectives of mangrove conservation and restoration, SDG 13:
Climate action is intimately connected to SDG 14: Life under water (the ocean goal)
and SDG 15: Life on land (the terrestrial goal). Mangrove conservation and restoration has been recognized as an important mitigation measure for climate action. It is
perceived to be relevant to several other SDGs (Wood et al. 2018; Romañach et al.
2018), a topic for further deliberation in the remaining section, to highlight potential
obstacles and synergies in the implementation of SDGs. The common habitats for
mangroves, located at the interface between the open oceans and coastal lands, suffer
from both the “tragedy of the commons” and the “tragedy of open access”. Uncontrolled resources extractions and services utilizations have exerted strong pressure
on these marine ecosystems. These abuses range from over fishing, unsustainable
resource exploitations, and massive alteration of coastal zones for human settlements,
to various forms of marine pollution. To counteract both tragedy of the commons and
tragedy of open access, SDG 14 aims to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas
and marine resources for sustainable development for the long term. SDG 14 and the
targets within that goal, contribute to other SDG goals. Firstly, the ocean SDG target
14.7 aims to increase economic benefits to Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
and least developed countries for sustainable marine uses. This is perceived to have
positive impacts on virtually all SDGs (Singh et al. 2018), in particular on SDG 1
(no poverty) and SDG 2 (no hunger) and SDG 10 (Reduced inequality). Secondly,
the ocean SDG target 14.4 aiming to eliminate overfishing, illegal and destructive
fishing is a necessary condition for achieving a large number of other SDG such as
273
so heavily salt-laden that they are completely unsuitable for rice production. Rice
production in these areas was halted for at least two years (Roy et al. 2014). The
MANTRA model is currently applied to a research on analysing coastal groundwater and vegetation in two selected study sites near Kg. Pantai Acheh of Penang and
Pulau Kukup of Johor. The goal is to predict whether saltwater intrusion and frequent
storm surges due to monsoons coupled with SLR will have a long-lasting impact on
sustainable fresh groundwater supply and on vegetation growth. This model offers a
useful tool for sustainable management of coastal resources, both abiotic and living,
along the interface between the seas and the land (SDG 14: Life under water and SDG
15: Life on land). For this research, the third author has been awarded the prestigious
L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Malaysia National Fellowship 2017. Further, this research has received continuing collaboration and support over a decade
from the USGS. The collaboration focuses on monitoring and modelling potential
regime shifts in coastal vegetation in the Greater Everglades in Florida, in response
to SLR and storm surges such as hurricanes. This research will soon be extended
to other sites in the south-eastern coastal United States. This is a vivid example of
developing relevant skills and competences in SDGs to “solving global problems
with local innovations”. This research has sparked keen interest among researchers
in the wider Florida and beyond. MANTRA and associated simulation models will
provide the solid foundation for ongoing USGS research programs on climate action
(SDG 13). Research related to SDG 13 on climate action is an ongoing endeavour,
that requires continuous commitment, constant attention, persistent effort, sustained
funding and relentless passion.
Viewed from the perspectives of mangrove conservation and restoration, SDG 13:
Climate action is intimately connected to SDG 14: Life under water (the ocean goal)
and SDG 15: Life on land (the terrestrial goal). Mangrove conservation and restoration has been recognized as an important mitigation measure for climate action. It is
perceived to be relevant to several other SDGs (Wood et al. 2018; Romañach et al.
2018), a topic for further deliberation in the remaining section, to highlight potential
obstacles and synergies in the implementation of SDGs. The common habitats for
mangroves, located at the interface between the open oceans and coastal lands, suffer
from both the “tragedy of the commons” and the “tragedy of open access”. Uncontrolled resources extractions and services utilizations have exerted strong pressure
on these marine ecosystems. These abuses range from over fishing, unsustainable
resource exploitations, and massive alteration of coastal zones for human settlements,
to various forms of marine pollution. To counteract both tragedy of the commons and
tragedy of open access, SDG 14 aims to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas
and marine resources for sustainable development for the long term. SDG 14 and the
targets within that goal, contribute to other SDG goals. Firstly, the ocean SDG target
14.7 aims to increase economic benefits to Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
and least developed countries for sustainable marine uses. This is perceived to have
positive impacts on virtually all SDGs (Singh et al. 2018), in particular on SDG 1
(no poverty) and SDG 2 (no hunger) and SDG 10 (Reduced inequality). Secondly,
the ocean SDG target 14.4 aiming to eliminate overfishing, illegal and destructive
fishing is a necessary condition for achieving a large number of other SDG such as