The Malaysian Capacity Development Network for Sustainable Water Management (MyCDNet) organized and conducted the Training of Trainers on River Pollution Public Outreach Programme – Advance Level on 5 – 6 August 2020. As a way forward in the current pandemic situation, the TOT was MyCDNet’s first hybrid programme where the first day was a webinar on Zoom platform and the second day was a site visit in the Klang River Outdoor Classroom, which was limited to only 30 people.

This TOT was carried out in collaboration with Global Envitronment Centre (GEC) and Asia Pacific Environmental Consultants (ASPEC), with support from Cap-Net UNDP to capacity build water professionals, capacity builders, local authorities’ and others on public outreach programmes to monitor and prevent river pollution through effective stakeholder engagement, equipping them with knowledge on river monitoring, pollution mapping, river auditing, and pollution mitigation utilising current technologies.

On the first day, Dato Lim Chow Hock, the Network Manager of MyCDNet opened the webinar session, while GEC moderated and hosted the webinar. There were four paper presentations. Module 1 – Rivers and Its Current Status was presented by by Ir Noor Aishah Zaharin from the Department of Irrigation & Drainage Malaysia, highlighting the current water quality status and current pollution scenarios in Malaysia. Module 2 – River Pollution Management/Mitigation was presented by Mr Mazhazuan Bin Harun of LUAS who highlighted examples of pollution mitigation measures undertaken by LUAS in Selangor, and by Ms Pavitra from TechKem who provided an insight into advanced technologies available in Malaysia in ensuring that industries are able to treat their effluent to better qualities. Dr Kalithasan of GEC presented Module 3 – River Action and Stakeholder Engagement, describing the roles of stakeholders and how they can safeguard river quality through river auditing, pollution mapping and outreach efforts. On the second day, the participants experienced hands-on how to evaluate and monitor river water quality through a simple, non-hazardous and affordable method using the LaMotte Water Monitoring Kit. They learned river pollution mapping and mitigation, the source of river pollution, and the water quality parameters tested during the River Rangers Training, which were Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Nitrate, Phosphate, pH, Turbidity and Temperature. The participants enjoyed the outdoor classroom and River Rangers activity that allowed them to experience the polluted side of the Klang River at Taman Melawati – a commercial/residential area – as well as the pristine river at the River Resource Sungai Klang – Klang Gate in Taman Warisan.

All participants gave positive feedback and especially enjoyed the outdoor learning. They were able to understand why river pollution outreach was important in safeguarding river health, and were trained on ways to monitor and detect river pollution. It is hoped that the participants who were from the diverse target groups would be able to apply the knowledge gained from this training and share with their networks and friends to promote river care and river cleanliness.