Emerging Roles of Engineering Geologist in Geotourism Industry: Some Case Studies from Malaysia

Abstract

Malaysia now has four (4) UNESCO Global Geopark, eight (8) National Geoparks and five (5) Aspiring Geoparks. Some of the features of the National Geopark are karstic landscape with mining and quarrying as major economic activities, then and now. Kinta Valley National Geopark for example, has more than 50 limestone hills and almost 600 caves. Major geological hazards are landslides (mainly rock fall), subsidence (mainly sinkhole) and cave instability. The Department of Mineral and Geoscience Malaysia has published a Guideline on Development near Limestone Hill (Demarcation of Safety Zones in the Vicinity of Limestone Hills) in 2013. Safety of limestone cliffs are paramount important as several landslides and rockfall cases in the past has killed people and destroyed houses and other properties. Jerai Geopark which is one of the National Geoparks experienced large-scale multiple debris flow on 20 August 2021 where four (4) people killed and two (2) are still missing. Major attraction areas including chalets were destroyed completely and most of the downstream covered with debris flood and/or mud flood. This paper will discuss case studies from several geoparks including geological hazards mapping, characterization, analysis and modelling. This paper also proposes the inclusion of third component in geosite mapping which is preliminary geohazard identification and assessment. During geosite mapping exercise, the process of geohazard identification, georisk assessment and georisk control (GIGAGC) shall be conducted by qualified professional geologists. This process is based on Hazard Identification, Hazard Assessment and Risk Control (HIRARC) in HSE practice. Post-disaster and disaster preparedness activities including installation of Early Warning System (EWS), Community-Based Disaster Risk Management will also be presented.