sustainability Review Sustainable Ecosystem Services Framework for Tropical Catchment Management: A Review N. Zafirah 1, N. A. Nurin 1, M. S. Samsurijan 2, M. H. Zuknik 1, M. Rafatullah 1 and M. I. Syakir 1,3,* 1 School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia; zafi
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[email protected]; Tel.: +604-653-2110 Academic Editors: Phoebe Koundouri and Ebun Akinsete Received: 6 February 2017; Accepted: 28 March 2017; Published: 4 April 2017 Abstract: The monsoon season is a natural phenomenon that occurs over the Asian continent, bringing extra precipitation which causes significant impact on most tropical watersheds. The tropical region’s countries are rich with natural rainforests and the economies of the countries situated within the region are mainly driven by the agricultural industry. In order to fulfill the agricultural demand, land clearing has worsened the situation by degrading the land surface areas. Rampant land use activities have led to land degradation and soil erosion, resulting in implications on water quality and sedimentation of the river networks. This affects the ecosystem services, especially the hydrological cycles. Intensification of the sedimentation process has resulted in shallower river systems, thus increasing their vulnerability to natural hazards (i.e., climate change, floods). Tropical forests which are essential in servicing their benefits have been depleted due to the increase in human exploitation.