Lake management in ASEAN countries: issues and challenges

As human populations grow, societal demands led to aquatic ecosystems degradation and vulnerabilities. In this paper, we identified several drivers to the impairment of water bodies in ASEAN, which are partly influenced by socio-economic activities of the nations, the morphometry, and watershed of the selected lake basins. There are barriers in managing these ecosystems, including fragmented management and administration, a lack of intersectoral coordination and governance, insufficient enforcement measures, and limited resources. A multi-dimensional approach is required to achieve a balance between environment, economy, and social needs, so that a resilience water body could be conserved. To achieve this, it is imperative and timely for the governments to include the inland waters as a prominent resource in the national water agenda, considering the present Decade for Ecosystem Restoration.