Driven by its importance for the local economy and the dire need to wisely manage SW for the sustainability, efforts to legally protect SW were initiated more than 20 years ago. In 2018, in lieu of protecting vital catchment areas and their natural heritage, the state government of Terengganu gazetted two new state parks, one of which was in the Setiu district. The coastal lagoon is the largest part of the SW, stretching approximately 14 km, parallel to the coastline, from Lembah Bidong in the south up to Beting Lintang to the north, while the wetland basin covers about 23,000 ha of lands and 880 ha of water bodies ( Nakisah and Fauziah 2003). The Setiu Wetlands (SW) constitutes the largest wetland complex in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia which is located in an arbitrary but exclusive zone referring to the larger Setiu district in Terengganu. The importance of wetlands has increased tremendously following the 2004 catastrophic tsunami which affected many places severely in the Asian region. 1997), but are also known to benefit humans with significant economic and ecological values ( Barbier et al. Wetlands are not only among the most productive and complex ecosystems ( Costanza et al.
This comprehensive plant checklist will be a primary reference for the management of the newly gazetted Setiu Wetlands State Park covering more than 400 hectares of lands and water bodies. Our checklist accounts for 406 taxa from 277 genera and 106 families, including 24 (6%) species of ferns and lycophytes, three gymnosperms, 257 (64%) dicotyledons and 122 (30%) monocotyledons.
In this work we conducted a survey of the vascular plant flora of Setiu Wetlands and investigated the most important plants used by the local communities. Thus, a detailed checklist of this area is urgently needed to ensure the continuity of its inter-relating flora and fauna, as well as the livelihood of the local people. Although botanical collecting in the area has been active in the past 10 years, only a few studies dealing with the wetland flora have been published. The Setiu Wetlands, a unique area with nine interconnected habitats, comprises a considerable fraction of the total Peninsular Malaysia’s wetland flora.
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