The planting of oil palm was quite extensively carried out in the ex-mangrove swamp areas in Sabah before environmental and sustainability issues were taken into consideration in land development. This article examines the approach on reclamation and its weaknesses in two plantations: one in the Kunak district and the other in the Semporna district in the east coast of Sabah. The subsequent influx of sea water caused by tidal flooding and seepages through tide-gates and bunds, had significantly affected the performance of palms both in fresh fruit bunch (FFB) production and oil extraction rate. The distribution of areas affected by salinity above 5 m² cm^-1 was determined through soil surveys and mapping using ArcGIS. Based on the distribution, FFB yields for the last five years from the affected fields was found to be around 16.5 t ha^-1 per annum and the normal areas was 23.5 t ha^-1 per annum. The harvested bunches were randomly collected for fruit set and bunch analysis was carried out over a five-month period. The oil-to-bunch was found to be significantly affected by the salinity even in a situation where no difference in fruit set was observed. Oil-to-bunch ranging from 16.5%-18.7% was obtained from the saline areas when compared to the range of 22.2%-22.4% from the non-saline areas of the ex-mangrove areas. Besides the negative impact on the environment and ecology from the reclamation of mangrove swamps, a lower economic return was attained, due to the difficulties in ensuring that the intrusion of sea water would not occur.

Penanaman sawit di kawasan bekas paya bakau di Sabah telah dilaksanakan agak meluas sebelum isu alam sekitar dan kelestarian diambil kira dalam pembangunan tanah. Artikel ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji pendekatan ke atas penebusgunaan dan kelemahannya di dua ladang di pantai timur Sabah: satu terletak di daerah Kunak manakala satu lagi terletak di daerah Semporna. Kebanjiran air laut akibat banjir pasang surut dan penyusupan melalui pintu air pasang surut dan permatang telah menjejaskan prestasi pengeluaran buah tandan segar (BTS) dan kadar perahan minyak dengan ketara. Taburan kawasan yang terjejas akibat paras kemasinan melebihi 5 m² cm^-1 telah ditentukan melalui kaji selidik tanah dan pemetaan dengan menggunakan ArcGIS. Berdasarkan taburan kawasan, hasil BTS untuk tempoh lima tahun terakhir di kawasan terjejas adalah pada purata 16.5 t ha^-1 thn^-1 berbanding 23.5 t ha^-1 thn^-1 di kawasan normal. Dalam tempoh lima bulan, tandan yang dituai diambil secara rawak untuk menjalankan analisis komponen buah dan tandan. Kesan paras kemasinan telah menjejaskan nisbah minyak:tandan tetapi tiada perbezaan terhadap nisbah komponen buah. Di kawasan terjejas dengan air masin, nisbah minyak:tandan direkodkan pada kadar 16.5%-18.7% berbanding 22.2%-22.4% di kawasan normal. Selain daripada impak negative terhadap alam sekitar dan ekologi, penebusgunaan kawasan hutan paya bakau memberikan pulangan ekonomi yang lebih rendah kerana usaha menghalang penyusupan air laut ke dalam lading adalah sukar dan melibatkan kos yang tinggi.