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. This paper provides an overview of the impact of land erosion caused by land use activities within tropical rainforest catchments, which lead to massive sedimentation in tropical rivers, as well as the effects of monsoon on fragile watersheds which can result in catastrophic floods. Forest ecosystems are very important in giving services to regional biogeochemical processes. Balanced ecosystems therefore, play a significant role in servicing humanity and ultimately, may create a new way of environmental management in a cost-effective manner. Essentially, such an understanding will help stakeholders to come up with better strategies in restoring the ecosystem services of tropical watersheds.

Zafirah el al.: Isotopic ( 13 c and  15 n) variations in tropical river sediments of Kelantan, Malaysia: a reconnaissance study of land use impact to the watershed -1101 -

Lodging and recreational activity are essential activities for training, often held at office of Pusat Pengembangan, Pemberdayaan Pendidik dan Tenaga Kependidikan (PPPPTK) Medan. Office of Pusat Pengembangan, Pemberdayaan Pendidik dan Tenaga Kependidikan (PPPPTK) Medan has had one building as a homestead, but as time progress, the demand for this homestead increase because of the increased activity in recent years. Therefore, the expansion of the homestead and recreational space design is vital to support the training activities. This homestead and outdoor recreation centre design use the methodology to solve problems using a qualitative approach and a quantitative approach by following the data and analysis of the surrounding environment as well as the established governmental building guidelines. The implementation of tropical architecture in the design makes it able to achieve efficient use of energy and be environmentally friendly. This can be seen in the mass concept, indoor concept, outdoor concept, structural concept, circulation system, and utility system. Also, this design blends with the local value of the surrounding environment by applying local wisdom.