A case study on the establishment of shoreline position

[Abstract]: In Malaysia, Mean High Water Mark (shoreline or riverbank) is a natural boundary for lands between the State and the coastal or estuary upland owners. The State may also designate lands for coastal reserve or river reserve, which may cover 20 metres uplandfrom the shoreline or the riverbank. In the State of Sarawak, Malaysia, an Act was passed in 1958 regarding the location of the coastal reserve or river reserve. However, shoreline or riverbank was not established accurately in some disputed native customary right land claims originating from the Act. Consequently, in 1983 seven evicted landowners brought suits against the Superintendent ofLands and Surveys and the government of Sarawak seeking compensation for their lands. In this paper the author highlights the methods used by two surveyors to determine the position of the shoreline from hydrographic charts, town plans and old aerial photographs. The court case shows that knowledge in the area of measurement error analysis; accurate photogrammetric technique and image processing are highly essential in the present-day court environment in which aerial photographic evidences are require