28Oct

Rebreeding coral reefs via ‘My Coral Programme’

KUNAK: Tawau Polytechnic Sabah (PTS) in collaboration with Amazing Kunak Adventures Sdn Bhd and Eco Marine Resources Sdn Bhd launched a “My Coral Programme” geared towards rebreeding coral reefs that were affected by human activities or natural occurrences. Kunak District Tourism and Culture Association Chairperson Mohd Hata Arabi said the programme was a corporate social responsibility (CSR) effort undertaken by the company to ensure that the natural beauty of the marine area is preserved.“The programme is also part of the association’s move to develop regulated and systematic tourism activities without affecting the environment. “It is also the basic framework for the community’s involvement in the Community Based Tourism (CoBT) concept stressed by the Government” he told Daily Express.“The programme will also impact the community through CSR activities such as cleaning up beach areas that have been done and will continue to be undertaken by staff and the community at Darvel Lagoon Hampilan,” he added.He said coral reef conservation is one of the goals of the association as the Kunak waterfront still has a beautiful, attractive reef that is the focal point for scuba diving.“The beauty of the sea floor should also be a priority for us to maintain and preserve,” he said. According to Mohd Hata, the effects of pollution, global warming, natural disasters, as well as fish bombing cases, fish poisoning (cyanide chemicals), uncontrolled sea activity and illegal export of corals have affected marine life including the reef ecosystem. He said the programme was also very useful in providing related exposure to Coral Rehabilitation to students of the Semester 5 Diploma in PTS Tourism Management through a course conducted in collaboration with the coral reef breeding industry near Underwater GreatWall Teluk Darvel.“The Underwater GreatWall area is one of the newest tourism products in Kunak waters that attract local and foreign tourists,” he said.Mohd Hata extended his appreciation for the involvement of strategic partners among PTS lecturers and students and Eco Marine Resources in making the programme launch a success The programme was launched in the coastal waters of Laut Hampilan, here.“The My Coral Programme has been running for two months since September 2 and reached its peak on October 17 with a visit to the coral reef site with students and stakeholders,” said Mohd Hata. Source: Daily Express
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18Oct

Plans to extend Marine Protected Areas

KOTA KINABALU: The State Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry is planning to extend 2.031 million hectares of its Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) by 2025.Its Permanent Secretary Datuk William Baya said to date MPAs in Sabah only accounted for 7.2 per cent of the total area.“The Sabah Government is planning to add two more Marine Protected Areas by 2023, one each in the West Coast and East Coast of the State,” he said during the eighth Marine Protected Area Regional Exchange (MPA REX) and MPA Technical Working Group Meeting (MPA-TWG) welcoming dinner, here, Wednesday. Off Sabah waters, six marine parks have been gazetted under the Sabah Parks Enactment of 1984, totalling 973,155 hectares.William said the Sabah Government recognises the importance of marine areas, as the fisheries sector is worth 2.8 per cent of the State’s GDP, while the tourism sector contributes 10 per cent.“Sabah, recognised as one of the most biodiverse areas in the world, is a hotspot for eco-tourism. The number of visitors has been increasing by 7.6 per cent per year. “In fact, in 2018, we had a record of 3,879,413 (5.3 per cent) arrivals in Sabah, the highest number of visitors so far,” he said. William added that following the 2009 Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) agreement, the Sabah Government, under the Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry with its statutory body, Sabah Parks, were chosen as the focal points for the CTI-Malaysia National Plan of Action’s third goal, which is to be Malaysia’s stewards of MPAs. “In the 10 years we’ve been with the CTI, many strides were made in the protection of our marine areas, culminating with the gazettement of Tun Mustapha Park, Kudat in 2016,” he said, adding that it is currently the largest MPA in Malaysia with over 890,000 hectares.Meanwhile, Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF) Interim Executive Director, Dr Henra Yusran Siry, was confident that common approaches for the Coral Triangle Marine Protected Area System (CTMPAS) can be materialised.“It will help us focus our efforts on CTMPAs and possibly develop project proposals for funding support of various like-minded international organisations or financing institutions,” he said.The CTI-CFF is a 10-year plan and a multilateral partnership of the six Coral Triangle countries (CT6) - Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands.Its objective is to sustain extraordinary marine and coastal resources by addressing crucial issues such as food security, climate change and marine biodiversity.The MPA REX linked to MPA-TWG serves as CTI’s crucial monitoring element to assess the performance of the CT6 in terms of contribution towards attaining the goals of the CTI-CFF Regional Plan of Action. Source: Daily Express
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06Jul

TYT glad for tourism and making Sabah seafood hub

Kota Kinabalu: Efforts must be made to attract more investments in the hotel sector to cater to the increasing demand for accommodation in the State, said Head of State Tun Dr Juhar Mahiruddin. "I am very pleased that the tourism industry in Sabah stays strong and the response is very encouraging. "I was made to understand that the Government will intensify efforts to upgrade environmental management and rehabilitation of cultural heritage that are main tourism assets in Sabah," he said. Speaking in his policy speech when opening the 15th sitting of State Legislative Assembly here, Monday, Juhar said the Government will also develop many tourism products and services, including tourism hubs such as a seafood hub in the East Coast of Sabah. He said the State Government recorded its gratitude to the Federal government for giving net tax revenues to Sabah. Furthermore, he said the State Government will empower management of Sabah Parks covering nine parks including six marine parks with total acreage of 1.2 million hectares. He said efforts would be intensified to increase acreage of protected marine areas in Sabah waters towards maintaining sustainable of unique marine life in the State. Juhar said the Government will develop, rehabilitate and preserve ethnic cultures in Sabah so that all 36 ethnic groups and 217 sub-ethnic could be studied and documented. He said this initiative will further improve cultural tourism industry that will benefit various ethnics and sub-ethnic groups in the State. On wildlife, he urged all relevant quarters to take steps so that wildlife in Sabah continue to be protected and stay in its natural habitats. "Therefore, the government needs to make sure each development activity is properly planned and take account the aspect of protecting the environment that is in tandem with the State's Environment Policy. Juhar also noted that Totally Protected Areas (TPAs) in Sabah have total acreage of 1.9 million hectares which is more than 26 per cent of the State's land acreage and the largest protected areas in the South East Asia. He said efforts will be taken to achieve the target TPAs to reach 30 per cent or 2.2 million hectares by 2025. He supported the government's efforts to develop the agriculture sector where focus is on rising production of food crop that has high value by using latest agriculture technologies. Apart from that, he said quality and food safety is also being emphasised so as to produce nutrient and quality food items. "On fishery, the focus would be on an effort to increase production of fishery products including seaweed aquaculture and ornamental fish as well as carrying on programmes to help the fishermen to increase their earnings. "The strategic location of Sabah in the Sulu Sulawesi Marine Ecology Region and marine biodiversity centre have made Sabah rich with various fishery sources. "Hence, it is important to ensure the State's fishery source is sufficient and sustainable so that these could cater rising demand of seafood and reach premium prices," Juhar said. To expedite development of industrial sector, he said the government will encourage more downstream activities from potential sources like the oil and gas industry, oil palm and wood downstream industry. Juhar also commended a new policy by the new State government to temporary ban export of timber logs which is the right and accurate move to encourage development of wood downstream industry in Sabah. In addition, he said efforts have been carried out to improve infrastructure and facilities in industrial areas as well as empowering enabler to drive downstream activities and attract more investors to Sabah. In reducing poverty rate in Sabah, he said the Government has carried out many programmes to increase income and enhance wellbeing level of the people including various efforts to empower women in rural areas so that they could effectively contribute to economic development in their respective areas. Juhar said the government is committed with given initiatives to empower youth in many aspects like in education, skills, entrepreneurship and other positive values that have been inculcated. In fact, he said the State government will focus on efforts to make society engage in sports, empower athletes' development, strengthening sport bodies and increase participation of volunteers actively in sport programmes and empower contribution and involvement private and corporate sector in sponsoring sport programme and providing ecosystem of holistic sport development. - Hayati Dzulkifli Source: Daily Express
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28Sep

300 divers clean up sea bed around Sepanggar Navy base

KOTA KINABALU: About 5,000 sea urchins were picked up from the sea bed surrounding the Sepanggar Navy base here during a Mega Dive programme this morning. Organised by the navy’s eastern fleet command, the programme is aimed at creating a healthy marine ecosystem and clean underwater environment. The event saw 300 participants from Kampung Gentisan, Kota Kinabalu City Hall, University Malaysia Sabah, the Sabah Environment Protection Department, the Marine Department, and the navy working together to clean the area of debris and sea urchins. Navy eastern logistics commander First Admiral Ow Kiat Bin said there had been too many sea urchins on the sea bed, and their presence could have destroyed the coral reef in the area. “The collected sea urchins were handed over to fishermen from Kampung Gentisan for consumption. This will further strengthen the relationship between the navy and the local community,” he said. Ow added that the involvement of villagers in the clean-up programme was in line with the navy’s efforts to enhance awareness among the fishing community of the importance of keeping their water village clean. He said navy divers had also placed three artificial reefs in waters near the navy’s Yacht Excellent Centre to create a thriving marine habitat. Source: New Straits Times
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