17Nov

Marine Protected Areas to be gazetted – Pang

KOTA KINABALU: Efforts are now underway to submit for the State Cabinet consideration additional areas throughout Sabah that are to be gazetted as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and this will definitely go beyond the 10 percent threshold recommended by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Pang Yuk Ming said Sabah currently has about 1.02 million hectares of MPAs. As had been announced by the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun, during the Pacom Conference recently, Pang said the waters around Mantanani would soon be submitted to the State Cabinet to be gazetted as a MPA. “This move is the first among many more to come in efforts to meet IUCN recommendation for all nations to have at least 10 percent territorial waters to be conserved through MPAs,” he said in a statement yesterday. Pang, who chairs the Sabah Anti Fish Bombing Committee, lauded the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) on its seizure of close to 50 pieces of explosives used for fish bombing during a raid on five pump boats at Mantanani Kecil in Kota Belud recently. “I would like to dearly congratulate the MMEA Sabah and Labuan branch under the capable leadership of First Admiral Mohd Zubil Mat Som and Kota Kinabalu MMEA director, First Admiral Adam Aziz, on the seizure. “This latest apprehension will surely go a long way to safeguard the waters around Mantanani, which is currently a hotspot for tourism activities,” he said. Pang said MMEA’s recent string of success against criminals operating in our territorial waters, especially the detention of foreign vessels caught fishing in our waters, has greatly helped the State in its efforts to protect our precious marine environment and its precious resources. “We applaud the commitment of MMEA and know that they will continue do the best in discharging their duties. “With the recent budget announcement by the Prime Minister cum Minister of Finance, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, allocating quite a handsome amount for our security forces, I hope additional assets will be deployed to MMEA so that they can achieve the same success in the north and east coast region of Sabah, especially on turtle poaching, as they have done here in the west coast,” he added.   Source: Borneo Post
By Inside KePKAS, , , Comments Off
Read more...
31Oct

3 Sabah islands to be gazetted as marine areas

KOTA KINABALU: The state government is in the process of gazetting Mantanani, Mengalum and Sipadan islands as total protected marine areas. State Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Pang Yuk Ming said the initiative was in line with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recommendation to have at least 10 per cent of  protected marine areas by 2020. “It is difficult to have three marine areas to be gazetted by 2020 as the process will be long. “However, the state government has already prepared the documents (for the gazettement of those waters),” he said, adding that the gazetting of Mantanani waters would be tabled in the next cabinet meeting. Pang said the process for Mengalum would be discussed next year and status of Sipadan, renowned as one of the world’s top dive sites, to be discussed in 2019. Once the three sites are gazetted, marine areas will make up 13 per cent of Sabah, exceeding the IUCN recommendation. Sabah now has more than one million hectares, or 7.6 per cent, listed as total protected areas. The Tun Mustapha Park off Kudat waters, Malaysia’s largest marine park, was the most recent gazetted area. Pang added that his ministry was also encouraging hoteliers and seafood restaurants to sell sustainable seafood to their clients. He said they could buy from suppliers who adopted good practices, such as fish farming and fishing using the right nettings, among others. Buying sustainable seafood is not only good for branding but also helps to maintain seafood supply in the long term. “In Sabah, it has been our priority to market ourselves as an eco-destination and our marine system is one of the best in the world. “At the (high) rate of arrivals by Chinese, South Korean and other international tourists in Sabah, the situation is putting pressure on our precious resources,” he said, adding that high quality seafood was available at more affordable prices compared to Hong Kong and China. Meanwhile, Sabah Hotel Association past-president Christopher Chan said they were willing to comply with the ministry’s suggestions, provided the supply met the demand. “Operators like us will look into the availability of different varieties and sizes of sustainable seafood when buying. “If suppliers or relevant parties are able to meet our demands, it is not a problem to go with the government’s initiative.” Sabah Fisheries director Dr Ahemad Sade said since department’s establishment 50 years ago, they had been pushing to have sustainable seafood. “This is to ensure the fisheries source is sustainable and will be available for future generations.” Source : New Straits Times
By Inside KePKAS, , Comments Off
Read more...
12Oct

Malaysia’s largest marine park holds first island-based Marine Turtle Festival

KUDAT: The first island-based Marine Turtle Festival within largest marine park in Malaysia, Tun Mustapha Park (TMP) was recently organised by Tigabu Youth Club (Kelab Belia Tigabu – KBT) and WWF-Malaysia. TMP is located within Kudat, Pitas and Kota Marudu districts in northern Sabah. TMP is a global symbol of how we can collectively commit to serving nature and humanity, benefiting both the environment and local communities. The area has rich marine biodiversity and is home to elusive dugongs and endangered marine turtles as well as other regular visitors such as migratory whales. Diverse habitats ranging from mangroves, seagrass beds to coral reefs contribute to the rich marine biodiversity. This in turn provides food security for not only 85,000 inhabitants dependent upon it, but also the more than 120 million people in the Coral Triangle region. Tigabu Island hosted the festival this month to highlight turtle conservation work being done in the Tigabu-Tambulian-Kukuban Island complex. The first island-based turtle hatchery was launched on Tigabu in TMP to raise awareness on turtle conservation and threats such as fish bombing and use of poisons like cyanide. Officiating at the launch, Banggi Island assemblyman Datuk Mijul Unaini praised KBT and youths for taking the initiative to conserve marine turtles. Meanwhile, KBT member Absan Saman said he wanted one of the world’s most endangered creatures to continue to thrive around Tigabu and TMP. Agreeing with this, KBT chairman Sulaiman Amir invited the community of Tigabu to work together to protect marine turtles for future generations. The Tigabu-Tambulian-Kukuban Island complex includes the three named islands and Mantabuan Island. KBT identified these areas as turtle nesting sites back in April 2017, and supported recommendations for the TMP Management Plan. KBT works with Sabah Parks for the protection of these turtle nesting islands and their surroundings, and work to combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, including bomb fishing. KBT takes on the role of collaborative manager to protect habitats in TMP under the WWF-Malaysia Marine Programme. WWF-Malaysia Kudat team leader Joannie Jomitol said support from Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) and Sabah Parks together with WWF-Malaysia’s continuous engagement with the Tigabu community enable KBT members trained as Honorary Wildlife Wardens and Park Rangers to start land-based turtle conservation activities. “They patrol and monitor turtle nesting beaches at Tigabu-Tambulian-Kukuban Islands complex and set up a turtle hatchery on Tigabu Island.” From April to September 2017, some 15 turtle nests have been relocated from the islands to the hatchery; 14 of the nests have hatched and hatchlings were released. The two types of turtles nesting there are Green turtles (770 eggs) and Hawksbill turtles (315 eggs). Melvin Richard from SWD and park manager from Sabah Parks, Fazrullah Rizally Abdul Razak were touched to see the Tigabu community come together to protect and conserve turtles. Their effort was supported by the Village Development and Security Committee chairman Jasni Matoha who wanted to see marine turtles protected in the area.  The TMP is a vast area, and community assistance for enforcement agencies is needed to sustain the biodiversity and marine resources at the park. It is hoped that this festival and turtle conservation activities will spark awareness among the communities of TMP of the importance of taking care of the marine environment and natural resources around them. Source : Borneo Post
By Inside KePKAS, , Comments Off
Read more...
18Sep

RM60 million needed to operate Malaysia’s largest marine park for first five years

KOTA KINABALU: A total of RM60 million is needed to operate the Tun Mustapha Park (TMP), Malaysia’s largest marine park, for its first five years (2017-2021). WWF-Malaysia, announcing this during a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing with Sabah Parks today, will assist the latter in developing a financial plan which could cover income generation or fundraising strategies, as well as sustainable financing. The 10-year agreement solidifies the existing cooperation between the non-governmental organisation (NGO) and the conservation-based government body in taking care of the 898,762-hectare TMP. The TMP, gazetted last year, spans three districts (Kudat, Kota Marudu and Pitas). WWF-Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Dr Dionysius S.K. Sharma and Sabah Parks director Dr Jamili Nais signed the MoU, witnessed by State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun. Dionysius said WWF-Malaysia is committed to co-funding the TMP management and operation office, the TMP regulations development, sustainable financing mechanism and conservation, led by the state government. “TMP is a global symbol of how we can collectively commit to protecting the environment while local communities continue to live in a sustainable manner. “People must understand that the gazetting measure is just the first step in a long journey. “Right now, there are over 80,000 coastal and island folk living in the area. We don’t know how many there will be in the future but the goal is for them to have better life in a sustainable manner,” he said. WWF-Malaysia Marine Programme’s People and Biodiversity manager Monique Sumampouw said that 85 per cent of locals surveyed indicated that the gazetting measure had a positive impact. She said the MoU will focus on the protection and restoration of coral reefs, sea grass and mangroves as well as key species like sea turtles, dugong, sharks and commercially-valuable fish. Meanwhile, Masidi said the gazetting of such parks require political will. Its impact, she said, may not be seen in the short term but will benefit the people in the future. “I would like to give an example where a few days ago, a massive cleanup was conducted at the Kudat coastline, where many plastic bottles were collected. Surprisingly, some of the bottles came from other parts of the world, even as far as Saudi Arabia. “So do not think that what we do in TMP only benefits only Kudat and Sabah; it affects people all over the world. “We should not opt for shortcuts and short-term benefits but make decisions that allow people to prosper, generation after generation. “I hope that leaders, wherever they are, will do more of what is right instead of what is popular. I hope what we did will encourage others to follow suit,” said the minister. He also stressed on the importance of being realistic when it comes to gazetting more marine parks. “I believe the shortest time frame for the next one (to be gazetted) is maybe ten years. I am saying this to keep expectations within limits. There is a lot of work to be done and there are various technicalities involved,” he said. Masidi had earlier this month said that the government had identified Mantanani Island off Kota Belud and its surrounding areas as the next potential marine park. Source : New Straits Times
By Inside KePKAS, , Comments Off
Read more...
12Sep

Mantanani Island may become Sabah’s next marine park, says Masidi

KOTA KINABALU: Mantanani Island, a well-known site for recreational diving off Kota Belud, and its surrounding areas have been identified as Sabah’s next potential marine park. Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said the state government aims to turn 10 per cent of Sabah’s waters into protected marine areas. He said the government has identified several potential areas to achieve that goal. “The United Nations has invited us to gazette at least 10 per cent of our ocean and we have gazetted 7.6 per cent, with the current size of protected marine parks in Sabah at two million hectares. “I’ve asked my assistant minister (Datuk Pang Yuk Ming) to form a committee to look into the possibility of increasing the size of these marine parks so that we can comply with the 10 per cent requirement. “We have ample amounts of areas that we can eventually turn into parks and we have identified several. This reflects the good conservation policies that the state government has started and continued to implement. “We are actually looking at Mantanani and we are seriously considering turning (Mantanani) into a protected marine park,” he told reporters after launching the Maritime Environmental Security Workshop 2017 here, today. Masidi, however, said this would take some time as the plan depends on the government’s engagement with local residents, district office, and other relevant quarters. He said the ministry is in the midst of preparing the necessary technical requirements before bringing the proposal to the state government’s attention. “It’s not something we have to do in a hurry. We have to take into account the current status of Mantanani as an agriculture area but we believe the island is an excellent candidate to be considered as a marine park,” he said. Last year, the state government gazetted Tun Mustapha Park off Kudat. Spanning approximately 898762.76 hectares, it is Malaysia’s largest marine park. Sabah’s two other marine parks are Tun Sakaran Marine Park off Semporna and the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park off Kota Kinabalu. Speaking on the maritime environmental security workshop, Masidi described the conference as important to Sabah. He also extended his gratitude to the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur for organising and sponsoring the event. The four-day workshop, which starts today, will see participants made up of ministers, officers, and military personnel from the US and Malaysia, as well as non-governmental organisations presenting talks and ideas related to the subject. “This workshop reflects the strong partnership between Sabah and the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. I am pleased that the US embassy has acknowledged Sabah’s uniqueness in the field of marine protection. “I believe participants will make use of this workshop to share views and find ways to protect our marine treasures while getting input on suitable methods to be used in Sabah to allow us to increase our ability to protect marine resources,” said Masidi. Meanwhile, US Embassy’s environmental officer Todd Hannah said the US was committed to global environment conservation. She also said the workshop speaks volume of the importance of Malaysia’s relationship with the US. “That is why we have this sustain this relationship and we will continue to have such relationship with Malaysia on environmental issues. “One of the most important outcomes of this workshop is to convene like-minded people in the same room to have conversations on the way forward. “On resources, the US has to make a decision on where to put its money and the fact we are here doing this (workshop) now shows how important our relationship is with South East Asia, including Malaysia." Source : New Straits Times
By Inside KePKAS, , Comments Off
Read more...