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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15Mar

Mantanani and Darvel Bay move

SEMPORNA: The Sabah Parks will gazette two areas, namely Pulau Mantanani Complex in Kota Belud and Darvel Bay in Lahad Datu, as marine protected areas before 2023.SP Director Dr Jamili Nais said the move was in line with the SP sketch map whereby 10 of the waters of Sabah would have been gazetted by 2023. As such, he said currently, the 100,000ha Darvel Bay encompassing 50 surrounding islands has the potential to be gazetted earlier.‘’If we look at the current situation, in terms of timeline, the process has started and maybe (gazette) at the end of this year or early 2020, but most probably we gazette in the first quarter of 2020,’’ he said. Subsequently, Jamili said the Pulau Mantanani Complex would be gazetted in two years. In a scientific expedition organised by the Sabah Foundation in February, researchers found numerous interesting and unique marine data in Darvel Bay, Lahad Datu, which could be conserved and used for international tourism. Among the findings were several iconic diving sites, including blue holes (underwater sinkholes) and marine resources such as wild turtles and healthy corals. Quoting a local news portal, the operator of a diving centre Pirate Divers Glen Hapirulla, who is a native of Lahad Datu and an experienced diver, said 55 diving sites had been explored, including blue holes, in the waters of Silam since 2009. The Pulau Mantanani Complex is a resort area which is becoming increasingly popular as a diving recreational site among international tourists. Meanwhile, Sabah Parks is exploring the need for porters or mountain guides to accompany visitors up Pulau Bohey Dulang’s 700m high peak, just like in the Gunung Kinabalu National Park.“Bohey Dulang allows three times more climbers up its mountain compared to Gunung Kinabalu which allows just 135 people,” said Sabah Parks Board of Trustees Chairman, Mohd Amin Abd Mem.“At the moment, there are 250 guides and 100 porters registered with Sabah Parks who are able to go with climbers up Gunung Kinabalu to look out for their safety and bring their belongings.“So like the local community there, becoming a guide on Bohey Dulang would improve the income of the people here who could make RM230 per visitor on a two-day, one-night hike,” he said. On Tuesday, a new hiking route was opened for visitors to the island which is a 30-minute boat ride from Semporna town on the mainland. Sabah Parks worker, Ali Hassan, said 300 to 700 people, especially tourists from China, visit a day. Source: Daily Express
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14Mar

Darvel Bay in Lahad Datu to be gazetted in 2020

SEMPORNA: The Sabah Parks (SP) will gazette two areas, namely, Pulau Mantanani Complex in Kota Belud and Darvel Bay in Lahad Datu as marine protected areas before 2023. SP director Dr Jamili Nais said the move was in line with the SP sketch map whereby 10 of the waters of Sabah would have been gazetted by 2023. As such, he said that currently, the 100,000 ha Darvel Bay encompassing 50 surrounding islands had the potential to be gazetted earlier. ‘’If we look at the current situation, in terms of timeline, the process has started and maybe (gazette) at the end of this year or early 2020, but most probably we gazette in the first quarter of 2020,’’ he said. He said this when met after a programme to clear rubbish from the sea bottom and beaches of the Tun Sakaran Marine Park here. Subsequently, Jamili said the Pulau Mantanani Complex would be gazetted in two years. In a scientific expedition organised by the Sabah Foundation in February, researchers found numerous interesting and unique marine data in Darvel Bay, Lahad Datu which could be conserved and used for international tourism. Among the findings were several iconic diving sites including blue holes (underwater sinkholes) and marine resources such as wild turtles and healthy corals. Quoting a local news portal, the operator of a diving centre Pirate Divers Glen Hapirulla, who is a native of Lahad Datu and an experienced diver, said 55 diving sites had been explored including blue holes in the waters of Silam since 2009. The Pulau Mantanani Complex is a resort area which is becoming increasingly popular as a diving recreational site among international tourists. – Bernama Source: New Straits Times
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