Eco-tourism
Top dive spots closed due to coral bleaching
-The Star- By EMBUN MAJID
ALOR SETAR: Several dive sites at two of the top diving destinations in the world — the Pulau Tioman marine park in Pahang and Pulau Redang marine park in Terengganu — are temporarily off-limits to divers and snorkellers until end-October.
They are among three marine parks — the other being Pulau Payar in Kedah — which are affected by coral bleaching, a phenomenon caused by global warming that has increased sea water temperature by 2°C to between 28°C and 29°C.
Marine Park Department director-general Abd Jamal Mydin said the affected dive sites in Terengganu were Teluk Dalam, Tanjung Tukas Darat, Tanjung Tukas Laut, Teluk Air Tawar, Pulau Tenggol and Teluk Bakau; and in Pahang they were Pulau Chebeh and Batu Malang.
Underwater phenomenon: Coral bleaching takes place when the temperature of the sea increases due to global warming.In Kedah the affected sites are Teluk Wangi, Pantai Damai and Coral Garden.
Three islands in the vicinity of the Tioman marine park that have been temporarily closed are Pulau Regis, Pulau Soyak and Pulau Tumok in Pahang.
“The closure means that no diving and snorkelling activities will be allowed at the sites.
“In Pulau Payar alone, the damage to coral is estimated at between 60% and 90%,” he told a press conference in Langkawi yesterday.
The department said it would limit the number of visitors to Pulau Payar from 400 to 200 daily during the closure.
Abd Jamal said it was necessary to close marine parks and islands to protect the coral reefs which had turned white.
“We are monitoring the extent of coral bleaching at all marine parks in the country. In the meantime, we are building artificial reefs and coral transplants,” he said.
Each year about 500,000 tourists, including foreigners, visit each of the marine parks.
Reef Check Malaysia general manager Julian Hyde welcomed the temporary closure of the marine parks, saying the corals needed time to recover.
“Corals are like the human body, Although the body can recover from a disease, it still needs time to rest,” he said.
Current climatic conditions have caused water temperatures to rise, thus affecting the corals, making them vulnerable to predators and disease, he said.
“Human activities will also have an impact on the reefs,” he added.
Malaysian Nature Society’s head of conservation Yeap Chin Aik said the department should actively get local universities and experts involved in saving the reefs.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Malaysia closes top dive sites hit by coral bleaching
Malaysia has closed some of its top dive sites, on the tropical islands of Tioman and Redang, which have been hit by coral bleaching caused by global warming, officials said Thursday.
The reefs, which attract some 500,000 tourists annually, will be off-limits to divers and snorkellers until the end of October in an attempt to relieve stress on the fragile marine ecosystems.
“Nine diving sites out of 83 sites all over the country are closed,” Shahima Abdul Hamid, the Marine Park Department’s director of planning and management, told AFP.
The closure would give the coral an opportunity to regenerate and would remove stress caused by tourism-related activities such as diving, the department said.
Coral bleaching, which can eventually cause corals to die, occurs when stresses including rising sea temperatures disrupt the delicate, symbiotic relationship between the corals and their host organisms.
The department’s director-general, Abdul Jamal Mydin, told reporters that in some areas 60-90 percent of the coral had been damaged, and that three entire islands around Tioman in Malaysia’s southeast had been closed.
“We are monitoring the extent of coral bleaching at all marine parks in the country. In the meantime, we are building artificial reefs and coral transplants,” he was quoted as saying by the Star daily.
The Malaysian Nature Society applauded the move to give the reefs a break.
“In Malaysia, corals are facing a vast variety of threats even without the coral bleaching episodes,” said the society’s head of conservation Yeap Chin Aik.
Apart from global warming, “the other threats are uncontrolled tourism, and land-based threats which result in pollution,” he said.
Green SURF supports government’s focus on tourism
-Borneo Post Online-
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah must go for clean sources of electricity if it is to continue banking on tourism which last year alone raked in RM3.8 billion for the state.Pushing for alternatives to a proposed 300 megawatt coal-fired power plant at the shores of the globally significant Coral Triangle, Green SURF (Sabah Unite to Re-Power the Future) said eco-tourism would potentially suffer if the project is implemented.
The coalition of non-governmental organisations said the need for sustainable development tailored to environmental needs was highlighted by State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.
Green SURF spokesman Wong Tack said Masidi’s statement on Wednesday speaks volumes on why Sabah should not bend to pressure to build a coal-fired power plant in Lahad Datu.
“Our own State Minister (Masidi) said that tourism in Sabah is inextricably linked to the environment.
“We commend him for his vision and we want to work alongside the government in solving our power woes without resorting to a coal plant.
“I believe the people of Sabah are behind Datuk Masidi in his vision to advocate development that factors in environmental concerns,” Wong said in a statement.
Wong is also the president of the Sabah Environmental Protection Association (SEPA).
Apart from SEPA, other Green SURF members are Land Empowerment Animals People (LEAP), WWF-Malaysia, Malaysia Nature Society (Sabah branch) and Partners of Community Organisations (Pacos Trust).
“Building a coal plant in Sabah is a clear contradiction to the Sabah Tourism Master Plan that Datuk Masidi spoke about. The Minister also acknowledged that tourism has steadily grown into an industry that has made significant contributions to the state and national economies,” Wong said.
Masidi was quoted as saying that the tourism industry is dynamic and changes such as behaviour among travellers, and factors like climate change and environmental catastrophes need to be considered in formulating the second phase of the master plan.
Wong pointed out that Masidi had at a recent event stated that the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) aims to make the state the most livable place in Asia by 2025 through several steps, including sustainable management of its environmental resources.
Sabah’s contribution to Malaysia’s eco-tourism industry was also highlighted by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Centre for Innovative Planning and Development Director Prof Amran Hamzah.
Amran had told Bernama that Sipadan Island was among the world’s top five destinations for scuba diving, and that tourists come to the state and to Sarawak for a unique range of eco-tourism attractions.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Tioman corals dying, says diver
-The Star- PULAU TIOMAN: A team of divers has found that corals here have changed colour, a signal that they are dying.
“The cabbage corals, brain corals and staghorn corals have turned white,” said Kids Scuba director and scuba educator Syed Abdul Rahman Syed Hassan.
He said the underwater temperature had also changed.
“In my numerous dives here previously, the temperature was between 25°C and 27°C. However, in my two days of underwater discovery, the temperature was at 32°C,” he said.
Syed Abdul Rahman led a group of divers on Sunday and Monday for activities at Kampong Salang and Pulau Batu Malang here.
His team dived 26m deep and about 300m from the Kampung Salang beach on the first day.
The following day, they were at the same depth at the Pulau Batu Malang coral site, which is 200m from Pulau Tulai.
Syed Abdul Rahman’s forecast was that the corals in Tioman Island would die soon due to the warmer weather.
“There are some corals which are still intact and colourful. However, most of them are changing colour, showing that they are not healthy.”
He hoped that the wet weather would come soon.
During his four-day stay in Kampong Salang, he said the villagers told him that the climate was hotter now. “What is happening to the corals is quite sad. I would not be surprised to see all of them turning white and dying,” he said.
He also said that he found more sea urchins during his dive.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )S’wak wants Mulu cave site to be country’s 2nd Global Geopark
The Star
By DIANA ROSE
MULU: Sarawak is hoping for the Gunung Mulu National Park to become the second Global Geopark in Malaysia after Langkawi.
Tourism and Heritage Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan said that such a recognition for Mulu, already listed as a World Heritage Site, would be most appropriate considering its numerous natural wonders.
He pointed out that Mulu had one of the most spectacular caving systems in the world, including the world’s largest underground chamber and the largest cave passage. Its geological formations were some 40 million years old, he added.
“Gunung Mulu National Park is a fine example of a world-class geo-tourism destination and it can be a Global Geopark,” he said when opening the Second Geotourism Conference here Sunday.
Dr Chan, who is also deputy Chief Minister, said the state government realised the potential of eco-tourism as a new emerging sector.
“The government values the importance of preserving such a rich heritage like Mulu, thus no road will be built from Miri to access this park although it is possible to do so,” he said.
“In this way, it will help us preserve the park from mass tourism and also irresponsible tourists who may destroy our heritage instead of helping us conserve it,” Dr Chan said, adding that the state government was no longer issuing any new logging licence.
He hoped that the three-day conference would help the government further propel Sarawak’s geo-tourism industry.
Gunung Mulu National Park has seen a substantial increase in visitors since its listing by Unesco as a World Heritage Site in 2000. There were 25,000 visitors last year alone.
Global Geoparks are also a Unesco programme with 66 in 21 countries around the world.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Amber stripes down for Peta’s anti-zoo campaign
-The Star-
PETALING JAYA: Supermodel Amber Chia did not mind sitting still for three hours to have her body painted with tiger stripes.
“This is the first time I am being body-painted but it turned out all right,” she said after a media photo opportunity at a photo studio yesterday.
“It took a long time, but I’m all right with it since it’s for charity.”
The media opportunity was arranged by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) Asia Pacific.
Sexy cat: Chia posing as a tiger for the media photographers at a photo session in Mutiara Damansara.Amber’s “tiger image” will be featured in a new anti-captivity advertisement for Peta with her photos appearing on posters and newspapers across the globe early next year in a campaign against zoos.
Amber will pose in a jungle setting and also in a steel cage.
She is the first Malaysian celebrity they have roped in to help their cause urging people to boycott zoos.
Senior Peta campaigner Ashley Fruno said Amber was chosen because she had a compassion for animals.
“Wild animals belong in the wild. An animal who lives a long and healthy life but dies in the wild is not worse off than animals who spend all their lives pacing in enclosures.”
Fruno added that despite claims that zoos taught people about animals, Peta still wanted people to boycott them as animals were being exploited for entertainment.
The campaign is urging people against visiting zoos as no zoo could recreate the animals’ natural habitat, she said.
She also said no matter how much a zoo took care of its animals, it would never be able to offer the space animals needed.
Fruno also visited Zoo Negara last Septem-ber and observed that the animals at the nation’s oldest zoo were living in old enclosures which did not provide enough room or stimulation for them.
An article on Zoo Negara has been put on their website http://www.petaasiapacific.com.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Langkawi’s jewel in the crown may disappear
-Malaysiakini.com- by Mandy Lee, Wendy Chin
Pulau Payar Marine Park has come a long way since it was first declared as a Fisheries Prohibited Area in 1985 and later gazetted as a marine park in 1994. Since then the tiny island of Pulau Payar, which measures a mere 1.75 km in length and 0.5 km at its widest point, has seen a lot of development, changing its face on the eastern seafront and making it a popular destination for reef-related recreational activities such as snorkelling and scuba-diving.
A small island located 19 nautical miles south of Pulau Langkawi, Pulau Payar, once a hidden treasure trove of marine fauna and flora known mainly to the local community of scuba divers, is now on the list of places to visit for many visitors to this region, both locals and foreigners.
This is to be expected considering the Pulau Payar Marine Park is rather well-known for its rich marine life in terms of diversity of coral reefs and fishes over small areas throughout the group of four islands – Pulau Payar, Pulau Kaca, Pulau Lembu and Pulau Segantang – that make up the entire marine park.
In the 1980s, a small Marine Park Museum, a small jetty and limited accommodation was built to house one Fisheries Department Ranger on Pulau Payar. In the 1990s, along with its marine park status, the floating platform with underwater observatory and shower facilities came into existence and was moored off the beach at Pulau Payar. A few years later, several chalets were built by the Kedah state government but the project was discontinued due to constraints of water and electricity supply.
Instead, expansion works were then carried out on the small museum converting it into the existing Marine Park Centre; public washrooms were rebuilt to cater to the influx of large numbers of visitors, the jetty was extended and more boardwalks were put in place in the name of tourism.
Until today, Pulau Payar Marine Park remains the only pristine coral reef environment along the West Coast of Malaysia. A study conducted in 2006 by Yusri Yusuf of Universiti Sains Malaysia found that a comparison of total species of coral reef with other islands of Malaysia has shown that Pulau Payar has the highest species count.
Coral reefs have been facing environmental stress with increasing water temperatures since the El Nino phenomenon in 1997-1998 and will now be stressed further with rising temperatures due to climate change. Increasing water temperatures interrupt the metabolic activities of the zooxanthellae that live among the corals leaving the corals bleached white.
Coral bleaching can also be caused by exposure to chemicals, sedimentations and excess nutrients such as ammonia and nitrate from plant fertilisers and household products entering the reef ecosystem. All these possible causes will arise from operating a resort on Pulau Payar.
As of today, the chalet project has been revived and construction works commenced two months ago. As such, in addition to environmental stress, there will be increasing stress from human impacts.
For how long can the Pulau Payar Marine Park hold its status with all the threats man continuously throws at its coral reefs and its fragile marine ecosystem?
The issue of concern is that to maintain the pristine beauty of the marine heritage of Pulau Payar, development should be at a minimum and accommodation should not be allowed for obvious reasons.
With this happening, primary threats to the coral reefs have been put in place with increasing nutrient run-off from human activities, sediment run-off from land/forest clearing for development and increasing sanitary and waste disposal problems, which would all be contradicting to the conservation of a marine park, no matter how ‘eco’ this resort claims to be.
The Pulau Payar Marine Park is one of the most frequently visited marine parks in Malaysia. With mass tourism and the daily operations of a resort on the island, fresh water intrusion will affect salinity levels at the sea and increase sedimentation load on the corals. Shampoo, detergent and lotions also contain chemicals that are harmful to marine life.
How would sedimentation, low salinity level and nutrient run-off affect the corals?
Freshwater adds salinity stress, causing a low salinity level and increasing sedimentation load. Similarly, when existing ground cover is disturbed, large quantities of fine soil particles are carried by rainwater into the ocean. These particles decrease visibility in the waters and the sediment blocks out light, thus reducing the growth of coral. At high rates of sedimentation, all corals will eventually be buried by sediments and killed.
Nutrient run-off from human activities into the reef system also encourages the growth of algae, which competes with corals for living space and light. Added nutrients could favour algal blooms, thereby retarding the growth and recovery of corals, even stopping their recovery, and finally causing death.
Once the corals die, fish and other marine species will eventually die, too.
Is there any mandate for a reef check survey to be carried out now before construction work continues further and the resort starts operation? And will this ‘eco-resort’ be environmentally responsible enough to engage an independent party to conduct regular quarterly reef check surveys to ensure the ecosystem has not deteriorated further? Will its operations be discontinued should there be signs of irreparable damage to the corals? Would it be too late by then to reverse these damages?
In many countries throughout the world, when an area is designated as a nature reserve or a marine park, great efforts are endeavoured to maintain it in its natural state as much as possible so that the public or visitors may enjoy the true value and heritage of the park in its original, undisturbed environment.
In Malaysia, however, it seems that an area that is designated as such would often become the target of more development, making it more urbanised rather than to conserve nature in its natural heritage. The Pulau Payar Marine Park is one such example. The irony is that marine parks were created as a means to protect an area of sea (or lake) to sustain its reef resources and to preserve its marine ecosystem, which is often a very sensitive environment.
It would be recommended to issue a stop-work order immediately and move the resort out from Pulau Payar. At the same time, the authorities should look into restricting visitor numbers in a move to conserve and protect this marine ecosystem.
Looking at the bigger picture, the state government and local development authorities should also check themselves on the amount of development allowed on both Pulau Payar and Pulau Langkawi. It may seem lucrative to keep building more resorts, malls and theme parks to bring in the tourist ringgit. But how sustainable can this be for the islands?
Let us not forget that even with its duty-free status, Langkawi cannot compete with other cities like Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong for ‘shopping tourism’. In the first place, tourists do not come from far to visit Langkawi for shopping. Instead, they are here for the nature that can be found here.
In this respect, the Kedah state government and local development authorities should look into spending on conserving nature and protecting our forests to boost eco-tourism rather than focusing on clearing more land and forests for many more buildings and development projects.
We are concerned islanders and we do not want to be in a mourning over the loss of the jewel of Langkawi in the near future. We are here protecting the rice bowl of the islanders.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Perak to gazette ‘fenced up’ wetlands park
-The Star-By FOONG THIM LENG
IPOH: The state government will gazette the Kinta Nature Park (KNP) as a wildlife sanctuary to prevent encroachment.
State Tourism Committee chairman Datuk Hamidah Osman said gazetting the park would not take much time as the groundwork for it had been prepared when Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali was the Perak mentri besar.
“We will have to decide on which agency would manage and upgrade the facilities,” she told reporters after inspecting the park in Batu Gajah following complaints received from the Perak branch of the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) yesterday.
“It will be a waste if a potential tourist attraction is neglected. The park is said to be the best place for bird watching in Malaysia.
Close inspection: Lee informing Hamidah about the encroachment at the Kinta Nature Park in Batu Gajah yesterday while Tan looks on. The island in the background is the heronry in the park.“It is home to more than 130 species of birds and has the largest heronry in the country on one of its islands,” she said.
It was reported in The Star on Tuesday that the the park will lose the heronry if illegal activities continue there.
Almost 60% of the birds in the park are listed as totally protected or protected under the Protection of Wild Life Act 1976.
A recent check by the MNS revealed that someone had fenced up the whole lake where the heronry, with five breeding species of 2,000 waterbirds, is located with the intention of starting commercial fish farming.
The MNS had complained that pristine mining pools at the southern end of the Park have been taken over by duck farms and that incursions by sand extraction activities have increased.
The lack of a management body had resulted in the park’s infrastructure being damaged and fallen into disrepair.
Hamidah said the Park was managed by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan).
”We would like the park to be managed by the Kampar district office with Perhilitan playing a monitoring role,” said Hamidah.
She agreed to look into a suggestion by MNS to place the park under the Perak State Parks Corporation.
Duck farms operating without a permit would have to stop operations Hamidah said, adding that she would discuss with the Kampar District Office not to renew the permits for sand mining in the park.
Accompanying her were MNS Perak branch vice-chairman Lee Ping Kong, MNS council member Tan Chin Tong and ornithologist Lim Kim Chye who is the MNS Perak Branch bird group coordinator.
Rethink plan to build tiger park, Penang urged
The Penang government has been advised to reconsider its intention to build an ambitious tiger park in the state.
Malaysian Nature Society Penang Branch chairman Kanda Kumar said setting up the park would not be right as Penang had no record of the animal’s existence.
“Most tourists would rather spend on heritage and food, not see animals in cages. Land-stressed Penang can do with more houses and recreational parks instead,” he said.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said on Sunday that if the 40ha project materialised, it would be the first tiger park in the country with a “whole lot” of tigers.
Penang Tourist Guides Association president Yoong Suh Yen said she personally felt that a tiger park would not be a top-dollar tourist attraction.
Shopowner Ahmad Talib Shamsudin, 42, who runs a business in Relau, was worried because there would be big trouble if the tigers escaped from their enclosures.
Engineer Penelope Chan, 28, a resident in Sungai Ara near Relau, said that if the state was able to create a very good enclosure mimicking the natural habitat of tigers, the plan would be more acceptable.
“However, the state should work on capitalising its existing arts and culture,” she added.
Student Jack Ng, 16, who lives in Relau, said a tiger park would be a good tourist attraction, adding that children today only got to see tigers in movies or on television.(The Star)
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Tioman airport extension off due to environmental concerns
KUANTAN: The proposal to build a new RM120mil airport on Tioman Island for bigger aircraft has been called off, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said.
Ong said the ministry decided this recently after considering various factors, particularly the impact on the environment.
“I have personally gone through each and every report pertaining to the pros and cons of the project.
“We are instead proposing to upgrade the present airport to cater for ATR (turboprop) aircraft,” he said after opening the Indera Mahkota MCA division new office here yesterday.
Ong said an allocation would be sought under the 10th Malaysia Plan for the new proposal.
“I would like to stress that the decision to cancel the project was due to the negative impact on the environment, particularly corals and marine life and not due to pressure from certain quarters.”
He said a new environment impact assessment study would be carried out.
The construction of the new airport on reclaimed land in Kampung Paya, some 2km from Kampung Tekek, was supposed to have commenced in 2004. However, the project drew strong protests from villagers and chalet operators in Kampung Paya, Kampung Genting and Kampung Mukut.
On another matter, Ong said the ministry would embark on a plan to rebrand Malaysia’s many ports to enhance international competitiveness.
He said several had already make it to the top 20 international ranking such as Port Klang (West Port and North Port), Tanjung Pelepas, Penang, Kemaman-Kuantan and Bintulu.
“Port business is getting very competitive due to the emerging of many new ports in the region. We need to look at country rebranding to position our ports in the midst of international competition.”
He said Kuantan Port had the potential to be listed in the top 20 and plans were in the pipeline to upgrade its facilities under the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) masterplan.
“To attract bigger vessels to dock, a breakwater and capital dredging project must be carried out in Kuantan Port,” he said, adding that he would personally go to the ground to expedite its development.
On party matters, Ong, who is also MCA president, said he would dedicate more of his time on his work instead of getting involved in party politicking.
“My comrades and the grassroots have been sending me text messages to cheer me up over the unpleasant developments in the party of late.
“They had given their reassurance they will stand solidly behind us – the leadership – to tide over the difficulties ahead.”
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Environmental Development in Malaysia 