KOTA KINABALU -- The Sabah state government hopes to have ready this year a plan to manage a proposed 1.1-million hectare marine park that is said to host more coral and fish species than the Great Barrier Reef or the Caribbean Sea.
Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat said protection of what had been named as the Tun Mustapha Park, located in the northern part of Sabah, would provide for conservation of various marine species and the marine environment including reefs, as well as ensure everlasting fish supply for the people of the state.
"The principal beneficiaries of the park will ultimately be the people of Sabah, especially those living in the Kudat, Pitas and Marudu districts as well as those living in the vicinity of the islands. They can enjoy the benefits of a better and healthier marine environment.
"(They too) will have better and continued access to abundant supplies of fish for food and for their livelihood and to have an opportunity to tap various economic potentials through the anticipated increase in tourism-related activities," he said.
Chong, who is also deputy chief minister, was launching the maiden voyage of the Mameng, a boat based in Kudat under the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion (SSME) programme to facilitate a marine team of the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia to conduct marine conservation activities.
The boat will also be used to ferry goods and project staff between the mainland and islands offshore Kudat as well as to enable the team to meet communities living in the proposed park and impress upon them the importance of marine conservation to the environment and people.
The boat has been named after a local fish of that name, otherwise known as the humphead wrasse, an exceptional fish that lives among coral reefs and also one of the most threatened fishes in the world.
Chong said the marine park was threatened with overfishing for years and the use of destructive fishing practices such as bombing and use of cyanide, and the reefs had undergone degradation.
He said that in addition to the reefs, the park would protect important habitats of the rare sea turtles and even the rare dugong.
"A park as big as the proposed Tun Mustapha is necessary to maintain the important ecolological linkages between seagrasses, mangroves, forests, coral reefs, dugongs, turtles and fishes," he added.
Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat said protection of what had been named as the Tun Mustapha Park, located in the northern part of Sabah, would provide for conservation of various marine species and the marine environment including reefs, as well as ensure everlasting fish supply for the people of the state.
"The principal beneficiaries of the park will ultimately be the people of Sabah, especially those living in the Kudat, Pitas and Marudu districts as well as those living in the vicinity of the islands. They can enjoy the benefits of a better and healthier marine environment.
"(They too) will have better and continued access to abundant supplies of fish for food and for their livelihood and to have an opportunity to tap various economic potentials through the anticipated increase in tourism-related activities," he said.
Chong, who is also deputy chief minister, was launching the maiden voyage of the Mameng, a boat based in Kudat under the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion (SSME) programme to facilitate a marine team of the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia to conduct marine conservation activities.
The boat will also be used to ferry goods and project staff between the mainland and islands offshore Kudat as well as to enable the team to meet communities living in the proposed park and impress upon them the importance of marine conservation to the environment and people.
The boat has been named after a local fish of that name, otherwise known as the humphead wrasse, an exceptional fish that lives among coral reefs and also one of the most threatened fishes in the world.
Chong said the marine park was threatened with overfishing for years and the use of destructive fishing practices such as bombing and use of cyanide, and the reefs had undergone degradation.
He said that in addition to the reefs, the park would protect important habitats of the rare sea turtles and even the rare dugong.
"A park as big as the proposed Tun Mustapha is necessary to maintain the important ecolological linkages between seagrasses, mangroves, forests, coral reefs, dugongs, turtles and fishes," he added.
Source: BERNAMA
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