Kudat tourism to boom in a few years

KUDAT: Minister of Special Tasks Datuk Seri Panglima Teo Chee Kang strongly believes that Kudat tourism will take off in the next few years in view of the great tourism potential of the district.

Teo, who is also Tanjong Kapor assemblyman, said the development of resort, hotel and island tourism would flourish and attract more investors to Kudat in the future.

“In view of the demand, the government should facilitate such developments and have a comprehensive planning in place,” said Teo.

“I hope entrepreneurs in Kudat will seize the opportunities in the tourism sector as well,” he said.

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president said Kudat’s economy was driven by the fishing, aquaculture and agriculture industries.

That said, Teo stressed that Kudat had been actively promoting its tourism industry in these few years.

“At present, more than 2,000 tourists visit Kudat every month, mostly foreigners from China and western countries,” he said after officiating at the opening ceremony of the Kudat Fish Farm Restaurant operated by Kim Men Seafood Supplier and Aquaculture here yesterday.

The restaurant is located at Kampung Tambakan, 10 minutes by boat from Marina Jetty Kudat.

The restaurant can accommodate up to 60 customers. Tourists can also snorkel and swim at the fish farm.

Kim Men Seafood Supplier and Aquaculture has established partnership with Times Holidays Travel and Tours Sdn Bhd and Wasai Travel and Tour Sdn Bhd to promote the fish farm as a tourist attraction.

Teo disclosed that Kudat had created unique tourism products in the past year, such as fish farms.

He said aquaculture was very popular in the district owing to the high quality seawater in Kudat.

He said these fish farm operators leveraged on their aquaculture business and transformed it into a tourism product.

“Fish farms may not be attractive to the people of Kudat or Sabahans, but foreign tourists love them.

“Some Chinese tourists even told me that they would return to visit the fish farm again,” said Teo.

He said Kudat was blessed with beautiful natural scenery and crystal clear seawater.

He said there were 50 islands in Tun Mustapha Marine Park and he had visited several of the islands, including Balambangan Island, Banggi Island and Maliangin Island, all offering unique natural views and geographical terrain.

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Kudat Has Potentials To Become Major Tourist Destination In Sabah

KUDAT -- Kudat district has the potentials to become one of the major tourist destinations in Sabah and in the region.

Sabah Minister With Special Functions Datuk Teo Chee Kang said the district not only boasted of many beautiful beaches including the Simpang Mengayau beach but it was also a part of the Tun Mustapha Marine Park that covered an area of 898,762.76 hectares across Kudat, Kota Marudu and Pitas districts.

"Kudat will also serve as the transit point for foreign and domestic tourists when the ferry service between Kudat and Palawan (in the Philippines) begins operation," said Teo, who is also the state assemblyman for Tanjung Kapor in his speech at the annual meeting with federal and state government agencies' heads for Kudat district.

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Unique Tun Mustapha Park potential tourism game changer

KOTA KINABALU: With its unique biodiversity, the Tun Mustapha Park (TMP) is a potential game changer to help boost tourism sector in Malaysia, particularly Sabah.

The 898,726.26 ha TMP area has more than 50 islands and islets located in the Kudat, Pitas and Kota Marudu districts in the northern part of Sabah.

The TMP is also home to Sabah’s third largest volume of fishery products from coral reefs, bays and open waters, and the source of livelihood to 80,000 coastal inhabitants, with great potential for eco-tourism.

The area’s unique biodiversity supports and linked habitats and is home to endangered marine animals, such as green sea turtles and dugongs.

A small community of the distinctive Palauh (pelaut) or sea gypsy people is also found inhabiting the open sea area in TMP.

A team of scientists and researchers from local universities and Non-Governmental Organizational bodies (NGOs) have recently completed a five-week (from April 15 to May 19) scientific expedition in TMP.

The findings of the research works were presented during a two-day seminar, organized by Sabah Parks, at a leading hotel in Kota Kinabalu, last month.

The expedition, organized by the Sabah Parks, was to collate information for the Park management to focus on conservation activities as well as to have better control of the Park.

Participants of the open sea and land expedition were from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), UiTM, University College Sabah Foundation (UCSF), Sabah Environmental Trust (SET), WWF Malaysia, Politeknik Sandakan and Sabah Parks.

The first scientific expedition was launched in the same area in 2012 to gather marine scientific data for the gazettement of the park.

TMP was gazetted on May 19, 2016 under the Parks Enactment 1984 with an area of 898,726.76 ha, covering only the sea area.

According to WWF Malaysia, TMP is the largest marine protected in Malaysia. As a signatory to the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security, Malaysia has developed a National Plan of Action to protect its portion of the CT area.

Tun Mustapha Park is one of Malaysia’s CTI Priority Conservation Areas.

The focus of research during the recent scientific expedition include community interrelation with forest eco-system services of the islands in TMP, tourism resources assessment, the role of TMP in the conservation of cultural heritage and conservation of TMP marine resources.

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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.

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Tun Mustapha Park, 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.

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Release of turtle hatchlings attracts tourists to Kudat

KOTA KINABALU: The release of turtle hatchlings can be a very unique tourist attraction for Kudat, said Minister of Special Tasks Datuk Teo Chee Kang.

He said the villagers must realize that protection and conservation of turtles could bring them great economic benefits.

Teo, who is also Tanjong Kapor assemblyman, thanked and congratulated the Kudat Turtle Conservation Society (KTCS), WWF Kudat and all volunteers for their good effort in conserving the endangered turtles in Kudat.

“I understand that over the years, they have managed to hatch and release more than 4,500 baby turtles to the seas.

“The release of 100 turtle hatchlings at Kampung Bavang Jamal on July 1 which attracted about 200 local and foreign visitors is another success story.

“If we have the frequency of turtle landings to lay eggs, thus more releases of hatchlings in the future, this can be a very unique tourist attraction for Kudat,” he said.

Teo said the villagers must realise that protection and conservation of this endangered species can bring great economic benefits to the people.

Therefore, he urged the villagers who are living at the seaside to report to KTCS or WWF once they found turtle eggs to ensure that they are hatched and released to the sea.

Meanwhile, KTCS junior project coordinator Norfazilah Rahman said the release of turtle hatchlings had been an exciting moment for the locals and foreign tourists who witnessed the event for the first time.

“About 200 people showed up for the event, including tourists from China, Australia, Germany and Netherlands. Most of them bring their families and children along.”

The society also took the opportunity to educate the participants on turtle conservation through awareness talk and videos before the baby turtles were released.

Norfazilah said illegal poaching of sea turtle eggs remained a serious issue.

“The turtle hatchlings we released back in June were actually rescued from Pulau Malawali and translocated to our hatchery.”

She added that the society used to get around 4,000 turtle eggs in 2012 but the number of sea turtles nesting in the area has reduced in recent years due to human activities.

Hence, Norfazilah said KTCS is working on engaging the local communities to protect and conserve turtles, as well as to educate them on alternative livelihood.

The long-term objective of KTCS is to establish 50 community managed turtle conservation areas within Tun Mustapha Park, and to promote turtle conservation based tourism within this area.

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RM1.2 mln from US for Tun Mustapha Marine Park

KUDAT: The Tun Mustapha Marine Park shows promising growth as it continues to receive support which is aimed toward equipping the park with better features.

Sabah Parks director Dr Jamili Nais said the park had even received RM1.2 million funding from the United States of America, to conduct research in order to manage the park efficiently.

“The US government had promised a RM1.2 million allocation for the benefit of research into park necessities in terms of reinforcement.

“It will also involve them giving us recommendations, such as investing in faster or bigger boats, radar and strategic placement of security posts, as well as how best to utilise limited resources to operate such an expansive park,” he told the media during the one-year anniversary celebration of the Tun Mustapha Marine Park cum launch of Sabah Parks’ Kudat office, yesterday.

Of the early recommendations received by Sabah Parks was to engage in strategic partnerships, which prompted cooperation with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) to harness its assets and capabilities.

Other efforts include setting up a special taskforce for the park’s 100-day plan prior to gazettement, collaborating with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Malaysia, official visits and discussions with district offices, on-field surveillance operations while transmitting information to fishermen, human resource development and identifying strategic locations for substation construction and security post placement and preparing exploration plans for islands and villages to raise awareness within the local community and gain their support.

Jamili added that although the Tun Mustapha Marine Park Scientific Expedition had formally ended, research will be conducted continually and is always welcomed at the park.

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Sabah's Tun Mustapha Marine Park celebrates 1 year anniversary, aims to be tourism beacon

KUDAT: The Tun Mustapha Marine Park (TMP) here will be a beacon of tourism in the years to come, Sabah Special Task Minister Datuk Teo Chee Kang said today.

Launching the park’s first-year anniversary celebration, Teo said that TMP’s appeal lies in its white sandy beaches, mysterious caves and rich marine life, courtesy of its strategic location within the Coral Triangle.

He said he believes it is high time for private companies to start taking advantage of the park's potential.

"As with many industries, the government only facilitates tourism, while it is the private sector that drives it.

"So, I encourage all players to come in and work together to develop the marine park into a premier destination not just in Malaysia, but on an international level," he said.

The anniversary also coincides with the conclusion of a year-long research expedition into the park area by various agencies and universities, including the University of Queensland, Australia.

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Mysterious cave at Balambangan island primed by nature

HIDDEN beneath a backdrop of lush tropical jungle and vibrant azure waves, lies the mysterious Gua Batu Sirih.

Few are even aware of the limestone cave’s existence in Sabah’s Pulau Balambangan (Balambangan island) — located 3km west of Pulau Banggi — where its entry is found beneath the cliffs.

In fact, the island’s locals were the only ones with knowledge of the place until it was officially discovered in 2014.

Pulau Banggi assistant sub-district officer Awang Syairin Awang Bakar said the cave’s potential value as a national heritage was immediately recognised the moment researchers witnessed the intricately patterned rocks throughout its expansive interior.

“We have determined it as a beautiful work of nature which needs to be protected as a national heritage,” he said during the recent four-day Kembara Media Negaraku programme.

The cave was among destinations visited by journalists who took part in the programme, which focused on national appreciation and patriotism.

Gua Batu Sirih is part of the recently gazetted Tun Mustapha Marine Park, and is receiving a limited number of five to six visitors per day.

With interweaving corals on its walls, that were hued and carved by nature’s tools — saltwater and rain — the cave’s unique properties on their own already make it an alluring site for visitors.

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Walk in the park: Combining conservation and entrepreneurship at Sabah's Tun Mustapha Park

SABAH, the Land Below the Wind, is regarded by many nature enthusiasts as a dream destination. For conservationists, it’s a veritable haven for its diverse species and habitats.

The beauty of Sabah was recently celebrated with the gazettement of Tun Mustapha Park (TMP), bringing much joy to conservationists and nature travellers throughout the world. Measuring 900,000 hectares and covering more than 50 islands, TMP spans across three Sabah districts — Kudat, Kota Marudu, and Pitas.

“The gazettement is just the first step to ensure that the largest marine park in Malaysia fulfils its potential for conservation and community,” begins Joannie Jomitol, team leader for WWF-Malaysia Kudat team.

“All the hard work towards the gazettement of TMP over the past 13 years was just the beginning. Now that it has finally been gazetted, it represents a new chapter and requires all parties to take it to the next level,” she adds.

WWF-Malaysia, together with Sabah Parks, had been continuously reaching out to engage with the local communities in TMP and this will continue beyond the gazettement and into the future. “We’ve been working hand-in-hand since 2006 to bring about the gazettement of TMP,” adds Joannie, who’s been working on local community engagement throughout Sabah for her last decade’s employment with WWF-Malaysia.

The community collaboration includes patrolling, relationship-building with local communities, setting up the Interim Steering Committee for TMP, and capacity building for the communities as well as for staff working on the ground.

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE TRAINING

In July 2016, 50 representatives from different communities under the Tun Mustapha Park Community Conservation Group (TMPCCG) travelled from remote islands to Kudat at the invitation of WWF-Malaysia, to attend a social enterprise training aimed at providing capacity building in entrepreneurship skills.

“Investing in building capacity and increasing knowledge in sustainability are vital in conservation. At WWF-Malaysia, we believe that safeguarding the environment involves everyone — from the public, to the private sector, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), industries and the local communities. Hence, we work very closely with TMPCCG, the biggest group of community-based organisations working on conservation of the environment to protect marine and terrestrial flora and fauna within the TMP,” says Joannie.

She shares that at present, the community groups in the established TMPCCG include Persatuan Belia Anak Taritipan (Anbatar), Kelab Belia Tigabu (KBT), Banggi Youth Club (BYC), Kudat Turtle Conservation Society (KTCS), Maliangin Island Community Association (MICA), Persatuan Belia Muda Tigabu (PBMT), and community groups from Kampung Berungus, Matunggong, and Balambangan Island.”

Formed in June 2014, the TMPCCG has gathered experience in marine education, awareness and livelihood programmes. Anbatar’s Sabarudin Samba saw the social enterprise training as an opportunity to incorporate these skills and knowledge into social entrepreneurships, where the benefits were equally shared amongst members and communities involved.

“In all the years that we’ve had workshops and trainings as part of community engagement, we never had one like this on entrepreneur-related capacity building and hopefully this will not be the last. Anbatar sees the benefits of this training to the communities, particularly in a marine protected area,” says Sabarudin.

The objectives of the training were to provide basic entrepreneurship skills to the TMPCCG members, and an opportunity to learn the Social Enterprise Business Model, which included financing and marketing. WWF-Malaysia believed this was an important step for community-based organisations (CBOs) to take, for them to recognise alternative livelihoods while keeping in view the importance of sustainability and conservation, which would be vital in moving forward with the recently gazetted TMP.

TRAINERS’ OBSERVATION

“We’ve been exposed to social enterprise before but this training is new in the sense that the workshop participants are communities who have hands-on issues to work on as they’re facing real challenges on the ground,” says Roslin Mohd Daud, programme leader for Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC).

Combining both conservation and social enterprise targets in mind, WWF invited MaGIC to develop a training programme specifically for TMPCCG. MaGIC sent two training groups - Tandemic and myHarapan - to give a four-day workshop on the fundamentals of social entrepreneurship, design thinking and problem solving, bringing products to the market, and financing social enterprises.

“We can definitely see the effort coming from the communities and their eagerness and passion in solving issues they face within their communities. We believe capacity building is a continuous effort and hope our engagement with the communities of TMPCCG doesn’t end here, and that relationship-building continues with them,” adds Roslin.

According to Tiu Kian Wee of Tandemic, speaking on behalf of his team, it was initially a challenge due to the adjustments needed in place for both parties — the trainers and the participants — to be able to understand each other’s concept of entrepreneurship.

After adjustments were made from their original programme, he confides that they were able to integrate personal experiences and skills of the community participants with their training and amazing and constructive ideas surfaced.

“This isn’t a first for Tandemic to be working with local rural communities but we’re excited to see what’s next in line for the communities in TMP. We’re hopeful and feel optimistic about the ideas and outcome from this training,” says Tiu.

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Six marine parks in Sabah as sanctuaries for sharks

KUDAT: Six marine parks managed by Sabah Parks have been declared as shark sanctuaries to ensure the shark population is protected.

Minister of Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said that it is part of the state government’s effort to conserve shark as the federal government refused to make amendments on the Fisheries Act to ban shark finning.

“This is very important in the context of preserving shark population although we failed to get the relevant federal government’s ministry to agree on banning shark finning,” he said when met at the launching ceremony of Tun Mustapha Marine Park by Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman here yesterday.

However, he said that initial enforcement may not result in punitive measures but more on educating the offenders. “We would start the initiative of the creation of shark sanctuary by educating the people so that they too have ownership of the programme. At the end, the success or the failure of the programme depends on how much the people feel that it belongs to them.

“The most effective way to implement the sanctuary is to educate the local community, so the initial enforcement may not result in punitive measure but some extensive education and we want the locals, the fishermen to be with us, i.e. we are in the same team,” he added.

Masidi stressed education as an important part of conservation as he admittedly said that part of the reasons why the protection of wildlife failed is the relevant authorities’ failure to educate the villagers on the need for sustainable way of keeping the wild animals in the wild.

Therefore, he said that the success of any enforcement is not because of the laws in place but rather when the people feel they are part of the system.

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Tun Mustapha Park - Huge tourism impact

KUDAT: The Tun Mustapha Park which was gazetted as the largest marine protected area in the region is expected to create a huge impact on Sabah’s tourism and aquaculture industries, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman.

He said the proclamation which involved an area of 898,762.76 hectares covering the districts of Kudat, Kota Marudu and Pitas, not only proved the state government’s commitment to preserving and conserving Sabah’s natural surroundings but also showed its seriousness in addressing socio-economic development for the benefit of the people.

As such Musa said it was hoped that with the gazetting, various agencies, including the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Sabah Fisheries Department, Fisheries Association and the local communities would cooperate in the sustainable management of marine biodiversity in Sabah waters, especially in Kudat, Pitas and Kota Marudu.

“With the gazetting too Malaysia’s commitment towards the Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations Environment Programme (CBD-UNEP) to protect at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas before 2020 will undoubtedly be achieved,” he said when launching the Tun Mustapha Park, here yesterday.

The Tun Mustapha Park which was declared a marine park under Sabah Parks Enactment 1984 (Amendment 2007) on May 19 is the ninth park to come under the Sabah Parks Management. It is the largest marine park in Sabah and Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said the gazetting was a historic achievement for Sabah and his ministry had been given the trust to see that the preservation of the marine park was managed more efficiently.

He said the goal and expectation of establishing the park was to protect marine and coastal ecosystems and at the same time improve the fishing industry as well as create more opportunities for the Sabah tourism industry which would in return benefit the local community.

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Tun Mustapha Park, Malaysia's largest marine park, officially launched

KUDAT: Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman launched Tun Mustapha Park (TMP), Malaysia's biggest marine park, here today.

The park, spanning approximately 898762.76 hectares, promises better marine protection and conservation in this part of the world.

It was declared a protected area under the Sabah Parks Enactment 1984 by Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sabah Tun Juhar on May 19.

Speaking to the local community and tourists, Musa said the success of the gazettement was part of the state government's efforts in advancing the people's socio-economy through various sectors.

"This is a historical event for us. With the establishment of this large marine park, Malaysia's commitment in the Convention of Biological Diversity, United Nations Environment Programme to protect at least 10 per cent of the marine and coastal area can be achieved by 2020."

Present at the launch of the TMP were State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun and assistant minister Datuk Pang Yuk Ming, and State Special Tasks Minister Datuk Teo Chee Kang.

In 2003, the TMP was proposed by the Sabah government shortly after it was recognised as a globally-significant priority marine conservation area.

The marine park is located off the districts of Kudat, Kota Marudu and Pitas right up to the Balabac Strait.

It is also is situated within the Coral Triangle which is a six million sq km marine area that directly sustains and protects more than 120 million people in coastal communities across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste.

With its declaration, the size of protected marine parks in Sabah now stretches to about two million hectares along with the Tun Sakaran Marine Park and the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park.

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WWF applauds establishment of Malaysia’s largest marine park in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: WWF-Malaysia applauds the Sabah State Government for establishing Tun Mustapha Park (TMP) off the coast of northern Borneo – protecting almost a million hectares of coral reef, mangrove, seagrass and productive fishing grounds, including more than 50 islands.

TMP gazettement comes after more than 13 years of preparatory work led by Sabah Parks with government agencies, local communities, international partners, and with support from non-governmental organisations including WWF-Malaysia. TMP is a globally significant marine conservation site and WWF-Malaysia is thrilled with this monumental step!

As an important marine area in the Coral Triangle, TMP has immensely rich marine biodiversity with more than 250 species of hard corals and around 360 species of fish, endangered green turtles and dugongs as well as significant primary rainforest, mangroves, and seagrass beds.

However, TMP is threatened by overfishing, destructive fishing and pollution, and the declaration of its gazettement is timely and will allow for a concerted effort to address the pressures to its marine ecosystem.

Executive Director/CEO of WWF-Malaysia, Dato’ Dr Dionysius Sharma, said he is deeply gratified by the declaration of TMP and congratulated the Sabah State Government, the Sabah Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment and Sabah Parks for taking the bold steps in the gazettement of TMP, paving and leading the way for the implementation of an innovative marine protected area management in Sabah and Malaysia.

WWF-Malaysia also congratulates the local communities within and around TMP who can now be proud of being part of this initiative.

“I feel proud of WWF-Malaysia’s role, together with other stakeholders, in supporting the Sabah State Government’s journey to gazettement of TMP. In particular, WWF-Malaysia is privileged to have been able to engage and work closely with various local community leaders and groups within TMP in building support for its establishment. Groups such as the Berungus Community, Maliangin Community, the Banggi Youth Club, Kudat Turtle Conservation Society, and the Persatuan Pemilik Kapal Nelayan Kudat (Kudat Fishing Boat Owners Association) have been strong partners in continuing to raise awareness and support for TMP,” he said.

Dr Sharma acknowledged the enormity of the responsibilities that come with the management of an area as large as Tun Mustapha Park. WWF-Malaysia is committed to continue supporting the Sabah State Government in the coming years to operationalise TMP.

WWF-Malaysia looks forward to continue offering technical support to Sabah Parks and working with other agencies, the private sector, local communities and other non-governmental organisations to ensure that a solid management plan is implemented to ensure the sustainable use of resources in the Park, he added.

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Tun Mustapha Marine Park - Nation's biggest marine park

Kota Kinabalu: The State Government has officially gazetted 898,762.76 hectares in the northern seas of Sabah as the Tun Mustapha Marine Park.

Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun tweeted the new marine park, Thursday, as being the biggest in the country and the newest conservation initiative carried out by the State Government.

"It's done! Tun Mustapha Marine Park in northern Sabah is gazetted," he said, accompanied by a photo of the State gazette dated May 19.

The park is located off Kudat, Kota Marudu and Pitas right up to the Straits of Balabac, where the Sulu Sea and South China Sea meet in the northern part of Sabah.

With the declaration, the size of protected marine parks in Sabah now stretches to about two million hectares.

"Efforts to gazette the park have been carried out through consultations with various parties with interests in the area," he said.

The area covers 50 islands and includes the three main ones of Pulau Banggi, Pulau Balambangan and Pulau Malawali with more than 180,000 people living in the coastal areas and islands.

It was earlier reported that such a move was the only means of protecting sharks in the area due to the reluctance of the Federal Government to legislate a ban on shark hunting.

"The area is rich in various marine life and located within the coral triangle covering waters within Luzon Island in the Philippines, Bali in Indonesia and the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

"The triangle area has over 500 species of corals that is the habitat of numerous marine life. This includes 243 invertebrate species, 550 fish species, four species of turtles, dugongs, crocodiles and sharks," he said.

As an open marine park, the Tun Mustapha Marine Park will be managed through a collaboration between various bodies involving both government and non-governmental organisations, as well as local communities, said Masidi.

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Sabah's Tun Mustapha Marine Park gazetted for conservation

KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia's biggest marine park located north of Sabah has been gazetted, promising better protection and conservation.

Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun tweeted; "Its done ! Tun Mustapha Marine Park in northern Sabah is gazetted."

He also posted a copy of the State Government Gazette under the Sabah Parks Enactment 1984.

The park which measures close to 900,000 hectares is located off the districts of Kudat, Kota Marudu and Pitas right up to the Straits of Balabac.

With the declaration, the size of protected marine parks in Sabah now stretches to about two million hectares along with the Tun Sakaran Marine Park and the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park.

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Kudat islands suitable for resorts

KUDAT: Minister of Special Tasks Datuk Teo Chee Kang has urged Malaysian investors to build resorts on islands around Tun Mustapha Park (TMP) in view of the tourism potential in the area.

Teo, who is also Tanjong Kapor assemblyman, said the 50 beautiful islands around Kudat were ideal locations to develop holiday resorts.

He said the TMP would soon be gazetted and set to be the largest marine protected area in Malaysia.

Situated in the Coral Triangle marine area, Teo said the beauty of the islands in TMP were on par with those in Kota Kinabalu and Semporna.

Teo added that a film crew from Hong Kong’s Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) were in Kudat recently to shoot Maliangin Resort and the aquaculture centre on Balambangan Island to promote the tourism industry in the district.

“I believe tourists from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Europe and United States will be attracted to visit the islands if investors are willing to build resorts.”

Teo said that when officiating at a Busking Competition at Sidek Esplande here. The event was organized by the Kudat Education Department, who was facilitated by the Kudat Tourism Action Committee.

He also called on government departments and the private sector in district to work hand in hand with the Kudat Tourism Action Committee to make the Visit Kudat Year a success.

Continue reading at: Kudat islands suitable for resorts

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Hong Kong's TVB to film Kudat islands

KUDAT: Minister of Special Tasks Datuk Teo Chee Kang personally welcomed and led a film crew from Hong Kong’s Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) in filming Balambangan Island and Maliangin Island for the TV show ‘Scoop’ here.

The crew members were here to film Tommy Lam Wai Yin and three others who survived 10 days adrift at sea before they were rescued by Vietnamese fishermen.

Lam, Spaniards David Hernandes Gasulla and Martha Miguel, and Malaysian Armella Ali Hasan were reported missing on May 2 when they failed to arrive at Tanjung Simpang Mengayau after leaving Kampung Batu Sirih, Balambangan Island.

The Tanjong Kapor assemblyman promoted the tourism sector in Sabah and Kudat when interviewed by the host of ‘Scoop’, Darren.

Teo hoped that more tourists from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan would visit the state and Kudat.

He said the development potential of Kudat remained relatively untapped and urged more tourists and investors to explore the opportunities there.

Teo also introduced the crew to Tun Mustapha Marine Park, which would be gazetted by the state government soon, and attract more tourists to Kudat.

Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: Hong Kong's TVB to film Kudat islands
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Three marine parks in Sabah to be shark sanctuaries

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will declare three of its marine parks as shark sanctuaries by mid-2016 in a bid protect the endangered marine creatures, said Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.

They are the Tun Sakaran marine park in Semporna district, Tunku Abdul Rahman marine park here and the proposed Tun Mustapha marine park in Kudat.

These marine parks cover a total area of some two million hectares and are home to about 80 per cent of our shark population, said Masidi after launching the My Fin My Life campaign to reduce shark fin consumption and promote sustainable seafood at Suria Sabah shopping mall here yesterday.

Masidi said the move to ban shark fishing at the marine parks would hopefully increase the shark population.

Masidi said his ministrys officers were finalising documents to be tabled during the state cabinet meeting for the three marine parks to be gazetted as shark sanctuaries.

He said the announcement would coincide with the declaration of the Tun Mustapha marine park in the middle of the year.

He said the state had no choice but to use state laws to protect Sabahs shark population when a request to the federal government to amend the Fisheries Act to protect marine creature was rejected.

We only asked for shark hunting to be banned in Sabah, not in other states, said Masidi, adding he was not afraid of being politically incorrect in the name of protecting the states natural heritage.

Last September Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said that the Sabah governments request for a ban on shark hunting and finning in the state was unnecessary.

He said sharks, unlike tuna, were accidentally caught by fishermen in Malaysian waters. This indicated that shark hunting and the finning industry did not exist in Malaysia.

Masidi also said sharks are endangered and should be protected. Sharks are vital to Sabah’s diving industry and earned the state about RM364 million in 2014.

In line with this, the Sabah State Government is urging all parties to collaborate with the Sabah Shark Protection Association and partners to take urgent action to minimise the effects of seafood consumption to our marine biodiversity.

Continue reading at: Three marine parks in Sabah to be shark sanctuaries

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Sabah government gets WWF award for largest marine park

KOTA KINABALU: Global conservation organisation WWF yesterday presented its prestigious Leaders for a Living Planet Award to the state government in recognition of its effort to create the largest marine park in Malaysia.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman said the State Government was deeply honoured to receive the award which was presented by WWF-Malaysia Chief Executive Officer Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma at the Chief Minister’s office conference room in Wisma Innoprise.

Musa said part of Sabah’s great strength lies in the richness of the natural resources contained within the lush forests and bountiful seas.

The proposal to gazette Tun Mustapha Park will pave the way for conservation of a significant ecosystem and coastline, he said, adding the Sabah Government has long recognised the importance of conserving the seas surrounding its coastlines.

“We are committed towards efforts to protect our seas and terrestrial landscapes, as reflected in the State’s Halatuju and Sabah Development Corridor (SDC).

“In developing Sabah, we strive for a balanced and sustainable economic development, not to be at the expense of the environment.

“I wish to thank WWF for according Sabah Government this recognition and will strive to fulfill its objectives,” he said.

The proposed Tun Mustapha Park (TMP) represents almost one million hectares of marine protected area off the north coast of Sabah, Malaysia. The park will encompass 50 islands and will protect one of the world’s most biodiverse marine ecosystems.

WWF has launched a major global effort to emphasize the value of coastal marine resources to hundreds of millions of people around the world and to strengthen marine conservation.

As part of this initiative, WWF pledged full support to the state government of Sabah for the designation of the park and to help secure the funding required to ensure its effective management once created.

“The gazettement of Tun Mustapha Park is a globally significant action that will boost the conservation and biodiversity of this uniquely rich natural environment. It will also do much to ensure the sustainable management of the significant marine resources in the area, for the long-term benefit of the more than 80,000 people living on the coast and islands in the proposed park,” said Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF International.

Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: Sabah government gets WWF award for largest marine park

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