Kudat coral planting enters record book
Published on: Thursday, May 22, 2025
Published on: Thu, May 22, 2025 Text Size: Kudat coral planting enters record book KUDAT: Sabah Parks along with WWF-Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, local communities, enforcement agencies, volunteers, and the private sector, reached a milestone in conservation efforts through the recognition by the Malaysia Book of Records (MBR) for planting 12,000 coral fragments on the seafloor within Tun Mustapha Park (TTM) at Simpang Mengayau (Tip of Borneo) close to Pulau Kalampunian. State Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Seri Christina Liew officiated the Recognition Ceremony in conjunction with the 9th Anniversary of the Gazettement of Tun Mustapha Park at Dewan Tun Mustapha Kudat on Monday. 'Congratulations to the Director of Sabah Parks (Dr Maklarin Lakim) and his team, all collaborative partners and implementing agencies that turned this vision into reality. 'To the local communities – you are the true guardians of the sea. This collaboration strengthens an inclusive and effective conservation network. 'The figure 12,000 (coral fragments) reflects our determination and unity. This activity was accomplished in just four days with the participation of over 500 individuals.' The participants comprised certified divers, non-divers, local communities from Kg Tajau Laut and Simpang Mengayau, and various stakeholders, including tourism players.
Advertisement Liew said the mammoth project was made possible through corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributions from various entities, including the private sector and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). She asserted that these contributions reflect broad confidence in marine conservation efforts in Sabah and serve as proof that public-private collaboration can drive sustainable environmental restoration initiatives. 'The spirit of togetherness shown by participants – divers, communities, students, and volunteers – is the true backbone of this event's success. This is the 'Unite for the Ocean' spirit we aim to cultivate,' Liew said. From another perspective, the Minister noted that this significant project not only contributes to the implementation of biodiversity policies at the state, national, and global levels but also supports the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely SDG 13: Climate Action, SDG 14: Life Below Water, and SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals. Additionally, she said, it reflects Malaysia's commitment to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, especially the '30 by 30' principle. 'My hope is that this initiative does not end as a symbolic event, but is followed through with action plans such as scientific monitoring, community education, and regular reporting so it may serve as a national and global reference,' Liew added. Liew said gazetting of Tun Mustapha Park pioneered the management of marine protected areas in Sabah. Spanning over 898,000 hectares of sea and coastline, it is Malaysia's largest multi-use marine park and one of the most expansive in the region. 'Today, Tun Mustapha Park is home to over 528 species of fish, 250 species of coral, three endangered sea turtle species, dugongs, dolphins, and iconic species such as whale sharks and whales. 'These achievements result from science-based conservation, including marine biological monitoring and coral restoration techniques, underscoring the importance of scientific data in decision-making and evaluating management effectiveness,' Liew pointed out. 'Admittedly, preserving such a vast area is no easy task. The decision to gazette Tun Mustapha Park was based on years of scientific research, including biodiversity mapping, critical habitat analysis, and data-driven zoning. 'This area encompasses more than 50 islands, such as Banggi, Balambangan, Malawali, Tigabu, and Maliangin, with over 80,000 residents living in 53 coastal and island villages.' This initiative (gazettement) requires unwavering dedication, multi-stakeholder coordination, and patience in facing legal challenges, economic pressures, and climate change, Liew added. Acknowledging the equally important role played by villages like Tajau Laut, Marang Parang, Bavang Jamal, and the Banggi Island community, she commended them for having been key contributors to conservation efforts ranging from joint monitoring and coral reef restoration to community-based ecotourism. The highlight of the event was the presentation of the MBR Certificate of Recognition to the Chairman of Sabah Parks, Peter Lintar by MBR official Edwin Yeoh who represented MBR, witnessed by Liew. Also present were Tanjong Kapor Assemblyman Datuk Ben Chong, the Ministry's Permanent Secretary Datuk Josie Lai, Dr Maklarin and Kudat District Officer Charles William Dabbi. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malay Mail
2 hours ago
- Malay Mail
How a former maternity hospital, clinic and pharmacy became the shining example of heritage restoration in George Town
GEORGE TOWN, June 21 — Fronting the corner of Lebuh Acheh and Carnarvon Street is an imposing British colonial white building with modern touches and Straits Chinese influences. The architectural style of the imposing double-storey building straddling the corner of two streets is almost similar to that of the Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce building, the former Majestic Theatre and Loke Thye Kee building at the junction of Burmah Road and Penang Road. This is because the building, currently the office of George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI), was designed by the same man – the prominent Straits Chinese architect Chew Eng Eam – back in 1922. Chew's signature style is evident in the symmetrical facade, decorative pilasters and cornices and louvered windows that reflect a blend of Straits Eclectic architecture and British colonial influences. The building was originally built to house the Universal Dispensary and a medical clinic for Dr Ong Huck Chye. There was also a maternity hospital on the second floor of the building. It is unclear when the maternity hospital, clinic or pharmacy shuttered but a picture taken sometime in the late 1970s to early 1980s showed the main building vacant and in a dilapidated condition while the adjoining building housed a hairdressing salon. An old photo of the building taken in the 1980s. — Picture courtesy of GTWHI Sometime in 2002, the main building and its adjoining building, 116 and 118 Lebuh Acheh, were renovated and Penang Heritage Centre moved into the building. After George Town was jointly inscribed as a Unesco World Heritage Site with Melaka in 2008, the Penang Heritage Centre was renamed as World Heritage Office. It was only on April 21 in 2010 that GTWHI was formed to manage, safeguard and promote the world heritage site. The building underwent a massive restoration in 2019, not merely to restore it to its former glory but also as an example of restoration in accordance with heritage guidelines. The restoration was completed in 2021 and it now serves as the office for GTWHI and also as a model for heritage restoration. GTWHI Senior Cultural Heritage Officer Ng Xin Yi said the restoration took longer to complete due to the pandemic but they managed to keep the costs low, at RM1.8 million for both 116 and 118, to show that restoration costs of heritage buildings can be kept reasonably low. She also said some of the features in the restored office were intentionally left exposed, such as the steel beams installed to stabilise the structure, as a showcase of best practices in restoration. The ground floor of the office also features a mosaic of different colourful tiles of varying designs and patterns, similar to those found in many of the pre-war buildings all around George Town. Materials used for the restoration were also kept strictly as near to the original heritage materials as possible: lime wash to paint the walls to ensure breathability, timber for the wood flooring on the second floor and the staircase, stone for the stoop below the staircase and terracotta tiles for the roof and floors. The building underwent a massive restoration in 2019, not merely to restore it to its former glory but also as an example of restoration in accordance with heritage guidelines. — Picture courtesy of GTWHI 'This building is a model for other building owners to see how they can apply these features to their buildings,' she said. Interestingly, due to George Town being originally swampy before the British cleared it, walls of pre-war houses in the inner city tend to 'sweat' from dampness that leads to mould and peeling paint. Xin Yi said the way to resolve this is to install an aeration model on the ground between the inner walls to allow moisture to escape. The aeration model, similar to a narrow drain, will run alongside the length of the inner walls so that moisture will drip down instead of being trapped on the walls. In GTWHI's office, several panels of display glass were installed on top of the aeration drainage system to showcase how it was done. GTWHI's building is listed as a Category II heritage building and it is one of the eight buildings that will open their doors to the public for the Historic Building Open House programme during heritage celebrations on July 7. GTWHI Manager of the Department of Cultural Heritage Research and Development Ng Boon Nee said GTWHI will be open to the public for a visit and they will be taken on a tour of the building on that day. Similarly, the public can visit the seven other historic buildings under the programme and community volunteers will give guided tours of the buildings while explaining the significance of the organisation and buildings. 'The open house programme is to raise awareness, appreciation of local heritage and to promote storytelling and community engagement,' Boon Nee said. She said the aim of the programme is to empower the community to be able to continue with guided tours of their respective historic buildings as a way to generate income to maintain the buildings. 'We want them to be self-sustainable and this is also a way to encourage dialogue and foster cultural exchange,' she said.
The Star
9 hours ago
- The Star
Thailand credits prey releases for 'extraordinary' tiger recovery
This screengrab from handout trail cam footage captured on April 30, 2024 shows a tiger walking in Khlong Lan National Park in Thailand's upper central Khampaeng Phet province. - AFP PHOTO/ DNP/WWF-THAILAND KAMPHAENG PHET, Thailand: In the thick, steamy forests of western Thailand, 20 skittish sambar deer dart from an enclosure into the undergrowth -- unaware they may find themselves in the jaws of one of the habitat's 200 or so endangered tigers. The release is part of a project run by the government and conservation group WWF to provide tigers with prey to hunt and eat, which has helped the big cat make a remarkable recovery in Thailand. The wild tiger population in Thailand's Western Forest Complex, near the border with Myanmar, has increased almost five-fold in the last 15 years from about 40 in 2007 to between 179 and 223 last year, according to the kingdom's Department of National Parks (DNP). It is an uptick that WWF's Tigers Alive initiative leader Stuart Chapman calls "extraordinary", especially as no other country in South-East Asia has seen tiger numbers pick up at all. The DNP and the WWF have been breeding sambar, which are native to Thailand but classed as vulnerable, and releasing them as prey. Now in its fifth year, the prey release is a "very good activity," says the DNP's Chaiya Danpho, as it addresses the ecosystem's lack of large ungulates for tigers to eat. Worrapan Phumanee, a research manager for WWF Thailand, says that deer were previously scarce in the area, impacting the tiger population. But "since starting the project, we've seen tigers become regular residents here and successfully breed," he says. Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam have all lost their native populations of Indochinese tigers, while Myanmar is thought to have just 23 left in the wild, in large part due to poaching and wildlife trafficking. Over the past century numbers worldwide have fallen from about 100,000 individuals to an estimated 5,500, according to the IUCN, which classifies tigers as endangered due to habitat loss and overhunting of the species and their natural prey. But major tiger recoveries have been recorded in India and Nepal, where in recent years numbers of Bengal tigers have grown to 3,600 and 355 respectively thanks to conservation measures. In a forest clearing in Khlong Lan National Park, DNP staff open the gate of the sambar deer enclosure where 10 males and 10 females have been grazing. Sambar deer in an enclosure before being released as part of a joint operation between the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Thailand to increase the number of tiger prey in the wild, in the Khlong Lan National Park in Thailand. - AFP The deer watch cautiously as one brave individual darts out, before the rest follow at speed and disappear into the trees. Worrapan says prey release programmes -- now also happening in Cambodia and Malaysia -- are part of wider restoration efforts to "rebuild ecosystems" in South-East Asia, where they have been adapted for local purposes from similar initiatives that have existed for years in Africa. The breeding and releases also aim to solve the problem of the sambar deer's own population decline due to hunting, says Worrapan. "The purpose of releasing deer is not solely to serve as tiger prey but also to restore the deer population," he says, adding that GPS collar-monitoring has allowed researchers to track their lives after release. He says despite having only known captivity, the deer show a strong ability to adapt to outside threats. "(They) don't simply wait passively. They try to evade predators and choose safe areas to thrive." Chaiya says only a small number of the released deer end up as predator dinner, with most going on to reproduce. The sambar deer and their offspring "play a role in the food chain within the ecosystem, serving as prey for predators," he says. - AFP
The Star
12 hours ago
- The Star
Bernama chairman Wong Chun Wai named national journalism laureate
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chairman Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai has been named the National Journalism Laureate at the Malaysian Press Institute (MPI)-Petronas Journalism Awards ceremony held here on Friday (June 20) night. Wong, 64, brings over four decades of journalistic experience, having begun his career as a junior reporter at The Star in Penang in 1984. He then climbed the ladder to serve in various positions at its headquarters in Petaling Jaya. Wong is the 14th recipient of the prestigious award, joining the ranks of past luminaries, including the first recipient, the late Tan Sri Abdul Samad Ismail of Utusan Melayu (1988), the late Tan Sri Lee Siew Yee of the New Straits Times (1992) and Datuk Ishak Muhammad or Pak Sako (1995). Other notable past recipients include Tan Sri Johan Jaaffar, Datuk Kadir Jasin, Adibah Amin, the late Datuk Ahmad Rejal Arbee, the late Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin and Datuk CC Liew. – Bernama
