Protect Coral Reefs in Malaysia

Reef Check Malaysia believes in co-management and one of our focuses is empower local community participation in conservation and create economic opportunities.

Born and raised on Tioman island, Shahir is one of the early members of the Tioman Marine Conservation Group (TMCG). TMCG is formed to provide local community the opportunity to work alongside reef managers in managing and protecting marine resources on their island.

Shahir is a certified diver who had always wanted to be involved with reef rehabilitation projects on Tioman. “I was interested in rehabilitating a patch of damaged reefs in front of the village I live in - Kampung Air Batang, so I went to RCM for guidance”, shares Shahir.

Now Shahir is part of the Reef Check Malaysia team, his 5^th year, where he leads the members of TMCG in conducting conservation activities and strives to continue creating awareness among the community.

In the last 3 months, over 2 tonnes of ghost nets were removed from coral reefs around Tioman Island. The ghost nets had sadly claimed the life of two turtles, many fish and corals. A clutch of cuttlefish eggs was also found on one of the ghost nets. Fortunately, the clutch of eggs was still intact and the baby cuttlefish inside the egg sacs were still alive and our team manage to return the eggs to the reefs safely. Ropes weighing more than 200kg as well as wooden crates and pallets were also removed from the reefs.

These efforts would not have been possible if not for the collaboration between Tioman Marine Conservation Group, Department of Fisheries Malaysia and our team. Many thanks go Tioman boatmen and dive and snorkelling operators who took the effort to report sightings of ghost nets. Not forgetting your ongoing support to our efforts. Thank you very much from all of us.