Protect Coral Reefs in Malaysia

Reef Check Malaysia and 15 trained divers from our Community Marine Conservation Groups (#CMCGs) — including Selakan Marine Conservation Group, Larapan Marine Conservation Group, Kulapuan Marine Conservation Group, and Pemimpin IKLIM Mabul — carried out 5 dives to remove the Crown-of-Thorns starfish (COTs). The COTs are a natural predator found on coral reefs and if left unchecked, COTs can destroy entire coral ecosystems. They can grow into huge populations, causing a serious outbreak.

The 2-day emergency reef response was conducted at Bakkungan Island’s reefs in Semporna, during which 869 COTs were removed from the area!

A couple of weeks later, our Selakan Marine Conservation Group, Pemimpin IKLIM Mabul, Larapan Marine Conservation Group, Kulapuan Marine Conservation Group joined forces once again to remove these predators from Darvel Bay. During this clean-up effort, our teams collected and removed a whopping 981 Crown-of-Thorns starfish and also 3 ghost nets weighing a total of 200kg!

Our Programme Manager in Semporna, Adzmin Chiee, shared “In the past, it would take weeks or even months to assemble a response team. Now, with trained communities ready to act, we can respond promptly to marine conservation issues. This is why empowering local communities is key to managing our marine resources.”

Our CMCGs are supported by the Sabah State Tourism, Culture and Environment Department (Kementerian Pelancongan, Kebudayaan, & Alam Sekitar Sabah (KePKAS)).

In conjuction with Coral Triangle Day a few days ago (8th June), let's dive into some facts about this very important region.The Coral Triangle day celebrates the Coral Triangle, a biodiverse marine region spannign 6 countrie: Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor Leste. It is home to over 600 reef-building coral species, 3,000 reef fish species, 6 out of 7 marine turtle species and also thousands of other marine life - vital in supporting marine ecosystems, local communities and global biodiversity. 

Malaysia is part of the Coral Triangle, and faces multiple threats to its marine life and ecosystems. One example is the occurences of ghost nets. Ghost nets are essentially fishing nets that are torn entagled in reefs and then left behind as they can no longer be used. These nets contribute to ocean pollution by casuing extensive social, economic and environmental impacts. They trap and entagle marine life, besides also smothering imporant ecosystems such as coral reefs and seagrass beds. 

Our Community Marine Conservation Group on Tioman Island, the Tioman Marine Conservation Group (TMCG) receives many reports of ghost net sightings around the island. They often work together with volunteers from local dive centres to remove these nets, before disposing them in a proper manner. 

It is our hope that there will be lesser reports of ghost nets in the future, and more sustainable and responsible fishing practices are adopted.