Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa conserving dugongs at Tun Mustapha Park

KOTA KINABALU: Shangri-la's Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa is working to conserve dugongs and their habitat through cooperation with the communities of the proposed Tun Mustapha Park in northern Sabah.

The initial cooperation is between the resort and the community at Berungus, Pitas. The cooperation was recognized this week at the Second Coral Triangle Initiative Regional Business Forum in Kuala Lumpur.

The cooperation supports fisheries management and dugong habitat conservation by the Berungus community residing within the boundaries of the proposed Tun Mustapha Park.

The proposed park area is home to Malaysia’s second largest concentration of coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds and endangered marine species, including turtles and dugongs.

Tun Mustapha Park is a key component of Malaysia’s action plan for the Coral Triangle Initiative.

Part of the resort’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative includes a dugong protection programme which supports the protection of dugongs and their habitat, and the implementation of sustainable fishing practices.

Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa has also adopted the dugong as its official mascot.

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Development and conservation of Marudu Bay

KOTA MARUDU: Marudu Bay, which is rich in biodiversity, mangrove swamps and marine resources, can contribute to enhanced economic activities for Kota Marudu through eco-tourism and fishery activities.



Marudu Bay covers Kudat, Pitas and Kota Marudu districts right up to Pulau Banggi. Its valuable resources have been recognised and Marudu Bay is part of the five-country continental shelf and the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security, as well as part of the proposed one million hectares Tun Mustapha marine park in northern Sabah.



Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili said his ministry is funding studies conducted with Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Sabah to develop, conserve and manage Marudu Bay while identifying sustainable economic activities.



“The ministry is initiating these scientific studies to ensure that the rich resources are protected and also utilised for economic activities through sustainable development. But these efforts must involve the people who must be aware of the need to protect and conserve the environment and natural resources,” he said.



Dr Ongkili said this at an event of the Forestry Department to hand over funds to 26 secondary schools, primary schools and NGOs in Kota Marudu to conduct environmental conservation and awareness programmes.



Each of them received between RM1,000 and RM500 from the allocation given by the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to members of parliament to encourage such activities in their constituencies.



Dr Ongkili stressed that physical and economic development is hollow if it does not go hand in hand with emphasis on conservation and protection of the environment.



The member of parliament for Kota Marudu said that appreciation of the environment must also be a priority and a part of life for all Malaysians in the nation’s quest to become a developed nation by 2020.

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Pulau Sipadan waters to be gazetted

SANDAKAN: There is a need to gazette the waters off Sipadan Island as a protection park to safeguard marine life there, said Sabah Parks director Paul Basintal.

At the moment only the island, stretching 13.5km, has been gazetted and the waters would be gazetted in the second phase.

He noted that 12 popular diving spots in the area did not come under the conservation zone.

Speaking to reporters after opening a Sabah Parks seminar here yesterday, Paul said the process to make it a gazetted area was in progress, with the cooperation of relevant authorities, like the Semporna District Office, which had put up a public notice pertaining to the proposed gazette.

“There have been no objections till date,” he added.

Paul said marine park Tun Mustapha Park in the north of Sabah, is also expected to be gazetted by 2015.

The park, which stretches to 1.1 million hectares, covers the waters off Kudat, Kota Marudu and Pitas, including 50 islands.

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Steering panel setup for gazetting Tun Mustapha Park

Kota Kinabalu: Efforts to gazette the Tun Mustapha Park received a major boost following the first meeting by the Interim Steering Committee for the park at the Le Meridien Hotel here on Feb 1.

The inaugural meeting and the formation of the committee signalled an important milestone towards the setting up of the park, a statement by the Board of Trustees of Sabah Parks said.

In the next three years, the committee and its working groups will work towards an Integrated Management Plan that will achieve the three objectives of the proposed park and outlining the implementation of a multiple use park that is managed through a collaborative management approach.

The main objectives for the establishment of the proposed park were to conserve biodiversity, to ensure sustainable development and to alleviate poverty in the proposed park.

Once fully gazetted, the park would be the first fully collaboratively managed park established through consultative and participatory process by various stakeholders of the park, including the local communities.

Continue reading at: Steering panel setup for gazetting Tun Mustapha Park
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