Daily Express 22 Nov 08;
Kota Kinabalu: WWF-Malaysia on Friday said that it disagrees with plans to further develop Mabul Island through the construction of a 200-room chalet, research centre and oceanarium.
Its Executive Director cum Chief Executive Officer Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma said a study carried out at the island and its surrounding waters revealed that 85 per cent of the island has already been cleared for village housing, school houses, budget homestay accommodation as well as five-star resorts.
He said they discovered that the stakeholders of Mabul valued their marine resources and agreed that the quality of ground and coastal waters has been affected, adding that waters surrounding the island were also partly polluted by inadequate waste-water treatment and poor solid waste management to handle the land-based sources of pollution from villagers and resorts.
"Tourists have complained of crowding on the island since two years back, which indicates a growing loss of wilderness value. The resources of island - the land, coral reefs and coastal waters - are already heavily used, he said.
Sharma also stressed that artificial reefs do not bring more fish for people to eat but rather by allowing young fishes to grow to maturity through the protection of their natural habitat, fish numbers will increase, adding that damaged coral reefs and its resident fish population can recover simply by stopping the threats that plague them.
"The Sugud Island Marine Conservation Area off Sandakan in partnership with the Sabah Wildlife Department and a private sector demonstrated this successful recovery of damaged reef, without the aid of artificial reefs, thorough research, monitoring and management," he pointed out.
He said that a management plan for Mabul and its resources will be prepared by the stakeholders to regulate development and resource use, in line with meeting governmental standards and their own sustainable tourism and coral reef fisheries.
WWF Malaysia against Mabul oceanarium development
Mugutan Vanar, The Star 23 Nov 08;
KOTA KINABALU: WWF Malaysia is against the controversial oceanarium development plan for Mabul, saying the island was already over-developed.
Studies carried out on the island and its surrounding waters revealed that 85% of the island had already been cleared for village housing, schools, budget homestay accommodation as well as five-star resorts, WWF Malaysia communications manager Angela Lim said.
She also said that 80% of the coral reef sites surrounding Mabul Island were used up by operators for muck diving, with 50% of the reefs shared between the diving sector and villagers for fishing.
“As the hub of the tourism industry in Semporna, Mabul Island has the potential to act as a coral reef management centre,” she said in a statement following the disclosure that the state has given the green light for an oceanarium resort on the shallows of Mabul.
She said WWF Malaysia had discovered that waters surrounding the island were also partly polluted due inadequate wastewater treatment and poor solid waste management to handle the land-based sources of pollution from villagers and resorts.
“Tourists have been complaining of over-crowding on the island over the past two years, which indicates a growing loss of wilderness value. The resources of island -- the land, coral reefs and coastal waters -- are already heavily used,” Lim said.
It was better to allow young marine life to regenerate by protecting their natural habitat as artificial reefs did not bring more fish, she said, adding that damaged coral reefs and their resident fish population can recover simply by stopping any threats that plague them.
The Sabah state government has given the green light for the oceanarium project. However, the Land and Survey Department has yet to issue the land title as it is imposing stringent conditions for the oceanarium project proposed by local company Bina Ecosaba Sdn Bhd.
Among the conditions were that it should comply with environment regulations and be of low density in the eco-sensitive Mabul, just nine nautical miles from the diving haven of Sipadan.
