New Straits Times 11 Jan 10;
KUALA LUMPUR: Thirty-two more islands and their waters in Peninsular Malaysia are to be gazetted as marine parks soon to augment the 42 similar marine parks in the whole country.
Department of Marine Parks director-general Abdul Jamal Mydin said today these islands were selected based on their biodiversity and ecosystem, the marine life and corals in their waters as well as their tourist draw.
He spoke to reporters after briefing Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister Tan Sri Joseph Kurup and the media here as part of efforts to forge a strategic relationship between the department and the media to raise public awareness on conservation of marine biodiversity.
Abdul Jamal said a marine park was a designated area for a distance of two nautical miles from the lowest sea level of an island and was established to protect and conserve various marine life and their habitat.
The existence of marine parks had attracted more than 500,000 domestic and foreign tourists annually since their establishment in 2000, he said.
He also said that the department would step up patrols and enforcement with the cooperation of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) to protect marine life from destruction.
Abdul Jamal said the department would set up more "Rakan Park" (Friends of the Park) to keep a lookout for illegal activities and environmental problems in the marine parks.
Last year, 70 arrests were made for illegal fishing in the marine parks and destroying the corals, of which 21 cases were in Pahang.
Meanwhile, Kurup said the ministry would step up efforts to attract more tourists to islands gazetted as marine parks, with the collaboration of the Tourism Ministry. -- BERNAMA
