Malaysia: 20-day marine expedition to assess biodiversity level in Semporna

The Star 23 Nov 10;

KOTA KINABALU: An international team of marine biologists will be assessing the biodiversity and health of coral reefs in waters off Semporna, which is a priority conservation area.

WWF Malaysia said the 20-day expedition, which begins on Nov 29, was jointly organised with Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Universiti Malaya and the Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis.

Members of the expedition include Netherlands’ Dr Bert Hoeksema who is the team leader, and UM’s Affendi Yang Amri, the coral reef status leader.

The team would also help to enhance conservation and outreach efforts through better understanding of the ecosystem.

The area is recognised as a Globally Outstanding Priority Conservation Area within the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Eco-region in the Coral Triangle, the world’s centre for marine biodiversity.

“Semporna is unusual because of its rich mix of five major reef types. Such areas usually have high levels of biodiversity because of the mix of habitat types and ecosystems,” said WWF Malaysia in a statement here yesterday.

It said there were also strong indications that the Malaysian Semporna area, together with the Indonesian Berau region, shared some rare and unique species.

“A modified reef check methodology and reef profiling will be used at each site in order to take a ‘snapshot’ of the reefs’ health,” it said.

Preliminary results of the expedition will be announced in Kota Kinabalu on Dec 20.

Survey to assess biodiversity richness in Semporna
WWF 22 Nov 10;

Kota Kinabalu: From 29 November until 19 December 2010, an international team of marine biologists from Malaysia, the Netherlands and the USA will be on an expedition organized by the WWF-Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Universiti Malaya (UM) and the Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity (NCB) Naturalis.

This Semporna Marine Ecological Expedition (SMEE) will assess marine biodiversity and coral reef health in Semporna Priority Conservation Area, recognized as a Globally Outstanding Priority Conservation Area within the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion, at the apex of the Coral Triangle – the world’s centre of marine biodiversity.

Semporna is unusual because of its rich mix of reef types, representing 5 major geomorphological reef types. Such areas usually have high levels of biodiversity because of the mix of habitat types and ecosystems. There are also strong indications that that the Malaysian Semporna area, together with the Indonesian Berau region, share some rare and unique species.

The survey is based on comparable methodologies that have been used in many areas of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Solomon Islands since 1998. There are only very few examples of similar studies being done previously in Malaysia. There is a need to document the coral and fish richness of all of Malaysia’s reefs to clarify the relationship with the existing definition of the Coral Triangle.

The overall objectives of the expedition are threefold: First, to assess the coral reef biodiversity; second, to assess the coral reef status and reef population health; and, third, to enhance conservation and outreach efforts through better understanding of the marine ecosystems of Semporna. A modified Reef Check methodology and reef profiling will be used at each site for two depths, in order to take a “snapshot” of the reef health.

Jointly leading the expedition are Dr. Bert Hoeksema of NCB Naturalis, Leader of the Biodiversity Team, and Affendi Yang Amri of UM, Leader of the Coral Reef Status Team. Other expedition participants include marine scientists from USA, UMS, and other researchers from the Netherlands, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) and Sabah Parks.

Follow the expedition blog, where the expedition members will update their daily work and share new findings, as well as their stunning images and short videos. Visit: www.ncbnaturalis.nl

The preliminary results of the expedition will be announced at a press conference in Kota Kinabalu on 20 December 2010.

The Semporna Marine Ecological Expedition is made possible in part by funding from Adessium Foundation.

Editor’s note:

* WWF-Malaysia’s Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion Programme in Semporna PCA is currently implementing a project to facilitate collaborative management of fisheries and marine resources among stakeholders, which include government agencies, district office, private sectors, tour/dive operators and local communities. WWF’s Semporna PCA Team works with these partners to manage coral reefs and adjacent ecosystems in a sustainable way to protect biodiversity. Economic activities such as tourism, reef fisheries and aquaculture can continue to provide livelihood and income for many people and sectors of society.

* The Semporna Priority Conservation Area (PCA) is one of three Globally Significant PCAs in Malaysia within the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion (SSME). It is has Malaysia’s largest concentration of coral reefs linked to complex habitats including mangroves, seagrass beds, and is home to 400 species of hard corals, 650 species of fish, endangered green and hawksbill turtles and contain migratory routes for whale sharks and manta rays. The SSME is located at the apex of the Coral Triangle.

* The Coral Triangle—the nursery of the seas—is the most diverse marine region on the planet, matched in its importance to life on Earth only by the Amazon rainforest and the Congo basin. Defined by marine areas containing more than 500 species of reef-building coral, it covers around 6 million square kilometres of ocean across six countries in the Indo-Pacific – Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste. For information go to: www.panda.org/coraltriangle

Study on Semporna marine life
The Star 25 Nov 10;

AN INTERNATIONAL team of marine biologists from Malaysia, the Netherlands and the United States will be on an expedition to assess the rich biodiversity of marine life off Semporna in Sabah from Nov 29 to Dec 19.

This Semporna Marine Ecological Expedition (SMEE) will assess marine biodiversity and coral reef health in the Semporna Priority Conservation Area, which is recognised as a globally outstanding area in the Sulu-Sulawesi marine eco-region.

Organised by the World Wildlife Fund-Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Universiti Malaya (UM) and the Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity (NCB) Naturalis, the expedition’s objectives are to assess the reef’s biodiversity, status and population health.

It will enhance conservation and outreach efforts through better understanding of Semporna’s marine ecosystem.

A modified reef-check method and reef profiling will be used at two depths to take “snapshots” of the reef’s health.

Jointly heading the expedition are Dr Bert Hoeksema of NCB Naturalis, who will lead the biodiversity team, and Affendi Yang Amri of UM, who will lead the coral reef status team.

Semporna is unusual because of its rich mix of reef types representing five major geomorphological types.

Such areas have high levels of biodiversity because of a mix of habitat types and ecosystems.

There are strong indications that the Semporna area and the Berau region in Indonesia share some rare and unique species.

The expedition is based on methods used in other areas off Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Solomon Islands since 1998.

There are a few examples of similar studies done previously in Malaysia.

The expedition can be followed on the blog at www.ncbnaturalis.nl, where the expedition members will give updates on their daily work and share findings through images and short videos.

Results from the expedition will be announced at a press conference in Kota Kinabalu on Dec 20.

SMEE is made possible by funding from Adessium Foundation.

Experts assess richness of Malaysian coral reefs

WWF 28 Nov 10;

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia: An international team of marine biologists has started a 20-day expedition to assess the health of the marine environment in part of the Coral Triangle, the world’s centre of marine biodiversity.

Experts from Malaysia, the Netherlands and the United States will participate in the Semporna Marine Ecological Expedition (SMEE) from 29 November to 19 December 2010 within the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion in the waters off Semporna, Malaysia, a global priority conservation area.

The expedition can be followed on the Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity (NCB) website, www.ncbnaturalis.nl. Real time updates on new findings as well as images and short videos will be posted until preliminary expedition results are announced at a press conference in Kota Kinabalu on 20 December.

According to WWF, there is an immediate need to document the amount of coral and fish diversity in all of Malaysia’s reefs to clarify how they function within the Coral Triangle region, which extends across the tropical marine waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.

Similar studies have been conducted across the territorial waters of many of the nations located in the Coral Triangle region, yet few have looked at Malaysia’s 7680km2 Semporna Priority Conservation Area.

Semporna is unusual because of its rich mix of reefs, representing 5 major reef types. This unique blend of habitat types and ecosystems means that many rare species are found in the area, some of which also inhabit Indonesia’s nearby Berau region.

The expedition will assess the health of Semporna’s marine environment by examining its fish, coral and invertebrate populations with a modified version of the internationally standardized Reef Check methodology. This includes profiling at two different depths to take a “snapshot” of overall reef health and looking for the best ways to enhance conservation and outreach efforts to better protect Semporna’s rich marine resources.

WWF-Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Universiti Malaya (UM) and the Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity (NCB) Naturalis have organized the event

Jointly leading the expedition are Dr. Bert Hoeksema of NCB Naturalis, Leader of the Biodiversity Team, and Affendi Yang Amri of UM, Leader of the Coral Reef Status Team. Other participants include US-based marine scientists from Old Dominion University, UMS, as well as other researchers from the Netherlands, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) and Sabah Parks.

The Semporna Marine Ecological Expedition is made possible in part by funding from Adessium Foundation.