Ivan Loh The Star 28 Feb 12;
THE pilot project to conserve corals on Mentangor Island, near Pangkor Island, has proven to be successful.
Reef Check Malaysia (RCM) general manager Julian Hyde said a visit to the site in January showed that the survival rate of the coral nubbins is a 100%.
Hyde said a frame measuring three square metres with Acropora corals were transplanted onto the seabed near Mentangor from a nursery last year.
It is starting to build a healthy ecosystem, with a large number of fishes and invertebrates taking up residence.
“We visited the site in November last year and found that the transplanted corals to be in very good condition, with a 100% survival rate and signs of further growth.
“This is an early indication that the site is suitable for rehabilitation,” Hyde told The Star.
“With the success of the project, we will expand by adding more frames with corals on it onto the seabed this year,” he added.
Hyde also pointed out that snorkelling guides too have come to a consensus to limit snorkelling activities by visitors at Mentangor for at least a year to allow the area to rehabilitate without external disturbances.
In October last year, RCM had laid the frame with the corals onto the seabed off Mentangor with the help of local snorkelling guides.
The island, chosen because it is rarely visited, was then established as a safe snorkelling zone for the rehabilitation of corals.
Hyde explained that the snorkelling guides and boat operators, fearing that the bleaching of the corals could affect their livelihood, had sought the expertise and assistance of RCM to revive the dwindling coral reefs on Pangkor and its surrounding islands.
“The snorkelling guides and boat operators understand that without corals, there will be no marine life hence, fewer visitors would want to snorkel there.
“Initial studies by RCM and coral reef ecologist Kee Alfian Abd Aziz from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia show that rehabilitation of the corals can be done,” he said, adding that the project was financed by YTL Corporation Bhd as part of their corporate social responsibility.
However, he declined to disclose the cost of the project.
He said the nursery for the corals that is situated near YTL’s Pangkor Laut Resort, was started in November 2010 to find out if it is viable to cultivate corals at Pangkor and ultimately to increase the number of corals in the sea.
Hyde said they first conducted the coral transplant project in Pulau Tioman with support from the Department of Marine Parks in July 2011 before the starting one at Mentangor.
Hyde said RCM would continue its efforts to educate the public on the coral conservation project.
“We have planned to include a school education programme with students from SK Seri Pangkor under RCM’s Rainforest to Reef programme,” he said.
“We want to educate the children about the importance of corals and its role in the marine ecosystem,” he added.
RCM is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the conservation of coral reefs.
