What is a Marine Park?
Marine Park is a sea zoned area that spans for a distance of two nautical miles from the lowest sea level, except in Kapas Island in Terengganu, Kuraman Island, Rusukan Besar Island and Rusukan Kecil Island in Labuan. These areas are zoned for a distance of 1 nautical mile from the lowest sea level. Marine Parks have been established to protect and conserve various habitats and aquatic marine life.
Today, the waters around Malaysia’s 49 islands are gazetted as Marine Parks. The islands are:
Johor Marine Park is also known as Pulau Tinggi Marine Park. It consists of the waters surrounding 20 islands including Pulau Gual, Pulau Harimau, Pulau Mensirip, Pulau Babi Hujung, Pulau Babi Tengah, Pulau Babi Besar, Pulau Rawa, Pulau Tinggi, Pulau Mentigi, Pulau Sibu, Pulau Sibu Hujong, Pulau Pemanggil, Pulau Lima Kechil, Pulau Lima Besar, Pulau Tokong Rakit, Pulau Tokong Yu, Pulau Mertang Barat, Pulau Mertang Timur, Pulau Mertang Tengah (Achi) and Pulau Aur. These islands are located off the northeast coast of the State of Johor and situated between 8 to 35 nautical miles from Mersing. The archipelago and its surrounding waters was gazetted as a Marine Park in 1994 under the Fisheries Act 1985 (Amended 1993).
Kedah Marine Park or known as Pulau Payar Marine Park contains four islands, namely Pulau Payar, Pulau Lembu, Pulau Kaca and Pulau Segantang. It is located about 19 nm south of Pulau Langkawi, 32 nm north of Penang and 15 nm west of Kuala Kedah. The islands were gazetted as a marine park in 1994 under the Fisheries Act 1985 (Amended 1991).
Pulau Tioman (Tioman Island) is the largest in a group of nine islands (Pulau Tioman, Pulau Tulai, Pulau Labas, Pulau Sepoi, Pulau Seri Buat, Pulau Tokong Bahara, Pulau Gut, Pulau Cebeh and Pulau Sembilang) that form the Pulau Tioman Marine Park. Located about 32 nautical miles east from Tanjung Gemok, Pahang. Read more…
There are 4 main archipelagos of marine park islands in the state of Terengganu, namely Pulau Redang Archipelago, Pulau Perhentian Archipelago, Pulau Kapas Archipelago and Pulau Tenggol Archipelago.
Melaka Marine Park consists of 3 islands. Namely Pulau Undan, Pulau Dodol and Pulau Nangka. Undan Island is located in the Malacca Strait, about 5 kilometers from Pernu/Umbai Jetty, Melaka. The close distance to the mainland allows the trip to the island to be made only 20 minutes from the jetty.
Pulau Labuan is located on the west coast of Sabah, about 8 kilometers from the nearest point of Sabah and about 123 kilometers from Kota Kinabalu which is the Capital of Sabah. The waters of 2 nautical miles from the coast that surrounds the 3 small islands, was declared as Labuan Marine Park after 1994. The three islands are Pulau Kuraman, Pulau Rusukan Kecil and Pulau Rusukan Besar, located southwest of Labuan Island.
Turtle Conservation and Information Centre (TCIC)
The Turtle Conservation and Information Centre (TCIC) was built by the Department of Fisheries Malaysia and managed by the State Fisheries Office. It is a centre for information, learning, shelter, hatching and research on turtles. The centre is also used as a treatment centre for turtles that are found stranded and injured.
The steps to conserve turtles include:
- Do not eat turtle eggs
- Do not disturb turtles during laying eggs
- Do not disturb baby turtles departing into the sea
- Do not buy handicrafts/souvenirs made from turtles
- Do not throw rubbish on the beach/sea/river
- Do not throw nets/trawls/fishing rods into the sea
- Support turtle conservation activities carried out in Malaysia
- Contact the Department of Fisheries Malaysia at 03-8888 5019 if there are stranded turtles
The Turtle Conservation and Information Centre was established in 1985. There are six (6) centers and one (1) Turtle showroom throughout peninsular Malaysia, namely:
Sanctuaries
Sanctuaries or protected / conservation areas are spaces determined by geographical boundaries that are clearly defined, certified, dedicated and managed in terms of law and other effective methods, to achieve long-term environmental conservation goals that are complete with ecosystem functions and cultural values related.
As referred to the IUCN, inland fishery sanctuaries are under the fourth (iv) list of Habitat / Species Management Area categorised as land or ocean areas that are actively intervened or managed to preserve the habitat functions or to meet certain species requirements.
Fisheries Sanctuaries are located throughout peninsular Malaysia, namely:
