Interactive Map Brings Insight into Malaysia’s Coral Reef Health

KUALA LUMPUR (12 JUNE 2022): World Ocean Day is celebrated worldwide every 8 June 2022. For the people of Reef Check Malaysia, every day is ocean day as they work to sustainably manage coral reefs in Malaysia.

Reef Check Malaysia’s team are split across the islands in Mersing, Mantanani Island and Semporna in Sabah and Tioman Island in Pahang. Each team has been hard at work this World Ocean Day with involvement from the local communities too.

In conjunction with World Ocean Day, the team in Mersing conducted a beach cleanup at PantaiTeluk Cina, Pulau Sibu – a beach not easily accessible to villagers. As part of the #cleanseascampaign, 7 people were involved in the cleanup and a total of 447kg of trash were collected.Reef Check Malaysia was also invited to participate in a conservation activity in conjunction withWorld Coral Day on the 1st of June 2022.

7 volunteer divers from the Department of Fisheries and 1 representative from Reef Check Malaysia conducted maintenance activities at one of the coral replanting sites at Pulau Mentigi, Pulau Tinggi. Among the activities that took place were brushing off algae on the structures and removing barnacles.

Not forgetting the general public, the team at Mersing conducted a virtual zoom presentation for the Mersing community via Facebook Live through the Majlis Daerah Mersing’s Facebook account. The talk, “Kepelbagaian Ekosistem Marin diMersing – Tanggungjawab Bersama” was done in celebration of World Environment Day on 5 June 2022. A virtual tour of the island and eco-diving and talks on the importance of protecting the ecosystem and an introduction of the various ecosystems in Mersing was part of the presentation.

“It’s great to see that World Ocean Day is getting more recognised these days. People start topay more attention to issues we have and have joined hands in taking actions to save ourocean.” shared Nazirul Amin Azmi, Programme Manager of Cintai Mersing.

In Sabah, the team headed to Mabul Island for the Reef Check Ecodiver course with youthsfrom Mabul and Mantanani Island. This course was held in collaboration with Green Semporna, an environmental youth non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Semporna

On another Sabah series of activities for World Oceans Day, the team also completed their annual Reef Check survey for Mabul and Kapalai Island with trained Eco Divers. Their dedicated volunteers also did underwater clean ups after finishing the surveys. This survey issupported by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment of Sabah (KEPKAS).

Heading over to Tioman Island, the team held a beach cleanup and reef rehabilitation with MTG Capital Sdn Bhd. The ‘Reef Rehabilitation and Beach Cleanup’ campaign done on the 5th and 6th of June 2022 was done in conjunction with World Oceans Day. During the event, 15 people planted 100 corals and collected a total of 9 bags of trash, amounting to 70 kg of trash was collected.

Not wanting to miss out on the celebration, Reef Check Malaysia’s General Manager, Julian Hyde joined 140 people from Yayasan Sime Darby and Sime Darby group of companies at Pantai Kelanang for a cleanup for World Ocean Day. The group successfully collected 1,074 kgof trash all in a day’s work.

“We hope this effort will extend beyond the World Ocean Day celebration and that all stakeholders will continue working collaboratively in taking better care of our ocean.” added Nazirul.

For more information on the work that Reef Check Malaysia does, visit https://www.reefcheck.org.my/. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram to keep updated with their work.

KUALA LUMPUR, 18 OCTOBER 2024 – 8,569 volunteers from all around Malaysia collected 41,015kg of trash during the annual International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) event in September 2024.

Among 388,730 items collected, the most common item found was plastic bottles at 50,785 bottles. The second and third most common items were cigarette butts at 39,584 pieces and plastic/foam pieces at 38,801 pieces.

Reef Check Malaysia (RCM) coordinates the nationwide ICC in Malaysia every year since 2018. Organizations, groups and individuals collect data during the cleanup and key in data into the Clean Swell app to contribute to the global database of cleanups by Ocean Conservancy.

Tengku Zatashah, Princess Beach Cleanup in action

Y.A.M Tengku Zatashah binti Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, the princess of Selangor, who is also fondly known as ‘Princess Beach Cleanup’, also participated in this year’s ICC. “The International Coastal Cleanup is an event I look forward to every year since 2017. Participating in beach cleanups allows us to see the problem firsthand and take action to address it. I encourage everyone to do their part in keeping our oceans clean.” commented Tengku Zatashah who joined the ICC at Pantai Morib Baharu in Selangor this year.

Proud volunteers of Hapag-Lloyd Business Services Malaysia that cleaned up Pantai Batu 23

This year’s ICC was supported by Hapag-Llyod Business Services Malaysia and KPMG Malaysia. Hapag-Llyod Business Services Malaysia’s volunteers cleaned Pantai Batu 23 for ICC and collected 54.75 kg of trash. KPMG Malaysia chose to clean Pantai Remis, Kuala Selangor and collected 126.61kg of trash.

Coastal Cleanup is an event I look forward to every year since 2017. Participating in beach cleanups allows us to see the problem firsthand and take action to address it. I encourage everyone to do their part in keeping our oceans clean.” commented Tengku Zatashah who joined the ICC at Pantai Morib Baharu in Selangor this year.

KPMG volunteers cleared 126.61kg of trash from Pantai Remis

Reef Check Malaysia also held their Kod Blue: Laut Needs You event as part of the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC). Volunteers for Kod Blue 2024 which happened on 7 September at Kampung Air Batang, Tioman Island, collected 757.7kg of trash from the beach cleanup and 50.8kg of trash from the underwater cleanup. The underwater cleanup team also removed 62 coral predators, the Crown-of-Thorns starfish (COT).

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All Kod Blue 2024 volunteers before the cleanups

“The objective of the event is to spread awareness about the issue of marine debris while bringing together the general public and the local community of Tioman Island,” said Theresa Ng, Chief Operating Officer of Reef Check Malaysia. “Kod Blue is an homage to the term used to mean ’emergency’ in the medical field, and ‘blue’ is also a nod to the ocean.”

The second event in the series featured a conservation talk by Reef Check Malaysia’s Chief Programmes Officer, Alvin Chelliah, a special ‘Action Camera Underwater Videography’ workshop by Reef Check Malaysia’s ambassador, Baki Zainal, a beach and underwater cleanup, a ‘Pasar Malam Mesra Alam’ offering local delicacies from the Tioman Island community, a glass crusher and coral block workshop, and a movie night.

Volunteers segregated trash according to types

The event was supported by sponsors including Migalabs, Diamond & Platinum, REEF, Bose, Sol Sauce Sunscreen, Akkord Scents, Nautika Scuba Centre, B&J Diving Centre, Small Towns Malaysia, Ryan’s Special Needs Care Centre, Garmin Malaysia, Cowa, MobyTek, and Nazri’s Place.

“We are grateful for our sponsors for their generous sponsorship and support for Kod Blue 2024.” commented Theresa.

“We also would like to thank our ambassadors, Sharifah Sofia and Baki Zainal, all of our volunteers including representatives from Tioman Development Authority, Department of Fisheries (DOF), Alam Flora, SWCORP ROMPIN, PERHILITAN Department, Tioman Police, SMK Tekek (Nature Lovers Club), and Malaysia Civil Defence Force for participating in our cleanup effort.” added Theresa.

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A TMCG member who supported our cleanup weighed all trash collected

Every year, millions of tons of trash—including an estimated 11 million metric tons of plastic waste—flows into the ocean, impacting more than 800 marine species and even entering the food chain.

“When I first heard about Kod Blue 2024, I was excited, and I think it is a good chance to be part of conservation work with experts in the field. It was not easy to make time for this event, but I am very happy I did. I get to meet like-minded people, and I enjoy every second of the activities. I have a lot of takeaways from this event” commented Yvonne Jong, one of the underwater participants of Kod Blue 2024.

For more information on Reef Check Malaysia, you may visit them on their website, Facebook and Instagram or contact them at hello@reefcheck.org.my.

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