Reef Check Malaysia’s 2025

As 2025 comes to a close, it’s traditional to look back on the year’s events – and look forward to the coming year.

2025 has been as busy a year as I can remember! Lots of great things happening, and I think we are laying a solid foundation for the coming years.

2025 Started with Bad News

Starting with the bad news, our 2025 survey data show a continuing decline in coral reef health around Malaysia. While a lot of this can be attributed to the 2024 mass coral bleaching event, it is clear that more needs to be done to protect coastal marine ecosystems – not just reefs, but mangroves and seagrasses, too.

Our team regularly activated our Coral Bleaching Response Plan in 2024

These three ecosystems are ecologically connected, and the health of any one of them affects the health of the others. These ecosystems are the cornerstone of livelihoods and food security for thousands of small scale fishers in coastal areas. They are also important tourism assets. We need to look after them.

The CMCGs Brought Good News

And this is where we move to the good news! Our Community Marine Conservation Groups (CMCGs) grow from strength to strength, with growing conservation programmes in all seven locations. We have over 160 trained members, who are out there doing good work to protect and conserve their resources. We believe local communities should play a central role in managing protected areas, and contributing to conservation, and the CMCGs are showing how true that is.

Next year we are planning to both strengthen existing CMCGs and expand to new areas. We will provide training in a broader range of skills that will enable the CMCGs to operate more independently of RCM. And we are talking to communities in several locations about establishing new CMCGs – largely in response to invitations from those communities, who have seen the success of the first CMCGs and now want to participate.

Coral Reefs Mentioned in Malaysia’s Parliament

Thanks to Datuk Ahmad Amzad Hashim, MP for Kuala Terengganu and Chair of the Parliamentary Select Committee for Environment, Science and Plantation, we were invited to brief the Committee on our work and the importance of marine ecosystem conservation

Shortly after, Datuk Amzad mentioned coral reefs in a parliamentary question, perhaps the first time these ecosystems have been mentioned in Parliament??

Briefing the Special Select Committee on our work and the importance of marine ecosystem conservation

Separately we have now met with six MPs to brief them on our activity, and we have received a very positive reaction across parties. This is part of our growing advocacy and policy programme, trying to get the right information to decision makers to support the CMCGs – so a “top down” approach to support the “bottom up” activities on the ground.

RCM’s Next Five Years Strategy Review

Looking ahead, we have just completed our strategic review and we will soon publish our 2026-2030 strategy.

Resilience is going to continue to be a central concept guiding all our activities moving forward – and the CMCGs play a key role here. The principal resilience factors – physical impacts, herbivore populations and water quality – can be managed on the ground locally, and our programme to work with State governments, alongside community groups, will contribute significantly to this.

Starting next year, we will be rolling out stronger programmes to address these three key factors. Together with improved governance to ensure meaningful participation by local communities, we are looking forward to turning the tide on reef decline and securing long term food security and livelihoods for island communities.

A Heartfelt Thank You From RCM

RCM doesn’t operate in a vacuum and we acknowledge the vital partners who help to make our programmes a success. From MPs, Federal government agencies, State governments, local municipalities, and on the islands themselves – not to mention the army of volunteers who keep our annual survey programme going – we thank all our partners, and look forward to developing those relationships further in the coming years.

All that remains is for me to thank the amazing team at RCM, and to wish everyone compliments of the season, and a successful 2026!!

Happy New Year from team Reef Check Malaysia!