Underwater clean-ups were conducted at Pulau Besar and Pulau Pemanggil with a team of divers from the Johor's Department of Fisheries, Tengah Island Conservation and the Pulau Besar community. The team collected a total of 70kg of ghost nets and trash during the reef clean-ups at Pulau Besar and removed a total of 60 Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (COTs) at Pulau Pemanggil.

As we work towards sustainable management of marine resources, necessary capacity building and skills training efforts need to be carried out with the relevant stakeholders. We conducted five training sessions at Pulau Sibu, Pulau Tinggi, Pulau Besar, Pulau Aur, and Pulau Pemanggil, focusing on building island stakeholders’ capacity in marine resource management and conservation.

Supported by the Department of Fisheries Malaysia, the trainings were aimed at increasing the island stakeholders’ understanding of the significance of marine ecosystems in the Mersing islands and how they could actively participate in the island’s conservation and marine resource management efforts. 57 local islanders and representatives from the Mersing District Council and Taman Laut Sultan Iskandar attended these sessions.

We also conducted an Eco-Friendly Snorkel Guide (EFSG) training at the Marine Park Centre, Pulau Tinggi, participated by 40 boats and island hopping operators from Mersing. This training was organised in collaboration with Tourism Johor, the Johor's Department of Fisheries, and Mersing Tourism Association. Besides first aid and rescue training, participants were also trained to minimise impact on coral reef ecosystems when conducting snorkelling activities.

As part of our efforts to also promote sustainable economic development, we conducted the first round of a Food Handling Training Course. 38 island community members from Pulau Sibu and Pulau Tinggi attended this course to learn proper skills in food handling. Similar training sessions are planned for the island communities of Pulau Pemanggil, Pulau Aur and Pulau Besar this year.