Our recycling programme on the island has been progressing well since we introduced it in more than 5 years ago. Recently, two more recycling centres (Rumah Hijau) were set up and began operating, in Kampung Mukut and Kampung Salang. Both these recycling centres are up and running with sponsorship from Ocean Conservancy. These centres accept items such as plastic bottles, glass bottles, cans and electrical appliances.
Rumah Hijau Salang
In an effort to reduce the use of single-use plastic bottle, we've also installed two new drinking water refilling stations: one at the Tioman Marine Park Centre in Kampung Tekek and the other one at Sekolah Kebangsaan Mukut in Kampung Mukut. We hope to be able to introduce more of these refilling stations to encourage everyone to ditch single-use plastics and use their own water bottles.
Water refilling station in the local school on Tioman
As a result of the recent monsoon season which just ended, Kador Bay in Tioman was left with huge amounts on marine debris. RCM, together with Department of Fisheries Malaysia and Tioman Marine Conservation Group (TMCG) conducted a coastal clean-up in the area and successfully removed around 300kg debris. Majority of the waste were discarded fishing gear and plastic bottles.
Our team also managed to remove a total of 320kg ghost nets were removed from the waters around Tulai, Soyak and Nipah. The success of these efforts was due to collaboration from RCM, Department of Fisheries Malaysia, TMCG, Freedive Tioman and B&J Dive Centre. Ghost nets stuck on reefs can damage corals and trap marine life such as sharks, turtles and fishes and very often cause death or injuries.
Ghost nets that were removed