Mersing Heart of the Ocean: April - June 2022

The Mersing islands initiative is supported by MISC Group through its Heart of the Ocean marine biodiversity conservation programme, which aims to improve ocean health by supporting coral reef conservation, increase reef resilience, and reduce plastic litter in our ocean.

Removing Threats from Our Reefs

We conducted two reef clean-ups and coral predator removal activities at the reefs of Pulau Aur and Pulau Pemanggil in collaboration with the Department of Fisheries, Johor.

Through the first activity, we removed 10 kg of trash consisting mainly of ghost nets during the reef clean-ups. At the same time, we also successfully removed 39 Crown-of-Thorns starfish (COTs) at these two sites, and this was done using a vinegar solution injection.

Reef Survey with the Island Community

This year, we kicked kick-started our yearly Reef Check surveys with the island community. We surveyed two sites at Pulau Lima and Pulau Tokong Sanggol with the help of one EcoDiver from Pulau Sibu, Zuhdi Nordin.

We’d like to thank Rimba Resort, for supporting the survey by providing us with diving tanks! This year, 32 survey sites have been identified for the Reef Check survey programme, and we’ll be sharing more information about them in the next edition of our newsletter.

Alternative Livelihood Opportunities for the Community

Alternative livelihood are activities with lower impact towards the environment and provides an additional source of income for the community. Through consultation activities done in March with 25 island communities from Pulau Sibu, Pulau Tinggi, Pulau Pemanggil and Pulau Aur, they have indicated their interest in exploring alternative livelihood opportunities. Among the preferred opportunities are food and beverages service providers and recreation activity operations.

The findings that were derived from this consultation process will be used to design training programmes to equip the community with relevant skills and help them generate a supplementary source of income.

Mersing Heart of the Ocean: January-March 2022

The Mersing islands initiative is supported by MISC Group through its Heart of the Ocean marine biodiversity conservation programme, which aims to improve ocean health by supporting coral reef conservation, increase reef resilience, and reduce plastic litter in our ocean.

The Current Situation

REEF CHECK SURVEYS IN MERSING ISLANDS EXPAND TO 29 SITES

Last year, Reef Check surveys around the Mersing islands have expanded from 26 to 29 sites, including two new sites off Pulau Lima.

Reef Check Malaysia, in collaboration with the Department of Fisheries Johor, has surveyed sites at Pulau Sibu, Pulau Tinggi, Pulau Besar, Pulau Pemanggil, Pulau Aur and Pulau Lima in August and September 2021.

Thanks to Tengah Island Conservation, a non-profit marine conservation organisation located on Pulau Tengah, the surveys were done successfully together with volunteers from the Mersing islands.

The 2021 Reef Check surveys revealed that Mersing’s average coral cover remained in a 'fair' condition at approximately 43%, although slightly decreased from 45% in 2020.

Over the years, coral cover around the Mersing islands has been gradually declining. Conversely, disturbance and pollution indicators have been on the rise.

Although not conclusive, the gradual decline in the average coral cover is likely due to natural and human impacts such as rough weather condition, high sedimentation, coral predators, destructive fishing practices and tourism activities.

This year, we plan to increase our survey sites to 32, better representing Mersing’s coral reef health condition.

YEARLY REEF CHECK SURVEY FINDINGS MAKE AN IMPACT ON BUILDING CONSTANT AWARENESS OF REEF CONSERVATION

In December last year, we shared our 2021 Reef Check survey findings in a workshop with Mersing islands' local tourism players, including island representatives and operators of chalets, boats and island hopping activities.

Reef Check Malaysia co-organised the workshop with Tourism Johor and Mersing Tourism Association, focusing on introducing various natural tourism products in Mersing and highlighting the responsibilities of tourism operators to protect the environment, especially the coral reef ecosystem.

The workshop has generated greater interest among the participants towards playing a more active role in protecting and conserving the Mersing islands’ coral reef ecosystem as well as reducing human impacts from tourism-related activities.

We will continue sharing our survey findings with other local stakeholders in the coming months to build awareness on the current health of Mersing islands' coral reef ecosystem and encourage greater participation among the local communities to proactively protect and conserve them.

OUT & ABOUT

MONTHLY BEACH CLEAN-UP ROLLS OUT

We have started a new monthly beach clean-up programme, kicking it off at Pantai Bandar Mersing with 568 kg of marine debris collected between January to March.

Marine debris is one of the main environmental threats to Mersing's coastal environment, particularly to the beaches.

The monthly beach clean-up programme aims to build the local communities’ awareness and participation to help address the marine debris issue in Mersing.

A total of 29 participants including local youths and staff of Hotel Seri Malaysia Mersing has joined our clean-up session. Most of the debris collected were plastic-based materials such as bags, bottles, wrappings and styrofoam.

Mersing Heart of the Ocean: January - March 2021 News

GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training Programme (STTP)

In January and February, three of our colleagues from various locations and three Mersing team members completed the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Sustainable Tourism Training Programme (STTP). These 4-week training sessions included virtual workshops and group discussions. Conducted by GSTC in collaboration with TrainingAid. The two trainers were Ayako Ezaki, GSTC Training Director and Dr David Erman, an international tourism consultant, researcher and speaker. We were joined by our partners and local stakeholders from the Sustainable Travel Mersing Group (STM), with whom we are collaborating to develop strategies and action plans to establish Mersing as a sustainable tourism destination.

Some of the participants of the GSTC STTP during a virtual session

At the training, our team had the opportunity to discover more about the four GSTC pillars; Sustainable Management, Socio-economic Sustainability, Cultural Sustainability and Environmental Sustainability. We’ve exchanged knowledge and experiences with other global participants   and we learned from experienced speakers who had pioneered sustainable tourism practices in their organisations and tourism destinations globally. Through this workshop, various practical examples were demonstrated and we hope to make use of the knowledge gained and share it with our wider stakeholder groups in Mersing. 

An ongoing training session

Island Community Survey

 In March, our team in Mersing visited four islands over 2 weeks; Sibu, Tinggi, Pemanggil and Aur for community surveys. During this trip, we were joined by our local collaborators from the STM group. Since some of our new team members had never visited the islands before, the trip was intended as a stocktaking exercise in getting to know the islands and their communities. These visits are marked as the first in a series of future community consultation sessions. Additionally, such visits will be useful for us to better understand the communities’ issues, concerns, hopes and interests when they participate in conservation activities for the sustainable management of marine resources around the islands.  

Our team during a community survey session

 During this trip, we also took the opportunity to engage with the tour operators that are based on the islands and we conducted a preliminary plastic waste and sewage treatment assessment. Information collected from this assessment will provide baseline information on the current system and this will help us to support the local authority to formulate a strategy for effective waste management for Mersing islands.

A preliminary plastic waste assessment

Site recce for annual Reef Check survey and reef rehabilitation

 There are over 45 islands in the Mersing archipelago, many of which are not yet included in long term coral reef health monitoring programmes. With the assistance from the Department of Fisheries and a local champion from Sibu Island, Mr. Yusri, our team went for a site visit to Pulau Sibu and Pulau Lima in hope of identifying new Reef Check survey and reef rehabilitation sites.

The team preparing for a site recce

Several sites were surveyed and identified with plans to establish a long-term reef monitoring and rehabilitation programme are underway. Check out the video from this trip here: 

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CMbACiSBz7R/?igshid=u34348ae6ky3  OR https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=303793381095343 

We extend our appreciation to MISC Berhad for their continuous support for the Mersing programme under their Heart of the Ocean corporate initiative.