Malaysia’s invaluable marine ecosystems include mangroves, seagrass beds, coral reefs, and they provide food and jobs to coastal communities.
Our waters lie within the Coral Triangle, and we are one of the 12 most biologically diverse countries in the world (we have 612 reef building coral species which is 77% of the total recorded species in the world).
Estimates of the value of our marine ecosystems vary, but could be as high as RM 3.6 billion per year. In 2015, the ocean economy contributed 23% towards the total GDP of Malaysia and the Total Economic Value (TEV) of Malaysian Marine Parks was estimated at RM 8.7 billion in 2015. The value also includes bequest and aesthetic value.
Despite the benefits that marine ecosystems bring to society, they are being degraded by a variety of human activities. This factsheet describes the importance of our oceans, and what we stand to lose if we don’t look after them better. It outlines some solutions and issues a Call to Action for relevant stakeholders to take action to protect these valuable ecosystems.
What benefits does the ocean bring to us?
The ecosystem services that the ocean provides include:
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Food for millions living in coastal communities
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50% of the oxygen we breath
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Important carbon sink, absorbing one third of the CO2 generated by human activities
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Underpins household incomes from fisheries and tourism
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Natural protection against wave erosion and flooding
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Habitat for 33% of all known fish species
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Nursery/breeding ground to 25% of all marine species
What’s going wrong?
We stand to lose all of the benefits we derive from marine ecosystems if they continue to decline. The main drivers of degradation are:
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pollution from industry, agriculture and human societies
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physical impacts from land reclamation, infrastructure and other development, and tourism activities
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climate change, which causes more severe storms, sea-level rise and ocean warming and acidification.
What are the solutions?
There are a number of steps we can take to reduce or reverse these threats:
1. Establish more Marine Protected Areas: MPAs are a widely used tool to reduce impacts to marine ecosystems. Scientists agree we need to protect 30% of the ocean to ensure its future health.
2. Manage MPAs holistically: create networks of MPAs that connect different marine ecosystems and protect the connectivity corridors between them.
3. Future-proof marine ecosystems: reduce local impacts to marine ecosystems from tourism and other marine activities, to build their resilience to future shocks and strengthen their ability to continue to deliver ecosystem services.
4. Involve stakeholders in management: numerous studies support the participation of local stakeholders in management of marine resources, as it creates buy-in and improves compliance with regulations.
5. Introduce climate change adaptation and mitigation programmes: numerous anthropogenic impacts are damaging marine ecosystems; addressing these issues will help to mitigate climate change impacts and help communities to adapt to “locked-in” changes.
Call to Action
We need to move away from managing individual Marine Parks to managing all marine resources (mangroves, seagrass meadows and coral reefs) in a holistic manner.
Management should be on a seascape level, integrating no-take zones, connectivity corridors and fisheries and other maritime activities.
This will require a new approach to marine resource management, with decision-making in multi-stakeholder bodies shared between Federal, State and local stakeholders.
What will success look like?
If we are to success in strengthening marine resource management in Malaysia, the following steps are necessary:
1. Establishment of a multi-stakeholder body to manage seascape-level protected/managed area. This would include Marine Parks, DoF, KeTSA, KASA, State EXCOs, MMEA, District Office, local communities and tourism businesses.
2. Introduce new legislation to provide for managing Marine Parks.
3. Develop policy instruments that prioritise protecting ocean ecosystems.