7 March 2016: Malaysia’s Minister for Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Seri Masidi, announced that Malaysia will establish a 1.6 million hectare marine protected area (MPA) in north Sabah in Malaysian Borneo, a region with the second largest concentration of coral reefs in Malaysia. The Tun Mustapha Marine Park and shark sanctuary aims to balance the livelihoods of growing coastal populations with environmental protection, as part of regional efforts through the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF).

Masidi highlighted the importance of Tun Mustapha Marine Park, and two existing MPAs that will also become shark sanctuaries, Tun Sakaran and Tunku Abdul Rahman, in protecting the region’s shark populations and its dive tourism industry. He also underscored the importance of the MPA in saving shark species, saying “We will lose the shark population in 10-years’ time if stakeholders continue serving shark fin soup.”

The planned MPA is currently threatened by negative human impacts such as overfishing, destructive fishing practices, and pollution, according to the CTI-CFF. It further observes that the absence of sharks and turtles in the area suggests that the ecosystem is under pressure.

Tun Mustapha Marine Park will be a multi-use park with a zoning system across its 50 islands, making it Malaysia’s largest MPA. Approximately 57% of its reefs are in excellent or good condition and the area contains over 500 reef fish species, including four rare types that were not previously known to occur in the area, the CTI-CFF reports. Malaysia will use a zoning system across the MPA to designate some areas as no-take zones and others as areas in which limited use is allowed. [CTI-CFF Press Release] [CTI-CFF Feature Story]