Sabah divers down in the dumps over coral destruction in Mabul

 

The giant barge sitting on top of the reef at Paradise One, off Mabul Island. It has since been removed. (File photo, conservationist pic)

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s divers have been left feeling helpless after authorities say they are unable to take action against those responsible for coral reef damage at a dive site off Mabul Island near here.

Last week, a private contractor steered a giant barge of construction materials into a coral reef at Paradise One, one of the island’s popular dive locations, severely damaging the corals there.

The following day, Sabah tourism, culture and environment minister Jafry Ariffin swiftly issued a statement promising an immediate investigation.

But at the same time, Jafry explained that because the site was not located in an area protected by either Sabah Parks or the state wildlife department, it made it difficult for the authorities to take action.

Semporna Local Divers Club deputy president Suzimin Edris said the incident could potentially affect their livelihoods when the tourism industry eventually reopens.

He said the “badly damaged” reefs are famous among beginner divers intending to obtain their licences because of its topography.

“The area isn’t too deep and is shielded from the strong undercurrents,” he told FMT.

“Besides being popular for beginners, the area is also a favourite haunt for amateur divers because it’s home to many marine species.

“This makes Paradise One the main diving site at Mabul Island.”

The world-famous dive site is favoured by many international divers, and is also home to rare species of coral – many of which were identified in WWF-Semporna’s prestigious Hard Coral Mapping Project.

An aerial view of Mabul Island. (Muhammad Kazree pic)

Suzimin, also a member of the Semporna Professional Divers Association, strongly condemned the incident, saying such a thing could have been avoided if those involved had a sense of responsibility towards the environment.

“We feel the movement control order is a perfect period for marine life to come back here to reproduce, including the corals, due to reduced diving activities.

“But this incident has made things worse. We sincerely hope an agency will be able to take action against those responsible for the destruction,” he said.

Previously, Jafry had said early investigations found that the barge was involved in a project to build the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) front operation base at the island.

Saying that he viewed the incident seriously, Jafry assured concerned stakeholders that the government would work on any loopholes in terms of jurisdiction or enforcement to ensure that Sabah’s priceless treasures will be protected.

“But the sad thing is (that) there has been no news from the project consultant or the contractor about this issue,” Adzmin Fatta, a project manager with Reef Check Malaysia, told FMT.

“And it has been days since the last update from the government on the damage assessment.

“Restoration efforts on the damaged corals which have a chance of survival must be carried out immediately, not months or long after that.”

Adzmin, who is also the co-founder of conservation group Green Semporna, said the government should have also sought help from NGOs and researchers to help rescue the corals while the damage assessment was being done.

“But everything has gone quiet. Can they tell us exactly what the development plan is, because I heard they are planning to build a jetty.

A plerogyra sinuosa, commonly known as bubble coral, was damaged following the incident. (Mabul Diver pic)

“That’s going to cause massive impact not only to the reef there but others at Mabul.”

He said the coral destruction had also caused ripples among guests who used to frequent the site. Local divers had told him how these visitors were put off by the incident, he said.

Adzmin said that besides containing various rare fish species, the reef at Paradise One is also home to the plerogyra sinuosa, commonly known as the bubble coral.

He said this coral is listed as “Threatened” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of species at risk of extinction.

“People have to know that corals are not rocks, but living animals,” he said in frustration.

“When will we learn? Do we need to wait until the last patch of coral reefs is destroyed before we take action?

“By then, Mabul would have already disappeared because of how vulnerable it is to climate change,” he said.

In a previous statement, environmental watchdog WWF-Malaysia said it was disheartened by the incident in Mabul, which damaged years of marine conservation efforts done together with local communities and partner organisations.

The coral reefs that took decades to thrive were destroyed in seconds, it said.

The NGO said Paradise One and Two in Mabul Island are not only world-famous dive sites but that the coral reefs are important sources of livelihood for the local communities and the tourism sector.

Mabul Island is an important place for the world’s biodiversity as it is part of the Coral Triangle Region – a marine region that spans parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.

This area with abundant biodiversity contains at least 500 species of reef-building corals, of which 76% (605) of the world’s coral species (totalling 798) are found in the Coral Triangle, the highest coral diversity in the world. - FMT