Marine conservation in Malaysia
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
Our aim is to protect the bay of Tanjung Tukas in the Perhentian Islands. The bay is blessed with nesting sea turtles and a house reef just meters off our beach. The environment in Perhentian in general is degrading, beaches eroding and turtle nesting decreasing. However in our bay the turtle nesting numbers have been stable for the past 5 years with between 80-100 individual nests. Our volunteers run ethical turtle watches for our interested tourists, informing them that they cannot take flash photos, to stay at least 3m away from the turtle and to be quite. The main thing is to respect her.
Another key aspect to the preservation of the Tanjung Tukas bay is that we keep the trees lining the beach. The tree roots reduce beach erosion and provide suitable dark nesting areas for the green turtles. Some scientists believe that green turtles naturally gravitate to trees on nesting beaches as these are the darkest areas on the beach.
In 2012, with advice from Reef Check Malaysia, we are starting a coral nursery where we take coral fragments and incubate them on a plastic platform at 6m depth. The plastic platform needs daily cleaning to prevent sedimentation and algae from smothering the corals. Our aim is to use these fragments, once strong enough, to repopulate our damaged house reef.
Through our small conservation efforts we aim to inspire the tourists and the volunteers to continue conserving our precious world after their visit and how they see fit. Its only by understanding nature can a real love develop. The more people that care for the environment with each of them making small steps towards reducing their impact, then, and only then, can we take the big step that is needed.
Community
There are two main ‘communities’ that we want to support
Diving Community
Our Promise to the diving community is to provide them with safe, fun and educational diving experiences. We ensure we hire PADI instructors whom share a passion for the marine environment. The more knowledgeable the diving community is about the marine creatures they see the more passionate they can be about them.
Village Community
The resort employs two boatmen from the local fishing village, they understand the seas better than any non-islander can and their experience is vital to safe diving.
Our resort also supports community efforts in the village by providing financial support to the Community House Project. They run weekly school clubs to improve the childrens English, snorkelling knowledge and environmental awareness. The project also runs a plant nursery which allows the local villagers to increase their income by selling the plants to the local resorts. In addition to this the project runs ‘Malay Dinner’s’ inside families homes bringing financial benefits direct to the villagers and a great cultural experience for our guests. Our guests have also helped with community work such as repairing villagers homes and painting classrooms inside the local primary school.
These islands belong to the villagers not us so it is vital for us to involve the local community and provide support for them through supporting the Community House project.
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