Written by Wild Asia on 4 May 2009 with 0 comments. Be the first!

Knowing that we need to work with the local business community, we developed a series of workshops for island operators. The main aim of the workshop was to increase their understanding of nature and the environment, and bring island tourism issues to light. By looking at rewarding examples and sharing the best practices among the private sector, these workshops are a springboard to hear views, constraints and to identify future partners.

Reaching out to Islands

As part of our SIP programme Wild Asia has been focused on building dialog with the business owners on the islands. Our pilot sites are Tioman and Perhentian on the East Coast of Malaysia. Here, we share some of our updates.

What we are doing in 2009

In sustaining the momentum, the pilot Sustainable Island Programme (SIP) that kick-started last year in conjunction with the International Year of the Reef (IYOR) has been extended for another 2 years. This time, the programme includes water quality monitoring of reef survey sites and eco-checks on resorts, thus keeping us on the pulse of our reef's health while at the same time giving us an insight to the challenges operators face in trying to meet the demands for more responsible tourism practices.

Read the latest report.

What we did in 2008

Our first two workshops under the "Sustainable Island Programme 2008" were held in Perhentian and Tioman Islands on October 6 and 8 respectively. This gave us the opportunity to initiate a process to feedback the results of the reef surveys and also seek out operators who are making a difference in protecting the environment. Attended by resort managers, dive centre operators, Marine Park officers, and representatives from the communities and local development authorities, insights on the complexities of the environmental and tourism conundrums were shared. As the two workshops were the first introduction of the SIP to the practitioners, the main aim of the workshop was to increase the fundamental understanding of nature and our environment, its threats and by looking potentially rewarding and sharing best practices amongst the private sector.

Read the full report.