Written by Wild Asia on 23 Oct 2008 with 0 comments. Be the first!

Wild Asia's Sustainable Island Programme kicked off with phase one in March 2008. Read up on how it went and what we learned from the initiative.

Introduction

Responsible tourism makes good business sense. It needs to be implementable and it needs to be economically-sound. The United Nation's World Tourism Organisation reported that tourism today is one of the top five income earners for 83 percent of the world. In 2008, the tourism sector in Malaysia generated revenue for the services sector amounting to RM 88.9 billion, which is 13.2 per cent of the nation's Gross Domestic Product. By 2018, this is expected to rise to 14 per cent, a value totalling RM 196.3 billion.

The mesmerising natural island landscape and stunning wonders of marine life remain a constant draw to holiday makers. Therefore, protecting our marine ecosystem and safeguarding the richness of our natural heritage make good business sense. With the advent of the expanding tourism sector, the growing concern is how the islands, their people and their coral reefs will cope with the stresses tourism brings.

What is the Sustainable Island Programme (SIP)?

The vision of SIP is to see the development of sustainable destinations through partnerships between the private sector, local communities and the Government. Activities under the SIP are targeted at increasing the understanding of nature and our environment and at rewarding and sharing best practices amongst the private sector.

SIP is unique as it comprises of a reef monitoring programme as well as a strategy for engaging the private sector through the promotion of Responsible Tourism. This is important as the effectiveness of any reef conservation measures in the long-term would require improvements to the practices and habits of private sector organisations such as dive operators, resort owners, retailers and other stakeholders as well as the local communities residing on the islands.

Wild Asia raises awareness of the concept of Responsible Tourism through their website, the annual Responsible Tourism Awards and other outreach activities such as training workshops and seminars.

Under the banner of the International Year of the Reef 2008, the SIP was launched in March 2008 as a partnership between Wild Asia and Reef Check Malaysia who both share a similar vision for the islands. Sponsored by Sime Darby Plantation and supported by the Reef Check Dive Centres on Redang, Tioman and Perhentian Islands, SIP 2008 first focused on training of Eco-divers and conducting reef check surveys. With the results of the surveys, the next phase of the Programme focused on initiating dialogue and discussions with local operators on ways forward to tackle the local issues at hand.

About the SIP Workshops.

The recent workshops held in Perhentian (October 6th) and Tioman (October 8th) gave us the opportunity to initiate a process to feedback the result of the reef surveys and also seek out operators who are making a difference. 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 our environment and its threats. Also considered was the potential of rewarding and sharing best practices amongst the private sector.

This workshop summary report, as well as the detailed SIP report, will be circulated to all workshop participants and will be made electronically available via relevant websites (www.wildasia.org, www.malaysianunderwater.com, www.reefcheck.org.my, etc).

Workshops Output

During the half-day workshop, participants were introduced to the concept of Responsible Tourism (common issues and models for promoting private sector involvement) and given a brief explanation of the results of the Reef Check survey which were carried out this year. The results provided them with a snapshot of the health of the reefs on Redang, Tioman and Perhentian Islands (i.e. islands under SIP 2008) and the negative impacts from the pressures and stresses the reefs face as a result of natural events (eg: storms, plague species outbreaks and predation) as well as irresponsible human activities.

Group discussions got the participants to put down on paper the various local issues affecting both the environment and tourism sector. The issues were then voted upon in terms of priority to deal with, which subsequently led to a brainstorming session on ideas to solve them.

The mind-maps show the diversity of issues raised during both the workshops at Tioman Island and Perhentian Island.

A summary of some of the key issues, in order of priority, are as follows:-

Rubbish / solid waste.

• Compromises water quality, becomes a potential source of diseases and affects the islands' aesthetics.

• Floating debris can choke and strangle marine life (eg. marine turtles).

• Practicality of on-site segregation, collection, storage and disposal of solid wastes were considered. Possibility of building facilities on site to properly store segregated solid wastes.

• Sourcing for buyers to purchase recyclable wastes such as paper, plastic, glass and aluminium cans.

• The need to consider proper management of scheduled wastes and construction wastes.

Wastewater / sewage treatment.

• While the results of the reef check surveys have shown that the health of the reefs in Tioman and Perhentian Islands are in 'good' condition (based on their percentage of live coral cover), the results also indicated noteworthy proliferation of nutrient indicator algae (NIA) which threaten to overwhelm the corals.

• A sound plan to treat sewage and greywater is needed to reduce the amount of nutrients entering the sea.

• For Tioman Island, distribution of local settlements makes it challenging to plan for efficient wastewater treatment and management.

• For Perhentian Island, land tenure issues and financial constraints pose difficulties in putting in place long-term plans to address sewage pollution.

Island Development.

• Unnecessary developments such as large concrete jetties, which are not needed or are not fully utilised, affect flow of currents and contributes to eroding beaches.

• Other uncontrolled developments also increase sedimentation, which suffocates corals.

• Necessary development, such as possible use of a railway or tram system of transportation (in the case of Tioman Island, which is about 13,000 hectares) to connect the rather spread-out settlements. This will encourage tourists to stay longer and explore more of the island, while at the same time allow the locals to move easily (eg: in running day-to-day cottage business and sending children to school) which will lessen financial strain.

Identity (Tradisional + Canggih + Terpelihara)

• During the Tioman workshop, the "Tradisional + Canggih + Terpelihara" concept was mooted by a participant, based on concerns that with uncontrolled concrete development, they are losing their traditional way of living and the richness of the natural landscape.

• Canggih - Locals are not against development, stating that better ATM and WIFI facilities would be beneficial for both locals and tourists.

• Terpelihara - Any development on the islands needs to be equally balanced with environmental protection.

Reef damage.

• Trampling by irresponsible divers/snorkelers. Dive/snorkelling guides need to be more aware and be adequately trained to manage these groups.

• Use of drag nets (pukat tarik or pukat tunda) to fish within the Marine Park Area. This not only damages the reefs but also results in overfishing and significant by-catch (sometimes of endangered wildlife such as turtles and sharks), thereby disrupting the ecological balance.

Reduction in turtle numbers.

• Although there is now a reduction in the consumption of turtle eggs due to increased awareness and control over their collection and sales, the number of turtle nesting sites are dwindling drastically due to overwhelming beach development, as well as noise and light pollution.

Water supply and access.

• No control of water usage. In Perhentian, too much groundwater is being tapped into to the extent that there is already saltwater intrusion.

• To consider the installation of individual flow meters and/or low-flow taps in resorts/chalets and providing guests with brief information on how to conserve water.

Conclusion.

These workshops have met the objectives of:-

• raising the awareness with regards to the common environmental pressures faced by our islands,

• sharing of the Reef Check survey results,

• stimulating discussions on the local issues, and

• looking for ways forward in dealing with those concerns.

While it was generally agreed that more workshops are required to extend its reach to a wider audience and thereby garnering more cooperation and support in the implementation of projects or programmes under the SIP, there are issues beyond the control of accommodation providers and dive centre operators to tackle.

In order to continue the momentum of the SIP programme next year, we hope to return to Perhentian and Tioman to follow up on some of their key concerns. In the meantime, we will focus on identifying specific solutions that could be relevant to the islands, networking with like-minded people and working on developing proposals for strategic areas that would require support.

Specific examples of the above would include establishing practical channels to enable recycling of plastic materials from Perhentian Islands to Kuala Besut. In addition, snorkel guide training can be carried out with keen operators, which shall emphasise on eliminating damaging acts like standing on corals as well as minimising irresponsible practices like fish feeding and physical grabbing of turtles at feeding grounds.

Proposed Next Steps (2009).

The following activities and action points have been identified, based on workshop deliberations. As we work to secure the necessary resources to sustain our efforts on the islands, please do not hesitate to contact SIP Wild Asia should there be sponsors interested to support the continuation of SIP's activities in 2009.

• Eco checks and trial implementations.

• Encouraging operators to complete Wild Asia's RT Checklist, which will identify weak areas within the resort operations to promote RT.

• To use this as the basis of identifying specific "support projects", for example:

• Conduct "eco-check" on Tioman's Lanting Resort and to identify specific actions to make it a turtle-friendly resort.

• Conducting waste audits on target properties or the marine parks.

• Sharing best practices.

• To use the "eco checks" and action plan follow ups as the basis for identifying specific case studies to highlight.

• As the operators cooperate and natural synergies evolve, Wild Asia and Reef Check will continue to communicate and share relevant best practices through the Reef Check Network dive centres and other possible web-based avenues.

• Reporting and monitoring mechanism.

• Develop an island-specific database of contacts to assist with communication flows. This should include specific contacts in local governments or other related agencies.

• Training and empowering Rakan Park members to be effective conduit of information between the local authorities and community.

• Supporting more reef check surveys to continue with the gathering of monitoring information.

• Creation of SIP @ Wild Asia as a default contact point on all SIP matters.