Make the Ocean Great Again: Destination Sabah
Many of you know something about marine conservation but only a few really understand how accountable we all are for it. Or what we as individuals can do about it.
Reading up helps obviously but it will be sorely insufficient to progress anyone into action. Eg. if you are told that our oceans are the biggest ecosystem supplying half of our oxygen need, you may get an intellectual understanding but chances are you wouldn’t be moved into marine conservation anyway.
However, if like me, you are put to experience a pristine beach teeming with exotic sea life one moment, and then made to clear a nearby beach filled with decaying debris next, you will be impacted somewhat. Yes, you will seriously begin to stop taking things for granted or refrain from using plastic bottles again which, by the way, takes 500 years to disintegrate.
So how did a rather un-marine person got into this esoteric subject far from the typical city dwelling mind?
I was privileged to be sent by the USA Embassy in Kuala Lumpur for a mind opening marine experiential trip as a winner of their Save The Ocean 2016 contest.
Together with a few fortunate others, we visited the amazing marine parks off Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, on the northern tip of Borneo. It was my very first eco-sustainable “vacation” (more about that definition later) and it blew me away with overpowering and insightful knowledge of environmental issues.
Therefore, I hope my sharing will highlight to you the vivid impressions we learned about our nearby marine environment, the global conservation challenges and possible solutions vital for yours and others’ existence. More so, I wish to stir you to go experience what we went through so that we can be enlightened to stop the degrading of the vital supply chain of food, medicinal and eco-sytemic needs.
At the end, I propose some suggestions how we can propagate these messages more effectively to the general public.
Fig 1: The pristine Tunku Abdul Rahman Marina Park from afar, off Kota Kinabalu, Sabah at dusk. Its sustainability is dependent on our collective effort. (Pic by me)
The flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu takes a total time of 3 hours on AirAsia (the region’s biggest budget airline). AirAsia flies regularly to Kota Kinabalu from KLIA2 with pretty much full flights in and out. The new terminal of KLIA2 is impressively efficient and overall it was a pleasant ride with spectacular view of the coastline of Sabah visible on a clear day.
Fig 2: View of coast line from flight approaching Sabah from Kuala Lumpur (pic by me)
With a total of three and a half days, our team were well taken care of by our host, the professional diving company of Suba Junkie, based out of Kota Kinabalu and Mabul Island, on the eastern coastline.
Our activities were spread out between presentations by marine specialists and diving instructors and actual snorkeling cum diving in the deep blue sea. We also picked marine debris in between and more about that later.
So it is not a sightseeing tour but a seriously intensive discovery and learning trip.
(By the way, Scuba Junkie has some truly dedicated marine biologists and professional dive masters which makes even the novice swimmer enabled. Even if you are not sporty and have never touched the ocean before, you are in good company.)
Although all of us have some knowledge of climate change and environmental pollution, none has direct experience on ocean conservation, marine life and marine biology.
As such, the presentations were truly useful as we got to the details on a scientific level as well as the local human conditions of people depending on the sea for their livelihood. We also learn about the impact of over commercialization of tourism and measures to prevent environmental damage.
Fig 3a Views of gorgeous Gaya Island / Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park (Pics by me).
5a. Support conservation projects, marine protected areas and cleaing efforts in Malaysia and around the world.
Sabah has shown us some of the most amazing marine protected wonders, rated as one of the bests, if not the best, place for marine life and diving. The collective region of Coral Triangle stretching the whole of eastern Borneo to the Solomon Islands contain more than 70 percent of the world’s coral species. Corals are most important as it is the feeding ground of fishes which in turn forms the food chain of larger fishes.
Eg. Sipadan, Sabah, has been voted the no 1 diving spot in the world for many years running. It is not something to enjoy for divers alone but also a reference of marine health which other conservation efforts can be based on. And like us, just dipping into the shallows of Pulau Gaya will give you an idea of what marine nature is all about.
Fig 4: The Coral Triangle (by Scuba Junkie)
Therefore, a great ocean is not just for tourism but also for the many thousands of people who depend on the sea for a living and all of us who consume seafood and medicine derived from the seas. Not to mention the oxygen we breathe and rain that falls into our reservoirs.
As such, we need to be actively involved in making sure marine resources are sustainable and renewable. We are the solution for ourselves. How you live daily has a direct impact on the environment and your existence.
5b. Do your part to make the ocean great again.
There are a million ways to be accountable. Some simple steps require no extraordinary effort.
Be a responsible consumer and do away (or reduce use of) with plastic and non-biodegradable products. Remember that it takes 500 years for a plastic bag or bottle to completely disintegrate!
Choose sustainable and eco-oriented travel. It is wonderful to be aligned with nature.
Avoid seafood that is unsustainable (ever wondered why the fishes in the market are getting smaller? It is because we humans have eaten the bigger ones and they are not reproducing fast enough).
Experience the problem by cleaning up a beach like we did. Only by doing that you can learn the severity of sea pollution, our self-inflicted problems. We can stop the degradation by staying away from plastics and unsustainable seafood. If you cannot see the debris on the water or your local beach, it just mean that the debris is polluting the seabed or some other beaches in the world.
Picking up plastic bottles and rubbish on the beach (pic by Scuba Junkie).
5c. Spread the word to your friends and public about the need to preserve the seas and the environment.
6. The Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park
Below are some information on the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park taken from www.sabahtourism.com:
“The Marine Park is a cluster of islands; Pulau Gaya, Pulau Sapi, Pulau Manukan, Pulau Mamutik and Pulau Sulug.
Pulau Gaya hosts the Gayana Eco Resort, Bunga Raya Resort and the Gaya Island resort by YTL. Visits to these premises require prior bookings.
Pulau Sapi, Manukan and Mamutik host beach activities as well as snorkeling and diving. Island tours can be booked on the spot at the Jesselton Jetty except for diving which requires prior arrangements with a dive center. Island hopping is also an alternative.“
Although we are novice snorkelers (with audacious hearts no less), with the guidance of Scuba Junkie, all of us witnessed amazing creatures and floral blooms of the coral bed. I was so surprised by the variety of fishes that swim right up to the beaches that in the city would have to be seen in aquariums. By the way, those fishes in aquariums are caught from the sea and is a no-no for conservation.
Below are some pictures taken of the brief encounters. You can of course find much more captivating videos on Youtube in the Sabah waters.
Thriving Coral Bed (Pic by me)
Finding Nemo! (Pic by Scuba Junkie)
Giant Squid (Pic by Scuba Junkie)
7. The Sabah Cultural Heritage
We had a very useful last day visiting the Mari Mari Cultural Village which I must recommend for any visitor to Borneo. Here you will take an exciting and learning journey into the lives of the tribes in Sabah and experience their daily activities. You will get to meet the natives and indulge in their food, customs and natural traditions. Below are some photos of the various activities I captured in between the marvelous presentations by the professional guides.
First, I would like to say that the trip to Sabah really was positively surprising to me and I am sure the rest of the team. Living in South East Asia, people here tend to focus on faraway destinations to experience prestigious attractions in cities of Europe, Japan and the Americas. Many tour operators push commercial trips with higher pull factors often drawing greater profit. Nevermind the “niche” sector of eco-tourism, a much smaller market where visitors are expected to learn.
As tourism and eco-sustainability go hand in hand, it is here that I believe that a more concerted plan and outreach can be coordinated by Asean countries through joint promotional planning. There is a need to both leverage the special eco-tour agencies as well as touching community directly via both the web and exhibitions by regional tourism authorities.
The message of knowledge and learning is lost if outreach is centered on tourism and pushed by tour operators.
Therefore, my proposition is that outreach must be enhanced with joint public-private collaboration. Also engaging the online community such as photographers and bloggers will help to reach not only nearby countries but also the larger global market.
I hope this article and proposition will result in many more successful tours to the far outreach of South East Asia and in particular Malaysia.
Below are the contacts for the various entities mentioned in this post.
The United States Embassy in Kuala Lumpur: https://www.facebook.com/usembassykl
The Scuba Junkie https://www.facebook.com/Scuba-Junkie-194941142120
The Mari Mari Cultural Village https://www.facebook.com/marimariculturalvillageborneo
The Sabah Tourism Board https://www.facebook.com/TMSabah
You may follow my journeys at instagram.com/edphi
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