Saturday, April 23, 2016

GreenTech Malaysia To Help Kazakhstan Set Up Green Technology Centre

KUALA LUMPUR (22 April 2016) : Green Technology Corporation (GreenTech Malaysia) will assist Kazakhstan in its endeavour to establish a green technology centre in Astana, under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the central Asian nation and GreenTech Malaysia.

The MoU was signed by Kazakhstan's Expo 2017 Commissioner Rapil Zhoshybayev and Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water Secretary-General Datuk Loo Took Gee during his visit to Malaysia earlier this month.

Zhoshybayev, who was in Kuala Lumpur on a working visit, told Bernama that the cooperation with GreenTech Malaysia was particularly relevant in light of the creation of the proposed International Centre for the Development of Green Technologies and Investment Projects, under the auspices of the United Nations, in Kazakhstan's capital Astana.

Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev had announced the proposal to set up the centre during his speech at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly last September in New York.

Under its Strategy 2050 initiative, Kazakhstan hopes to shift from being one of the world's premier hydrocarbon energy producers to a model "green" economy. The transition will also see the country focusing on water resource conservation, agriculture and waste management, and measures aimed at reducing carbon emissions.

GreenTech Malaysia was established as an agency under the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water in 2010 to catalyse the deployment of green technology as a strategic engine for Malaysia's socio-economic growth.

IMPRESSED WITH PPP MECHANISM

While in Kuala Lumpur, Zhoshybayev also met Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa, and participated in a round-table discussion with representatives from the main players in Malaysia's technology fields, namely Sustainable Energy Development Agency, GreenTech Malaysia, Petroliam Nasional Bhd, Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation and Malaysia Investment Development Agency.

Describing the talks as "fruitful", he said his government was impressed with Malaysia for having successfully implemented the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mechanism, as well as assessment of project efficiency and their subsequent commercialisation in the field of green technologies.

"We're keen to learn from the nation's best practices and experiences, especially in the PPP mechanism, either in the scientific field or business circle...we want to see how we can implement a similar mechanism," he added.

LATEST TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS

Meanwhile, Zhoshybayev said Malaysia stood to reap tremendous benefits from the exhibition, themed "Future Energy", as it would serve as an excellent platform to showcase the country's capabilities and achievements in innovations of sustainable global energy technologies to the world.

He urged Malaysian key players and experts serving the green energy industries to tap the huge potential by promoting their sophisticated technologies and solutions at Expo 2017.

Kazakhstan will host Expo 2017, an international exhibition overseen and regulated by the International Exhibitions Bureau, from June 10 to Sept 10, 2017 in Astana.

Zhoshybayev said during his meeting with Loo, he was informed that Malaysia was ready to present its latest technological solutions in the field of clean fuel production from biomass, as well as solar power solutions, at the expo.

"She also talked about (exploring) possibilities of jointly manufacturing solar panels, besides expressing a strong interest in (carrying out) joint research in the renewable energy field," he said.

He said Loo had also informed him that Malaysia has successfully applied the latest technologies in the field of energy-efficient construction, waste utilisation and green mobility blueprint promotion.

INCREASE FLIGHT FREQUENCY

GreenTech Malaysia is among the Malaysian companies participating in Expo 2017. Zhoshybayev said Malaysia has not confirmed how many companies would be participating in the exhibition but "no matter how many participate, we believe it will deliver terrific benefits and impact not only to the two countries but also to the whole planet.

"At the same time, the participation of Malaysian companies in the expo will also further boost bilateral trade, economic, investment and cultural ties between the two countries, as well as build up our scientific base," he said.

To date, 79 countries and 14 international organisations have confirmed their participation in Expo 2017. Kazakhstan expects participation to exceed 100 countries and 15 international organisations by next year.

The exhibition, Kazakhstan's first major international-level event, is expected to draw some five million visitors.

During his recent visit, Zhoshybayev also signed an MoU with the Malaysian Association of Tours & Travel Agents to draw more Malaysian tourists to Kazakhstan.

He said Kazakhstan was now preparing special tour packages to attract more tourists to the country, especially during Expo 2017.

"We are now in the midst of finalising an agreement for collaboration (between our countries)...Malaysia can advise and share their vast experience on how we can to attract tourists from Malaysia to Kazakhstan, and vice versa," he said, adding that Kazakhstan's national carrier Air Astana may introduce direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Astana next year to boost tourism in the capital city.

Currently, Air Astana flies thrice a week between Kuala Lumpur and Almaty, from where travellers have to take a connecting flight to Astana.

By Norshazlina Nor'azman (BERNAMA)

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Effect Of Climate Change And Global Warming Is Real, Cannot Be Viewed Lightly - Najib

KUALA LUMPUR, Wednesday (2 Disember 2015) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the effect of climate change and global warming is real, and cannot be viewed lightly.

"Its effects are real and Malaysians are not spared from feeling the effects of it. Our drought seasons are prolonged, as our rainy seasons too. We suffer from water supply crises in some states as well as one of the worst floods the country has seen in decades," he said in his latest posting in his blog www.najibrazak.com.

Najib said fighting climate change is an on-going effort that must be led by the Government, and undertaken and supported by everyone in the country.

"The government is ready to address this issue head on - Malaysia intends to reduce reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 45 percent by 2030 relative to the emissions intensity of GDP in 2005.

"This consists of 35 per cent on an unconditional basis and a further 10 per cent is condition upon receipt of climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building from developed countries," he said.

Najib said Malaysia together with 181 countries have submitted the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) for the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference, currently ongoing in Paris, reaffirming its stand and commitment in fighting climate change.

He said despite the government launching several initiatives since 9th Malaysia Plan (2006-2010) which includes the National Biofuel Policy (2006), Renewable Energy Policy and Action Plan (2010), "we have not done enough."

"The United Nations data showed that Malaysia ranked 26th worldwide in 2012 when it came to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fuel combustion," he said.

Najib said Malaysia remained steadfast and committed in its mission to reduce Malaysia's carbon footprint and under the 11th Malaysia Plan (2016-2020), policies that will further focus on pursuing green growth for sustainability and resilience will be carried out.

"The measures will include strengthening the enabling environment for green growth, adoption of sustainable consumption and production, conserving natural resources and strengthening resilience against climate change and natural disasters," he said.

"This new target shall not and should not be seen as an impediment to our economic development. Indeed, I believe, our green policies and initiatives will also bring many opportunities - catalysing new industries and ancillary businesses that will bring new employment opportunities," he said.

Najib said Malaysians need to play their part in fighting climate change and help prevent average global temperatures from rising above two degrees Celsius.

"It is our social and moral obligation to ensure that our sons and daughters will be able to enjoy the world as we see it today. Malaysia must play its responsible role in the necessary global transformation for a more sustainable world," he said.

Bernama

Monday, November 30, 2015

See How Our Megacities Will 'Slip Under The Waves'...

Study shows how large parts of New York, London, Shanghai and other cities will be submerged as a result of rising sea levels

By AFP

3:00PM GMT 30 Nov 2015

Large swathes of Shanghai, Mumbai, New York and other cities will slip under the waves even if an upcoming climate summit limits global warming to two degrees Celsius, scientists reported on Sunday.

A 2 C (3.6 Fahrenheit) spike in Earth's temperature would submerge land currently occupied by 280 million people, while an increase of 4 C (7.2 F) - humanity's current trajectory - would cover areas lived on by more than 600 million, the study said.

"Two degrees Celsius warming will pose a long-term, existential danger to many great coastal cities and regions," said lead author Ben Strauss, vice president for sea level and climate impacts at Climate Central, a US-based research group.

Sydney after a 4C rise Photo: Climate Central

Sea level rises corresponding to these 2 C or 4 C scenarios could unfold in two hundred years, but would more likely happen over many centuries, perhaps as long as 2,000 years, according to the research, published by Climate Central.

Capping the rise in Earth's temperatures to 2 C above pre-industrial levels is the core goal of the 195-nation UN climate summit in Paris from November 30 to December 11.

The most effective way to slow global warming is to slash the output of the greenhouse gases which drive it.

But even if emissions reduction pledges - many of them conditioned on financial aid - submitted by 150 nations ahead of the Paris summit are fulfilled, it would still put us on a pathway for a 3 C (4.8 F) world, the United Nations has warned.

Achieving the two-degree goal remains a serious challenge.

Mr Strauss and colleagues apply on a global scale the same methodology they used for a recent study that focused on temperature-linked sea level rise in the United States, published in the US Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

That study concluded that both Miami and New Orleans are doomed to crippling impacts.

In the new report, the country hit hardest by sea level rise under a 4 C scenario is China.

Today, some 145 million people live in Chinese cities and coastal areas that would eventually become ocean were temperatures to climb that high.

Four of the 10 most devastated megacities would be Chinese: land occupied today by 44 million people in Shanghai, Tianjin, Hong Kong and Taizhou would be underwater.

India, Vietnam and Bangladesh do not fare much better. All told, Asia is home to 75 per cent of the populations that today reside in zones that would no longer be classified as land in a climate-altered future.

Thirty-four million people in Japan, 25 million the United States, 20 million in the Philippines, 19 million Egypt and 16 million in Brazil are also in future 4 C seascapes.

While the 2 C scenario is also grim, limiting warming to that extent would spare China and other nations much misery, said Strauss.

"There is a world of difference between 2 C and 4 C, which threatens more than double the damage," he told AFP. "We have a very large choice ahead of us."

The sea level rise corresponding to 2 C would eventually be 4.7 metres, and for 4 C almost double that, the study found.

The projections are based on climate models taking into account the expansion of ocean water as it warms, the melting of glaciers, and the decay of both the Greenland and West Antarctic icesheets.

Timing is harder to predict, Strauss said: "It is easier to estimate how much ice will eventually melt from a certain amount of warming than how quickly it will melt."

Normally a study of this nature would be published by a peer-reviewed journal, as was the earlier research on the US.

In this case, however, Strauss felt that the new results should be taken into account ahead of the crucial climate summit in Paris.

"These findings seemed too relevant to COP21" - the 21st Conference of the Parties, the official name for the UN climate meeting - "to risk that they be published afterwards," he said.

AFP sent the study to four experts - including Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, until this year Vice-President of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - for evaluation, and all of them described the work as "solid" and methodologically sound.

Strauss said his study shows that the stakes at the Paris negotiations are extremely high.

The Telegraph (UK)

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BAJET HARAPAN 2019

PAKAR EKOLOGI HARAP PUTRAJAYA
FOKUS ISU ALAM SEKITAR

(FMT/Bernama. November 1, 2018)

PETALING JAYA: Seorang pakar ekologi dan pencinta alam sekitar berharap kerajaan Pakatan Harapan akan menyediakan peruntukan kepada pihak berkuasa terbabit dalam pemuliharaan dan penjagaan alam sekitar.

Andrew Sebastian berkata, Malaysia antara 12 negara di dunia yang kaya dengan sumber alam semula jadi, oleh itu kerajaan perlu menyediakan peruntukan untuk mengelakkan pencemaran dan hakisan berterusan.

Beliau juga berharap kerajaan dapat menaikkan gaji penguatkuasa di Jabatan Perlindungan Hidupan Liar dan Taman Negara Semenanjung Malaysia (Perhilitan) serta Jabatan Alam Sekitar bagi mengelakkan gejala rasuah yang menyebabkan kegiatan pembalakan haram dan penerokaan hutan berleluasa.

“Pemburuan haram masih berleluasa dan memerlukan peruntukan untuk tambah jumlah kakitangan dan peralatan.

“Pekerja lapangan perhilitan perlu diambil kira untuk dinaikkan gaji supaya gejala rasuah dapat dielakkan secara berperingkat,” katanya kepada FMT menjelang pembentangan Bajet 2019 esok.

Beliau berkata, Jabatan Alam Sekitar memerlukan peruntukan besar untuk memantau dan mengawal pencemaran alam, sungai, hakisan tanah, pantai serta lereng bukit.

“Jabatan Perikanan dan Jabatan Taman Laut juga perlu bajet besar bagi pengendalian taman laut, pemantauan dan penambahbaikan, serta lebih fokus kepada perubahan iklim agar dapat menyelamatkan batu karang dan hidupan laut yang terancam.”

Pada 19 Oktober lalu, kejadian tanah runtuh di tapak projek Lebuhraya Berkembar Bukit Kukus, Paya Terubong, Pulau Pinang meragut 9 nyawa, manakala 4 lagi cedera.

Kejadian pada jam 1.56 tengah hari itu turut menimbus 13 kontena dan sebuah rumah kongsi.

Sebuah jawatankuasa khas yang ditubuhkan kerajaan Pulau Pinang untuk menyiasat punca tragedi itu akan memulakan sesi pendengaran Khamis depan.

Hari ini, Timbalan Ketua Menteri I, Datuk Ahmad Zakiyuddin Abdul Rahman dilaporkan berkata, jawatankuasa itu mempunyai tempoh sebulan sehingga akhir bulan ini untuk melengkapkan siasatan.

Sementara itu, Presiden Persatuan Perunding dan Syarikat Alam Sekitar Malaysia, Datuk Dr Nadzri Yahaya berkata, pemuliharaan alam perlu diketengahkan dalam usaha melindungi alam sekitar daripada dimusnahkan manusia sendiri.

Katanya, kerajaan perlu menjalankan kajian menyeluruh bagi mengenal pasti kawasan terhakis dan mencari jalan mengelakkan ia berlarutan.

“Pemuliharaan alam sekitar bukan hanya melihat isu plastik, tetapi penghakisan tanah runtuh juga perlu dilihat dalam Bajet 2019 bagi mendapat jawapan menyeluruh untuk mengenal pasti kawasan yang selalu menghadapi masalah tanah runtuh,” katanya ketika dihubungi FMT.

Beliau juga berharap kerajaan akan memberi insentif kepada rakyat untuk menggalakkan penggunaan tenaga boleh diperbaharui.

“Kerajaan sedang membuat paten untuk teknologi elektrik, jadi kita berharap terdapat insentif untuk menggalakkan penggunaan tenaga boleh diperbaharui.”

EARTH DAY...

The History Of Earth Day

Each year, Earth Day—April 22—marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.

The height of counterculture in the United States, 1970 brought the death of Jimi Hendrix, the last Beatles album, and Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” War raged in Vietnam and students nationwide overwhelmingly opposed it.

At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. “Environment” was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news.

Although mainstream America largely remained oblivious to environmental concerns, the stage had been set for change by the publication of Rachel Carson’s New York Times bestseller Silent Spring in 1962. The book represented a watershed moment, selling more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries, and beginning to raise public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment and links between pollution and public health.

Earth Day 1970 gave voice to that emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns on the front page.

The Idea

The idea for a national day to focus on the environment came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda.

Senator Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media; persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair; and recruited Denis Hayes from Harvard as national coordinator.

Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land. April 22, falling between Spring Break and Final Exams, was selected as the date.

On April 22,1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies.

Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.

Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. By the end of that year, the first Earth Day had led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and EndangeredSpecies Acts. “It was a gamble,” Gaylord recalled, “but it worked.”

As 1990 approached, a group of environmental leaders asked Denis Hayes to organize another big campaign. This time, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage.

Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It also prompted President Bill Clinton to award Senator Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1995)—the highest honor given to civilians in the United States—for his role as Earth Day founder.

Earth Day Today

As the millennium approached, Hayes agreed to spearhead another campaign, this time focused on global warming and a push for clean energy. With 5,000 environmental groups in a record 184 countries reaching out to hundreds of millions of people, Earth Day 2000 combined the big-picture feistiness of the first Earth Day with the international grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990.

Earth Day 2000 used the power of the Internet to organize activists, but also featured a drum chain that traveled from village to village in Gabon, Africa. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, DC for a First Amendment Rally. Earth Day 2000 sent world leaders the loud and clear message that citizens around the world wanted quick and decisive action on global warming and clean energy.

Much like 1970, Earth Day 2010 came at a time of great challenge for the environmental community. Climate change deniers, well-funded oil lobbyists, reticent politicians, a disinterested public, and a divided environmental community all contributed to the narrative—cynicism versus activism. Despite these challenges,

Earth Day prevailed and Earth Day Network reestablished Earth Day as a relevant, powerful focal point. Earth Day Network brought 250,000 people to the National Mall for a Climate Rally, launched the world’s largest environmental service project—A Billion Acts of Green®–introduced a global tree planting initiative that has since grown into The Canopy Project, and engaged 22,000 partners in 192 countries in observing Earth Day.

Earth Day had reached into its current status as the largest secular observance in the world, celebrated by more than a billion people every year, and a day of action that changes human behavior and provokes policy changes.

Today, the fight for a clean environment continues with increasing urgency, as the ravages of climate change become more manifest every day. We invite you to be a part of Earth Day and help write many more chapters—struggles and victories—into the Earth Day book.

Stay tuned! 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. In honor of this milestone, Earth Day Network is preparing to announce an ambitious set of goals to shape the future we need.

- See more at: http://www.earthday.org/about/the-history-of-earth-day/#sthash.ITTv4c1o.dpuf

FEATURES - TOILETS

LACK OF ACCESS TO TOILETS ENDANGERS MILLIONS OF CHILDREN, SAYS UNICEF

BANGKOK (Thursday, 19 November 2015): Lack of access to toilets is endangering millions of the world's poorest children, the United Nations Children's Fund said today, pointing to emerging evidence of links between inadequate sanitation and malnutrition.

UNICEF said some 2.4 billion people globally do not have toilets and 946 million - roughly one in eight of the world's population - defecate in the open.

In the East Asia and Pacific region, 519 million people are still without access to improved sanitation, and progress in the Pacific sub-region has been stagnant in recent years, it said in a statement.

"Good sanitation and hygiene is critical to keep children healthy," said Chander Badloe, UNICEF East Asia and the Pacific regional advisor on water, sanitation and hygiene.

"In East Asia and the Pacific, 770 million more people are accessing better sanitation facilities than 25 years ago - remarkable progress. However, there is still much to be done: 83 million people are still without any toilet facilities and are defecating in the open. This leads to sickness and disease, and is linked to the 15 million children affected by stunting in the region."

A report - Improving Nutrition Outcomes with Better Water, Sanitation and Hygiene - released today by UNICEF, USAID and the World Health Organisation, for the first time, brings together years of research and case studies which demonstrate the link between sanitation and malnutrition.

"We need to bring concrete and innovative solutions to the problem of where people go to the toilet, otherwise we are failing millions of our poorest and most vulnerable children," said Sanjay Wijesekera, head of UNICEF's global water, sanitation and hygiene programmes.

"The proven link with malnutrition is one more thread that reinforces how interconnected our responses to sanitation have to be if we are to succeed."

Globally, diarrhoea accounts for nine per cent of the deaths of children under five years old each year and is essentially a faecal-oral disease where germs are ingested due to contact with infected faeces. Where rates of toilet use are low, rates of diarrhoea tend to be high.

Children under five years old suffer 1.7 billion cases of diarrhoea per year, UNICEF said.

Those in low-income countries are hit hardest, with an average of three episodes per year. The highest frequency is in children under two years of age, who are weakest and most vulnerable. Multiple episodes of diarrhoea permanently alter their gut, and prevent the absorption of essential nutrients, putting them at risk of stunting and even death.

Some 300,000 children under five years old die per year - over 800 every day - from diarrhoeal diseases linked to inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene. The poorest children in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are particularly at risk.

Intestinal parasites such as roundworm, whipworm and hookworm are transmitted through contaminated soil in areas where open defecation is practiced. Hookworm is a major cause of anaemia in pregnant women, leading to malnourished, underweight babies.

FEATURES - MARINE PARK

PROTECTING MARINE PARKS EASIER SAID THAN DONE

By Sakini Mohd Said (Bernama)

PUTRAJAYA: A recent news report highlighted the concerns of an NGO of the impending decline of the country's fishing industry.

The World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia (WWF-Malaysia) said that this was due to several pressing factors. Among them are the non-environmentally friendly methods of fishing, sea pollution and unsustainable coastal development, which all contribute to the marked degradation of coral reefs.

Coral reefs support more species than any other marine environment, making them of significant ecological importance to the survival of marine life.

WWF-Malaysia CEO Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma in a news report said that the RM8.79 billion fishing industry might see the extinction of popular seafood like groupers and snappers, unless sustainable ocean management practices were implemented.

"Just 10 percent of commercially valuable fish remain available for consumption after being largely fished out in the last fifty years," he said.

Quoting the "Living Blue Planet" report, Sharma said the destruction of the world's coral reefs have resulted in the global reduction of marine populations by half. Some fish species have declined by close to 75 percent, all of which have impacted the fishing industry.

MARINE PARK

Perhaps some would question how the statistics would impact them, as it did not specifically relate to Malaysia. However, the findings are more relevant than they think.

"Malaysia, with its expanse of open seas, is highly dependent on sea resources," said Robecca Jumin, the Marine Division Head of the Marine Programme of WWF-Malaysia.

In fact, in 2014, Malaysia surpassed Japan as one of the biggest consumer of fish and seafood in the region.

"On the average, every person in Malaysia consumes at least 56.5kg of fish every year," she said.

The government has tried to address the problem using various measures such as continual monitoring and enforcement operations.

However, a more pragmatic approach would be the gazetting of marine parks.

Robecca said that the waters around 42 islands in the country have been gazetted as marine parks. The move is for the protection and conservation of marine biodiversity, particularly coral reefs, which are essential to the propagation of aquatic life.

Thirteen islands have been gazetted as marine parks in Terengganu, nine in Pahang, four in Kedah, three in Labuan and 13 in Johor.

LIMIT TOURISM

Marine parks were first established to address the decline of fishing resources around coral reefs.

Healthy coral reefs provide habitat, spawning and nursery grounds for most of young marine life until they are mature enough to go out into the open sea.

The Marine Parks Department Director General Dr Sukarno Wagiman said marine parks were a treasure trove of marine diversity with high socio-economic value.

This inevitably tempts many a rogue parties to trespass into the area and violate the regulations for economic gains.

This presents a challenge to the department as some of the breaches happen during permitted activities such as swimming, scuba diving and kayaking.

Unrestricted water recreational activities such as diving and snorkelling also have adverse effects on the ecosystem of coral reefs due to the collecting and trampling of corals.

STUDY

To address the problem, the department is running a study with Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) on the "carrying capacity" of marine parks.

"The study lets us find out how many people can an area accommodate at a time (without ecologically disturbing it). For example, how many people should be permitted to go snorkelling at a time?

"The study has so far only been carried out on Pulau Perhentian and Pulau Redang. Perhaps next year, we can get a comprehensive report and from there a policy can be formed," said Sukarno.

However, the findings would still be subjected to the joint decision of the tourism industry, state government, local authorities and Ministry of Tourism and Culture.

This is because the business and tourism operator licensing authority lies outside the jurisdiction of the department.

ZONES

The department has also split marine parks into four zones in the bid to protect the diminishing marine resources, namely for tourism/recreation, conservation, preservation and protection of habitats.

This is to ensure the survivability of coral reefs, which are a crucial part of the ecosystem of over 3,000 marine species.

"For example, the El Nino in 2010 caused severe bleaching of the corals in Malaysian waters.

"The department had to close down several areas and classify them as a conservation zone to let the diseased or dying corals recover naturally," he explained.

Twelve of the 83 diving sites at marine parks were closed in 2010 following the repercussions from the El Nino. However, 48.33 percent of the corals recovered by 2013.

ARRESTS

In the bid to protect the biodiversity in marine parks, the department is teaming up with several marine authorities to curb illegal fishing activities in the area.

Among the agencies involved are the Fisheries Department, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and the Royal Malaysia Police. The joint effort has resulted in 2,634 patrols in 2014.

"It is the Department of Marine Park's main duties to ensure the survivability and sustainability of marine biodiversity for the sake of the future generations," Sukarno said.

Besides patrols, the department also monitors the bottom of the sea for activities that can damage coral reefs such as fish shooting, collecting corals or stepping on them.

"We previously only monitored the ocean surface, but today we also monitor down to the bottom. This is to ensure that divers or snorkellers don't disturb marine life or drop their boat anchors onto corals," he explained.

There have been 566 of bottom sea patrols in 2014, resulting in a decrease of activities violating the Fisheries Act 1985.

As at September 2015, there have been 32 arrests in marine parks for the violation of the Act, involving RM29,850 in fines.

Marine parks are prohibited zones for any fishing activity under the Fisheries Act (Amendment)(1994) and anyone caught fishing in the prohibited area can be fined not more than RM20,000 or sentenced to two years in prison or both.