Press

Submitted by Reef Check Malaysia

Reef Check Malaysia (RCM) has been up to a lot these last months of 2023!

In mid-October, our RCM colleagues, together with Sabah Forestry Department, WWF-Malaysia, Forever Sabah, and PACOS Trust, organized the “Sabah State Conference on Community Based Marine Resource Management” in Sanadakan. This conference saw participation from Sabah Biodiversity Centre, Sabah Parks, the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change, and the Department of Fisheries Malaysia, fortified by indigenous communities’ distinctive knowledge and profound connection to coastal ecosystems.

A mapping exercise during the conference revealed that 17 coastal community groups in Sabah are protecting more than 12,000 hectares of marine and coastal areas, spanning from Mantanani Island, Kudat, Pitas, Sandakan, Kinabatangan to Semporna. While the figure is impressive, multiple stakeholders are strategizing to appropriately recognize these areas as Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) to support marine conservation in Sabah, harnessing the power of local solutions in the face of global climate change.

RCM staff in Sabah also participated in a series of four online training sessions on Reef Star Welding. These Reef Star frames that are to be used for restoration projects must be made by trained welders. In the first session, the local welders were taught about the suitable materials used for the frames, the angle of the steel and all other requirements for the frames. The following sessions included introduction to the items and equipment, site selection, and the MARRS coral restoration techniques. This project is a collaborative effort with Sabah Parks and funded by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment Sabah. Towards the end of October, 250 Reef Stars with more than 4300 coral fragments were deployed with the help of the Selakan Youth Group and the local community.

Our colleagues have also been actively running school education programs on the islands we work on. In Tioman, the program with SK Tekek, the local primary school in Tekek Village continued with a session on turtles. Our colleague from Sabah also participated, as he was on a study trip to learn more about all our programs on Tioman. Meanwhile in Mersing, RCM staff conducted a tidal walk with students of a local secondary school. During the educational tour, students were introduced to the fascinating marine organisms that inhabit the intertidal rocky shore environment. They also were reminded of activities completed in previous months, with an emphasis on the message of caring for coastal beaches to provide a better home for marine organisms.

In November, RCM staff in Mersing also conducted a two-day marine awareness and conservation program with Mersing’s local youths, between the ages of 15-18 years old. It consisted of indoor engagement activities and educational tours to marine ecosystem sites and conservation centers. This program was organized in collaboration with the YSEALI Council of Malaysia (YCOM) and Mersing District Council, with support from Pejabat Daerah Mersing, Tengah Island Conservation, the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and YSEALI.

Our colleagues have also been conducting skills training sessions for representatives from the local community, to get them more involved in the work we do. One local community member and one tourism operator were recently certified as EcoDivers and they will soon be helping us with the Reef Check surveys around Mersing. Around the same time, we also organized a SCUBA diving certification course for four local youths from the Mersing Islands, an initiative supported by the Star Foundation in Malaysia. This program is an ongoing initiative aimed at enhancing the capacity of local youths and the community to actively engage in ongoing marine conservation initiatives with us in the Mersing Islands.

In early December, RCM, in collaboration with Sabah Parks, organized the Sabah Reef Resilience Workshop in Semporna, attended by 22 participants from different agencies and organizations. This workshop is part of the Community-Based Coral Conservation & Restoration Project funded by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Environment of Sabah (KePKAS). The three-day workshop consisted of theory and knowledge-sharing on the importance of reef resilience. Participants had the opportunity to get hands-on experience while putting their theoretical skills into practice. During a visit to Selakan Island, participants learned and familiarized themselves with the methods, underwater indicators and reef resilience assessments at two sites, namely Tanjung Kenanga and Southrim, within Tun Sakaran Marine Parks.

Bid with purpose! Reef Check’s “Bid for the Oceans” online auction fundraiser begins November 1. Preview all the fabulous items donated by our generous partners— trips, tickets, dive gear, jewelry, artwork, gift certificates, and much more! Proceeds will provide critical funds for Reef Check’s conservation, restoration and monitoring programs and every purchase helps further our mission to save reefs worldwide.

By Morgan Murphy-Cannella, Dive into Science Program Manager

This month, two cohorts of foster youth from Antelope Valley and Los Angeles participated in the Dive into Science Open Water Scuba certification course at Emerald Bay on Santa Catalina Island.

The Dive into Science (DIS) program supports youth and young adults from underrepresented or Tribal communities to experience the ocean in a way that will support their long term educational or career goals. The program offers scuba and scientific diving certification courses, experiential ocean stewardship training, and marine science educational opportunities. 

During the two weeks on Catalina Island, students learned about scuba theory, practiced and mastered scuba skills, learned about kelp forest environments and dove in a Marine Protected Area (MPA). In addition to scuba diving, students also had lessons on kelp forest indicator species, career opportunities in marine science/scuba diving and team building exercises. Students participated in a PADI Open Water course taught by In2Deep dive shop, which consisted of 5 days of scuba practice. Reef Check is grateful to receive funding for the program through California State Park Outdoor Equity Grants Program (OEP), which aims to improve the health and wellness of Californians through new educational and recreational activities, service learning, career pathways, and leadership opportunities that strengthen a connection to the natural world. 

The dive class was primarily focused in Doctor’s Cove which is situated in the Arrow Point to Lion Head Point State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA). This is a no-take of invertebrates MPA and students were able to witness how an MPA can protect habitat and species diversity. The completion of this Open Water certification provided students a glimpse into the underwater world, as well as a stepping stone to continue their progression towards scientific diving. Training new ocean stewards is essential for safeguarding the health of our oceans and ensuring a sustainable future for both the environment and human society. 

The completion of this training concludes the DIS program courses for the 2023 calendar year but we are looking forward to starting more cohorts with Northern California Tribal communities and Southern California foster youth communities in 2024!

Being in Catalina and having the opportunity to dive is something I’ll forever be grateful for. I was able to dance with the kelp, kiss fish, live the beautiful island life, face my apprehension to the ocean and most importantly recreate with folks who come from the same community that I do. We normally aren’t here doing this sport. After this experience I am a more confident diver and am incredibly excited to keep coloring the ocean!

Carol Martinez

Los Angeles cohort

As someone who thought they would stay in the desert environment all their life, going to Catalina was a completely new and amazing experience I thought I would never get to go on. I became mentally and physically stronger from the experience of gearing up and being under the water. I had a fear of dark water before this experience because I didn’t know what was hiding there, and now I know that life under the water is actually very calm and serene so my fears are gone. Scuba diving is not something I have ever heard another person from my community partaking in, so it was amazing that I and the new friends I made throughout the experience were able to get trained in this particular skill. I hope to continue on to the next phases with my cohort because it will only get more exciting from here!

Christy Jilavdaryan

Antelope Valley cohort

Submitted by Biosphere Expeditions

Since its first trip to the Maldives in 2011, Biosphere Expeditions has thus far trained over 100 people in Reef Check surveying, including over 30 local Maldivians in techniques on how to monitor their reefs and set up community-based monitoring schemes. As a direct result, local NGO Reef Check Maldives was formed in 2017 and is now active in community-based reef conservation work and advocacy. 

Biosphere recently concluded its latest trip and brings us this update:

We came here feeling pessimistic. Reefs are battered from all sides – warming oceans, bleaching, acidification, overfishing, exploitation, you name it, we humans inflict it on reefs and the natural world. Indeed some say that this current decade is the last to prevent the total collapse of reefs worldwide.

So we did not expect to find signs of hope, but we have. A dim light at the end of the tunnel, a flicker of hope, however faint. It’s no reason to celebrate, but it shows why citizen science is so important. Without the citizen scientists on this expedition, this message, which we will write up in a scientific report, would not exist or be heard. So thank you to all those on board for enabling this with their efforts and funds.

And here’s the story:

We have found some cause for hope for previously badly affected sites, mainly from the last 2016 mass bleaching event. Sites that are grazed by herbivorous fish and have not been colonized by corallimorphs have partially recovered since 2016. True, the recovery is slow (cue the problems from paragraph 1), but there is some recovery. Baby corals are taking a foothold, surviving on the skeletal corpses of once great boulder corals, finding a space for new life in between dead coral branches, clinging on and growing. But those reefs that have been colonized by corallimorphs are getting worse. They are or have phase shifted from coral to corallimorph reefs, blanketed by nothing but these fleshy creatures, which nothing eats and which take over everything. Once the brown carpet has taken over, nothing is left – no fish, no invertebrates, no corals. This has happened in other parts of the world, for example in Bermuda, where few coral reefs are left.

But we are not there yet in the Maldives and we hope our work makes a small contribution to never getting there.

Biosphere’s next expedition to the Maldives is scheduled for October 5-11, 2024. Visit biosphere-expeditions.org/volunteeringinmaldives for more information and how you can participate.

Submitted by Dr. Ali Al Ajmi, Reef Check Oman

In a crucial step towards safeguarding our oceans, the vibrant city of Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates hosted a Reef Check EcoDiver course on September 16, 2023. This landmark event, meticulously coordinated by Coral Life group, saw the enthusiastic participation of seven ocean advocates.

Under the expert guidance of Reef Check EcoDiver Trainer Dr. Ali Al-Ajmi of Reef Check Oman, participants delved into the theoretical foundations of marine ecosystems at the prestigious University of Khor Fakkan. Following this, they took the plunge into the depths of the Khor Fakkan Sea for an immersive, hands-on experience, actively applying their newfound knowledge.

This initiative showcases a united front in the battle to conserve our marine treasures, exemplifying the power of collaboration and education.

Training divers in a Reef Check course is crucial for reef conservation. It educates them on reef dynamics, enabling threat identification. Divers learn to assess reef health, aiding data-driven conservation efforts. This training instills responsibility, promoting sustainable diving practices and fostering environmental stewardship.

Submitted by Reef Check Malaysia

Reef Check Malaysia (RCM) has had a very eventful past couple of months. In July & August, they successfully campaigned against the construction of a new airport on Tioman Island that would have destroyed the biodiversity of the island, caused air, noise and water pollution and disrupted the community’s livelihood. After a long campaign and with the support of various people and organizations and solidarity from the Reef Check Foundation itself, the Minister of Natural Resources and Climate Change of Malaysia decided against the new airport. It is indeed a big win for the environment and the community.

Our team in Semporna, Sabah, is training youths in Larapan, Mabul and Kulapuan to conduct coral rehabilitation activities in Kulapuan Island under the IKI Coral Restoration project, a project by RCM to empower the local community in marine conservation activities. These youths will be certified as divers, trained as EcoDivers and will receive training on how to do coral rehabilitation work. Youths are the future, and getting them involved when they are young is our best preparation for the future.

Our team in Mersing Islands, Johor, has organized and conducted EcoDiver training for the local community. This training activity is one of our ongoing efforts to encourage islanders and local communities to participate in the conservation efforts in the Mersing Islands.

In September, we coordinated a nationwide International Coastal Cleanup (ICC). Over 10,000 volunteers managed to remove over 26,000 kg of trash from the coastlines of Malaysia. This initiative is important not only to keep this trash away from the ocean, but also to strengthen awareness of the harm of marine pollution. We are thankful for everyone’s support and the sponsors of this year’s ICC, TechnipFMC and Zoom, for their generous donations that helped make this year’s ICC a success.

The coral rehabilitation work is still ongoing at all of our bases and coral monitoring in Tioman Island has shown that the coral fragments are growing well.

Finally, Reef Check Malaysia turned 16 on August 3! The past 16 years have been an adventure as we maneuver the ups and downs of protecting and saving coral reefs in Malaysia. We are thankful for the support of our funders, supporters and volunteers who have helped us and kept us going. We have expanded to having bases on Tioman Island, Mersing Islands, Mantanani Island, Semporna Island and Kota Kinabalu in Sabah and Redang Island. We are also now 22 staff strong.

Visit https://reefdpd.wpengine.com.my/ to find out how you can get involved.