My Ramblings: Of Conservation and Business

As I was browsing through my previous postings and updating them, I came across the link on letter to the Editor. The letter dated October 19, 2009, was written to highlight on the potential threats to the eco-sensitive of Pulau Payar Marine Park. Reading the letter again, I can't help but to ponder that this letter was mostly written by Mandy did produce positive result in the end.  

The mainstream newspaper did not publish the letter. Thankfully, MalaysiaKini and EcoMalaysia.org did.

Before the link will be removed forever, here's the contents of the letter (is quite a lengthy one):

Pulau Payar Marine Park has come a long way since it was first declared as a Fisheries Prohibited Area in 1985 and later gazetted as a marine park in 1994. Since then the tiny island of Pulau Payar, which measures a mere 1.75 km in length and 0.5 km at its widest point, has seen a lot of development, changing its face on the eastern seafront and making it a popular destination for reef-related recreational activities such as snorkelling and scuba-diving.

A small island located 19 nautical miles south of Pulau Langkawi, Pulau Payar, once a hidden treasure trove of marine fauna and flora known mainly to the local community of scuba divers, is now on the list of places to visit for many visitors to this region, both locals and foreigners. 

This is to be expected considering the Pulau Payar Marine Park is rather well-known for its rich marine life in terms of diversity of coral reefs and fishes over small areas throughout the group of four islands - Pulau Payar, Pulau Kaca, Pulau Lembu and Pulau Segantang - that make up the entire marine park.

In the 1980s, a small Marine Park Museum, a small jetty and limited accommodation was built to house one Fisheries Department Ranger on Pulau Payar. In the 1990s, along with its marine park status, the floating platform with underwater observatory and shower facilities came into existence and was moored off the beach at Pulau Payar. A few years later, several chalets were built by the Kedah state government but the project was discontinued due to constraints of water and electricity supply. 

Instead, expansion works were then carried out on the small museum converting it into the existing Marine Park Centre; public washrooms were rebuilt to cater to the influx of large numbers of visitors, the jetty was extended and more boardwalks were put in place in the name of tourism. 

Until today, Pulau Payar Marine Park remains the only pristine coral reef environment along the West Coast of Malaysia. A study conducted in 2006 by Yusri Yusuf of Universiti Sains Malaysia found that a comparison of total species of coral reef with other islands of Malaysia has shown that Pulau Payar has the highest species count.

Coral reefs have been facing environmental stress with increasing water temperatures since the El Nino phenomenon in 1997-1998 and will now be stressed further with rising temperatures due to climate change. Increasing water temperatures interrupt the metabolic activities of the zooxanthellae that live among the corals leaving the corals bleached white. 

Coral bleaching can also be caused by exposure to chemicals, sedimentations and excess nutrients such as ammonia and nitrate from plant fertilisers and household products entering the reef ecosystem. All these possible causes will arise from operating a resort on Pulau Payar.

As of today, the chalet project has been revived and construction works commenced two months ago. As such, in addition to environmental stress, there will be increasing stress from human impacts. 

For how long can the Pulau Payar Marine Park hold its status with all the threats man continuously throws at its coral reefs and its fragile marine ecosystem?

The issue of concern is that to maintain the pristine beauty of the marine heritage of Pulau Payar, development should be at a minimum and accommodation should not be allowed for obvious reasons. 

With this happening, primary threats to the coral reefs have been put in place with increasing nutrient run-off from human activities, sediment run-off from land/forest clearing for development and increasing sanitary and waste disposal problems, which would all be contradicting to the conservation of a marine park, no matter how ‘eco’ this resort claims to be.

The Pulau Payar Marine Park is one of the most frequently visited marine parks in Malaysia. With mass tourism and the daily operations of a resort on the island, fresh water intrusion will affect salinity levels at the sea and increase sedimentation load on the corals. Shampoo, detergent and lotions also contain chemicals that are harmful to marine life.

How would sedimentation, low salinity level and nutrient run-off affect the corals?

Freshwater adds salinity stress, causing a low salinity level and increasing sedimentation load. Similarly, when existing ground cover is disturbed, large quantities of fine soil particles are carried by rainwater into the ocean. These particles decrease visibility in the waters and the sediment blocks out light, thus reducing the growth of coral. At high rates of sedimentation, all corals will eventually be buried by sediments and killed.

Nutrient run-off from human activities into the reef system also encourages the growth of algae, which competes with corals for living space and light. Added nutrients could favour algal blooms, thereby retarding the growth and recovery of corals, even stopping their recovery, and finally causing death.

Once the corals die, fish and other marine species will eventually die, too.

Is there any mandate for a reef check survey to be carried out now before construction work continues further and the resort starts operation? And will this ‘eco-resort’ be environmentally responsible enough to engage an independent party to conduct regular quarterly reef check surveys to ensure the ecosystem has not deteriorated further? Will its operations be discontinued should there be signs of irreparable damage to the corals? Would it be too late by then to reverse these damages?

In many countries throughout the world, when an area is designated as a nature reserve or a marine park, great efforts are endeavoured to maintain it in its natural state as much as possible so that the public or visitors may enjoy the true value and heritage of the park in its original, undisturbed environment.

In Malaysia, however, it seems that an area that is designated as such would often become the target of more development, making it more urbanised rather than to conserve nature in its natural heritage. The Pulau Payar Marine Park is one such example. The irony is that marine parks were created as a means to protect an area of sea (or lake) to sustain its reef resources and to preserve its marine ecosystem, which is often a very sensitive environment. 

It would be recommended to issue a stop-work order immediately and move the resort out from Pulau Payar. At the same time, the authorities should look into restricting visitor numbers in a move to conserve and protect this marine ecosystem.

Looking at the bigger picture, the state government and local development authorities should also check themselves on the amount of development allowed on both Pulau Payar and Pulau Langkawi. It may seem lucrative to keep building more resorts, malls and theme parks to bring in the tourist ringgit. But how sustainable can this be for the islands?

Let us not forget that even with its duty-free status, Langkawi cannot compete with other cities like Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong for ‘shopping tourism’. In the first place, tourists do not come from far to visit Langkawi for shopping. Instead, they are here for the nature that can be found here. 

In this respect, the Kedah state government and local development authorities should look into spending on conserving nature and protecting our forests to boost eco-tourism rather than focusing on clearing more land and forests for many more buildings and development projects. 

We are concerned islanders and we do not want to be in a mourning over the loss of the jewel of Langkawi in the near future. We are here protecting the rice bowl of the islanders.

Back then, I do remember how we were responded when we seek support from the MNS Langkawi. And below is the reply from the former MNS Langkawi Chairman back in 2009 (known as "junglewalla" the famous naturalist and proclaimed conservationist of Langkawi):

Note: Mr XX is someone that the name will not be revealed here

*From:* junglewalla <junglewalla@gmail.com>
> *To:* mnslangkawi@yahoogroups.com
> *Sent:* Thu, September 3, 2009 2:25:46 PM
> *Subject:* [mnslangkawi] Re: Pulau Payar Eco Dive Resort
>
>
> Hi Guys,
> I have spoken to Mr.XX on the phone yesterday and he informed me 
> this. Before being awarded the project the state goverment wanted the 
> best practice in place and made an inspection visit of his resort in 
> the east coast before the final desision was made.Some measures he has 
> in place are:
>
> 1. The grey water and black water sewage system at the resort complies 
> with international and national standards. All Treated water will be 
> used on the plant of the resort and not discharged into the ocean.
> 2.There will be a combustion generator(?) to power the resort but in 
> addition it has solar panels to light up the guest rooms at night.
> 3.All gabbage produce at the resort will be transported back to the 
> mainland or island.
>
> Mr. XX  has invited mns members to make an effort to visit to the 
> resort at P. Payar for a site inspection.May i suggest to our members 
> that we make a visit as soon as possible so as to satisfy any doubts 
> that we may have. This will also give us the opportunity to spot any 
> bad practices at the site and advice him early. This will allow for 
> the problem to be nib at the bud early. I am sure Mr. XX 
> understands that being environmentally friendly can be good for business.
>
> I would like to take this opportunity to applaud the group for the 
> passion and love you have shown for the island's environment. Keep it 
> comming.
>
> We must not only be seen to be a watch dog for the environment but 
> must be prepared to engage with stakeholders and goverment bodies. 
> While being critical we must also provide solutions. We must ensure 
> before any public action (newspaper,t. v., boycott etc) is taken on 
> errant individuals or companies that we must have throughly 
> investigated the matter and that we are proven right. This is to avoid 
> any legal liabilities upon us.
>
> Bear this also in mind..... that very so often we must stop and look 
> into the mirror and ask ourself this question .... What can I as an 
> individual do for the environment? .... Is the detergent that I am 
> using at home environmentally friendly or not and does it end up in 
> the ocean too?...or... .Am I still using styrofoam to pack my makan or 
> using the tiffen at the back of my car?....
> Anybody want to go into the environmentally friendly product business?
> Small deeds add up.
>
> Love & Peace
>
> Junglewalla
>

In the end, that's the end from junglewalla. No followups, no site visit nor efforts to help provide any solutions, nothing.  And yes sir, they did their own research before writing the letter. So, I wonder on the wonders of this conservationist. And now I have learnt that when conservation works and business interest comes together = zero conservation.

 

Though the deed may be small but thank you very much to Mandy, Malaysiakini and EcoMalaysia.org.

And if you are wondering why I am bringing up the past, I wonder myself too. I am NOT a conservationist. I am simply doing this dirty job of highlighting some of the issues online while mostly others prefer to rah-rah the issues over a teh-tarik at the mamak stall.

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Ignorant Tourists, Slacking Authorities

Just when I thought it was a happy ending to the shark feeding at Pulau Payar Marine Park Langkawi, an American family I met today reported their experiences there two days ago.

And sadly, the shark feeding is still happening at Pulau Payar. Standing on the jetty, some ignorant tourists were throwing in scrap food from their lunch pack provided by their operators to the blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus). The father of this family was swimming at the area where the food were thrown in. One of the sharks was swimming towards him and luckily it dodged when it saw a huge figure. It was scary enough for that man too. 

A tourist billboard encouraging the public that it is fun to do shark feeding...damn!

When will people ever learn about the impact and the risk of shark feeding? Please read the story on a shark attack incident here: Report on Shark Attack

Where are the marine park officers/staff to ensure the feeding is totally banned?

 

Apart from the feeding, the family reported having to see two hundred over visitors at the marine park. He commented that it was just too many people for that sort of space and Pulau Payar snorkeling area is not that big. The family was concerned over the tourists stepping on the corals and stirring up the sand or sediments. 

In 1998, Li Ching Lim conducted the carrying capacity assessment of Pulau Payar Marine Park, Langkawi. From the comprehensive report, Ching Lim stated that the carrying capacity concept is not able to produce a "magic number" that can dictate the number of tourists and divers which the marine park can support. As such, a formula was included in the report to act as  guidelines to determine the carrying capacity alongside with proper care and management of the reef.

And has the authorities adhere to the assessment guidelines?

A piece of advice for discerning tourists coming to Langkawi. Please do some homework and select the responsible nature tour operators. If you need to know recommended tour operators, you may leave me your email address on the comment box. Pulau Payar (Payar Island) is the only best snorkeling and diving site for the West Peninsula Malaysia. For it is now spoiled, let us not spoil it further.

Reference:

1. Carrying capacity assessment of Pulau Payar Marine Park

LANGKAWI NATURE BLOG

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The End of Shark Feeding At Pulau Payar?

Yes! I have heard this very loud and clear from one of snorkeling and diving operators at Pulau Payar Marine Park, Langkawi. And this operator are the good guys out there and the best at Pulau Payar Marine Park.

I met the owner of this company recently and he was very happy to tell me that all sorts of nonsense feeding is now banned at Pulau Payar. And of course, I am happy to hear this indeed though I have yet to see any written statement from the Jabatan Taman Laut (Marine Parks Department).

While I was at the Kuah Jetty this evening, I found this outdated billboard by the bus parking lot. It shows a Black-Tipped Reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) was going straight for the food handed out by the guide in the wet suit (center of the family).

To the authorities here, you can tear this billboard down now as it is no longer valid.

And tourists being tourists, shark feeding is a fun thing to watch yet not realising the hidden risks to themselves and also the negative impact of the feeding to the ecosystem. Report on Shark Attack in Pulau Payar here 

Alas, a great news indeed for Pulau Payar Marine Park! Should you spot any visitors or even the operators themselves are feeding the sharks, please report to the Jabatan Taman Laut (Marine Parks Department) based on the island. If your complains have fallen on the deaf ears, please take pictures and email them to me. Even better if you can snap pictures first before making a complaint. 

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Shark Attack!

When I first visited Pulau Payar, Langkawi in 2009, I witnessed how tourists were offering bread to those coral reef fishes and there was a session where sharks were fed.  It is a known fact that wildlife feeding will leave an impact to their behavior and diet thus offsetting the balance of their surrounding ecosystem.

I observed some of those Blacktip Reef sharks came very closely to the tourists and I had   the impression that they were not aggressive at all. I was wrong. A recent incident has proven that these sharks are not to be taken for granted.

Some time ago, a guest of mine related her snorkeling experience during the shark feeding session. She was snorkeling and the operator started throwing the food into the water. Seconds later, she was surrounded by those fast swimming sharks. She told me that she was terrified for the fear of getting bitten. Luckily she was left untouched.

For another case, someone really got bitten. It was unlucky for this teenage girl who happened to be a friend of my friend. On 1st June 2011, three Canadian teenage girls went on a snorkeling trip with the Pulau Payar operator, Coral Island. A supposedly fun trip has turned sour when one of them got nipped badly by one of those blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) during the feeding session. 

What had happened?

The shark feeding session starts after a snorkeling group had their lunch and this is the usual practice of the operator. The reason for this? So that the operator can gather whatever left over food to be fed to these sharks. 

A guide from Coral Island insisted that the teenage girls should have the fun of watching the shark feeding by snorkeling in the water. One of them was doubtful and asked the guide if it was safe to do so. The guide said that it was alright and he went into the water. The  teenage girls thought it was safe after seeing the guide entered the water and they decided to follow. 

Scrap food inclusive of chicken bones were thrown in to feed those blacktip reef sharks. One of them was snorkeling and had her both legs hanging in the water. Five minutes later, an unsuspected shark went directly to her right feet and SNAPPED!

The shark's bite

The bite (zoomed in)

She was immediately evacuated by the operator and straight to Langkawi hospital. A surgery was done on that evening itself. 

First aiders attending to the victim on Pulau Payar before the evacuation

The result of the bite has cost four sliced tendons above the toes and her little toe may require a skin graft operation.

A visit to Langkawi hospital. Victim's feet had a surgery and her tendons stitched up. She will undergo another follow-up as soon as she returns home.

I am not a marine biologist neither a shark specialist and I now know a little more about them, thanks to wikipedia and the resources from the world wide web. A blacktip reef sharks in general is timid and seldom poses any danger to human unless roused by food. People wading through swallow water are at risk of having their legs mistakenly bitten.

After surfing the net, I have found that this is not the first incident of people having bitten by a shark in Pulau Payar. Someone had his finger bitten off while feeding the sharks and a tourist nearly had her finger bitten off by a baby blacktip reef shark while feeding the coral reef fishes. 

It is very unfortunate that this has happened to a young girl who now have to go through unnecessary difficulties. My questions are:

1. Do the authorities especially the Jabatan Taman Laut (Department of Marine Park Kedah) is aware of all of these incidents?

2.  If they are aware, what actions have they taken to prevent such incidents?

Who should be responsible for this? 

I vote for the authorities and the operator. They should know that shark feeding poses a risk to the feeder and yet they allowed these innocent tourists to be exposed to danger. There were past incidents related to blacktip reef sharks nipping tourists by mistake and yet they did not take any preventative measures to ensure such incident do not repeat. Are they going to wait for a fatality of a tourist before taking firm action? It will be too late by then.

Links:

http://www.naturemalaysia.com/pulau-payar.htm

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Good News And Great Relief To Pulau Payar Marine Park, Langkawi

This is a fantastic news to me. Unfortunately, many others may not share the same sentiment of joy as mine. The news is (drum roll please...) Pulau Payar Marine Park is now temporary closed due to excessive coral bleaching. <clap,clap,clap>

Pulau Payar has been abused for many years due to excessive carrying capacity and extreme heat condition. Every action must have a consequence. This time, the island cannot tolerate further and the consequences resulted to the closure of the park and thus affecting the revenue of the operators. 

Below is a letter issued by the Jabatan Taman Laut Negeri Kedah (Department of Marine Park Kedah) to all the operators to Pulau Payar.

Do allow me to translate... ahem..hemm..

1. Please be informed that the coral reef in Pulau Payar Marine Park is suffering from excessive coral bleaching at critical level. This was a result from the changes of the sea temperature.

2. As such, the Department is now taking action by closing the affected areas. The areas are Marine Park Center and Coral Garden. No activities are allowed in these areas. Alternatively, operators may use the areas in Pantai Damai, Pulau Kaca and Pulau Lembu.

3. Therefore, all operators must adhere to this regulation in order to preserve the biodiversity of the coral reef in Pulau Payar Marine Park Center. A stern action will be taken against any operators that failed to comply with this regulation.

4. This regulation is effective from the date of this letter (20th June 2010)

What more can I say? KUDOS to the Department of Marine Park Kedah for finally taking a stern action.

I am so glad to see this letter and felt like our effort in highlighting this issue to the Ministry of Natural Resources, EcoMalaysia.Org and MalaysiaKini had became fruitful. What surprised us was the Department of Marine Park Kedah called upon a meeting sometime in February 2010 with all the stake holders of Langkawi tourism industry to discuss on conservation of Pulau Payar Marine Park. Hey, M!! You should be happy too!

We are NOT against the operators to "cari makan" (earn a living) there. We just want the coral reef biodiversity to be conserved for a long long time and the need for responsible and ecological sense operators. Like what is happening now and because the reef is now spoiled, operators now "cari makan" less. 

Read more on coral bleaching:

1. Wild Asia: Conserving Malaysia's Coral Reefs

2. About Coral Bleaching

Read more on Potential Resort On Pulau Payar

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Horror!! Aliens Landed On Payar Island

M and I had nothing much to do on that day and decided to take a ferry down to Payar Island which is supposedly reputed to be the best coral reefs area in the West Peninsula Malaysia. Payar Island is the nearest getaway for cityfolks of Penang, Perak, Perlis and Kedah for snorkelling and diving.

Before we even got off the ferry, we were already put off by the operator's announcement on the timing for the sharks feeding. Instead of watching some sharks scavenging on the scrap food leftover by the tourists' lunch boxes, we decided to take a stroll.

We walked towards the other end of the boardwalk and we were shocked to see a few "alien aircrafts" have landed on the slope of the Payar Island hill.

Semi UFO or Half-golf ball looking chalet. Weird design when it is not even a golf resort.

Thru the "western and eastern wind", we came to know that the whole thing was supposed to be a resort built by by the former Kedah's head of government, Syed Razak bin Syed Zain Barakhbah. The resort was built and it was left abandoned before the operation started. The reasons could be due to strong opposition from other parties that were concerned about the environmental damage. Or possibly Syed Razak had a downfall.

So now that these existing structures are already in placed and what next? Well, since the state is under the new government, YB. Encik Mohammad Radzhi Bin Salleh, the Exco Tourism of Kedah state had approved the operation of 12-room resort. And the winner of the project taker is Raymond Foo of D'Coconut Resort. This information is taken from Langkawi's Marine Park Gets a Resort. You may also read from the comments that Raymond pledged to run the resort in a "green" way. How "green" can be achieved in this highly sensitive area? I'm afraid I'm a non-believer in a green resort. There would be some amount of impact and the only question is how much. What more can the impact do to a highly sensitive area like Payar Island.

Payar Island does not have vast flat areas. Behind the small beaches is the range of hill. That's why the stilted chalets were built on the slopes of the hill.

This is a high potential for sediment run-off during heavy rain and thus increasing sedimentation load on the corals. The increasing sedimentation load on the corals will lead to blocking off sunlight thus reducing the growth of corals.

Human waste will go down into the sewage tank below and eventually cause seepage into the underground. There is no sign of sewage or waste treatment area built. Looking at the geographical landscape of Payar Island, it is almost impossible to build one when there is a lack of flat areas. What if the tank is filled? Nutrients run-off from human activities will encourage algae growth and eventually competes with the corals for sunlight and living space. When corals die, it will be a domino affect, the marine fishes will eventually die.

Here are more hideous looking chalets:

We wonder if any recent an EIA was done for this project? Will our government care enough to do a thorough survey or health check on the corals before allowing the operation of this resort?

For further reports highlighted to the media: Letter to MalaysiaKini, EcoMalaysia.org

Sadly, the jewel of Langkawi is willing to be sacrificed for the sake of making quick monetary return instead of conserving what is left on our west coast and not realising that the rice bowl of the islanders will eventually be broken.

Eventhough it was supposedly a low season on that day, look at the number of people on that beach. I wonder what will be like on high season... eeewwwww...

Other references:

1. Yusri Yusuf's Thesis on Payar Marine Park
2. WWF's Lim lee ching "Lim, L.C., 1998. Carrying Capacity Assessment of Pulau Payar Marine Park, Malaysia - Bay of Bengal Programme.
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