Tun Mustapha Park Expedition (TMPE) 2012

Group photo of marine scientists embarked in the expedition during the TMPE 2012 Press Conference in UMS 

© WWF-Malaysia/Eric Madeja

 From 6 to 26 September 2012, a team of marine scientists from Malaysia, the Netherlands and Australia embarked on an expedition in the proposed Tun Mustapha Park (TMP), Kudat, Malaysia.

The Tun Mustapha Park Expedition (TMPE) assessed aspects of marine biodiversity and ecology, as well as the socioeconomic benefits of the marine ecosystems to local communities in the proposed park. As signatory to the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI), Malaysia developed a National Plan of Action for protecting the Coral Triangle region. This expedition is one of Malaysia’s activities under the CTI-National Plan of Action.

The expedition was jointly led by Mr. Muhammad Ali Syed Hussein, Leader of the UMS team; Dr. Bert Hoeksema of Naturalis Biodiveristy Center, Leader of the Coral Reef Biodiversity Team; and Ms. Bobita Ahad of WWF-Malaysia, Leader of the Coral Reef Status Team. Other expedition participants include marine scientists from UMS, Universiti Malaya, University of Queensland, Naturalis Biodiversity Center and researchers from Sabah Parks.

YB Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) launched the expedition in Kudat on 6 September. He stressed the importance of the expedition to the gazettement of the proposed park during the launch of expedition.

After enduring 20 days of sailing, some with rough seas, preliminary results of the expedition were announced at a press conference at the UMS campus in Kota Kinabalu on 27 September 2012. The expedition outcomes presented diverse coral families; namely, 38 species of Fungiidae, 28 species of Agriciidae, 14 species of Euphyliidae, 430 species of reef fish, 25 species of Ovulidae snails and 130 species of macroalgae. Certain species of fish and coral are found to be under threat due to human activities such as fish bombing and overfishing.

Coral reefs in the proposed TMP © WWF-Malaysia/Eric Madeja

Leader of Reef Check team, Ms. Bobita reported that the coral reefs are in fair to good condition. They laid a total of 55 transects and assessed absence and presence of indicator fish and invertebrate species, substrates and coral damages using a modified Reef Check method.

Scientists at work: Sancia van der Meij and Bastian Reijnen from Naturalis Biodiversity Center took photos of their processed sampels. © WWF-Malaysia/Eric Madeja

Scientists at work: Asri Barail and Yusof Bural, Reef Check team members laying transect at the selected sites before the survey.© WWF-Malaysia/Robecca Jumin

"The communities within the proposed TMP are very dependent on the marine environment for livelihood and they have confirmed that this area is important. Therefore, we need to actually do something to manage the area." said Robecca Jumin, Manager of Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion (SSME) of WWF-Malaysia at the open forum during the press conference.

Dr. Bert Hoeksema of Naturalis Biodiversity Center agreed to the statement adding the importance of the proposed park with relatively high biodiversity and abundance within the Coral Triangle. An expert in Fungiidae coral diversity, he expressed surprise to find a high concentration of a rare staghorn coral species (sp) in the TMP that is known to be very rare in the Philippines and Indonesia. He also came across four rare coral species in the proposed park, which were previously found only to be present in Semporna and Berau.

Professor Dr Saleem Mustafa, Director of Borneo Marine Research Institute (UMS) urged for the linking of marine protected areas with the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM) at the proposed TMP. He added that this would convince the coastal communities of the merits of conservation intervention.

“The marine park, covering an area of 1.02 million hectares, if protected, will help the conservation of marine biodiversity and promote sustainable development of fisheries that provide livelihoods to the coastal communities,” said UMS vice-chancellor Professor Dr Mohd Harun Abdullah in his speech delivered by UMS Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Shahril Yusof.

The expedition was organised by Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Sabah Parks and WWF-Malaysia and was jointly funded by Malaysian-CTI (MOSTI through the National Oceanography Directorate), USAID’s Coral Triangle Support Partnership and WWF-Malaysia’s individual supporters.

Watch videos of the expedition at:

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TMPE2012

Facebook :https://www.facebook.com/TunMustaphaParkExpedition

Or at Naturalis blog site: http://blog.naturalis.nl/?p=7347    

By: Liew Hui Ling, Communications Officer, Marine Programme