MELAKA – Pulau Undan, Pulau Nangka, and Pulau Dodol will be gazetted as the first national marine park in Melaka pending approval from the state government, said Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry (Mafi) Deputy Minister 1 Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah.
Ahmad said the islands, covering an area of one nautical mile off the coast, would be gazetted under Section 41, Fisheries Act 1985 (Act 317) to ensure the sustainability of marine biodiversity in the area.
“The state Fisheries Department has been conducting a study since 2018, and has found 81 species of hard corals and 19 species of colourful soft corals of the Gorgonian type in the area,” he told reporters after a visit to Pulau Undan here today.
Also present were state exco for agriculture, livestock, entrepreneur development and cooperatives Datuk Norhizam Hassan Baktee, Mafi secretary-general Datuk Haslina Abdul Hamid, and Fisheries Department director-general Ahmad Tarmidzi Ramly.
Ahmad said the move to gazette the islands as a marine park was to preserve and conserve the ecosystem in the area, as coral reefs protect juvenile marine life, which in turn leads to the propagation of marine population.
He said the unique marine treasures would encourage ecotourism activities such as diving and snorkelling, which would benefit the local community involved in the tourism industry.
He added that an allocation of RM110,000 was channelled to the state Fisheries Department to carry out, among others, habitat monitoring activities and works related to rehabilitation, coral restoration, as well as programmes to minimise threats to marine life on the three islands. – Bernama, October 2, 2021
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