By Cynthia | Education and Public Awareness Officer
In conjuction with Coral Triangle Day a few days ago (8th June), let's dive into some facts about this very important region.The Coral Triangle day celebrates the Coral Triangle, a biodiverse marine region spannign 6 countrie: Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor Leste. It is home to over 600 reef-building coral species, 3,000 reef fish species, 6 out of 7 marine turtle species and also thousands of other marine life - vital in supporting marine ecosystems, local communities and global biodiversity.
Malaysia is part of the Coral Triangle, and faces multiple threats to its marine life and ecosystems. One example is the occurences of ghost nets. Ghost nets are essentially fishing nets that are torn entagled in reefs and then left behind as they can no longer be used. These nets contribute to ocean pollution by casuing extensive social, economic and environmental impacts. They trap and entagle marine life, besides also smothering imporant ecosystems such as coral reefs and seagrass beds.
Our Community Marine Conservation Group on Tioman Island, the Tioman Marine Conservation Group (TMCG) receives many reports of ghost net sightings around the island. They often work together with volunteers from local dive centres to remove these nets, before disposing them in a proper manner.
It is our hope that there will be lesser reports of ghost nets in the future, and more sustainable and responsible fishing practices are adopted.
By Cynthia | Education and Public Awareness Officer
By Cynthia | Education and Public Awareness Officer
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser