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Mantanani Island
Overview:
The Mantanani Islands lay several hours boat ride off the coast of western Sabah and are home to a wide variety of marine life including turtles and dugongs as well as reefs and associated eco-systems. The community is approximately 800 people who are from the Bajau ethnic group and are predominantly Muslim. Facilities on the island are poor with the community making a small income from selling fish on the mainland. Due to the remoteness and lack of facilities on the island there are a number of human environmental issues affecting the surrounding marine eco system.
Background:
The Mantanani islands, lying off the northwest coast of Sabah, Malaysia, comprise a host of marine communities, from coral reefs to sea grass beds, rocky cliffs and sandy shores. The inner lagoon area has been found to be used by numerous resident endangered green turtles (Chelonia mydas), a handful of similarly endangered small dugongs (Dugon dugon), and a suite of tropical marine life drawing nourishment from the surrounding reefs and sea grass beds. A community of some 800 people inhabits the one village on Mantanani Besar (the large island).
The reefs surrounding the Mantanani islands represent the most productive shallow water habitats of the north eastern side of Borneo, with the 15 mile-distant mainland shores comprising mostly fine sediment or rock substrates. Lying slightly offshore, however, the Mantanani islands enjoy cleaner waters and flushing by larvae-rich waters. The reefs support the fishing habits of the local community, but are threatened by unsustainable fishery practices including blast fishing and cyanide fishing. In addition, the unregulated use of gill nets or varying mesh sizes and reef-gleaning fishing through the use of hookah systems threaten the very livelihood upon which the local community depends. A combination of poor awareness of the impacts of these unsustainable fishery practices and the marginalized financial status of the community drive these processes.
The local community has the dubious honour of achieving the only no-pass rate for primary school exams in the country, lagging far behind other national schools due to its remoteness and lack of infrastructure. These deficiencies are starting to be addressed by the Department of Education, but the needs far outweigh the trickle-rate investment in infrastructure, staff and learning resources. Yet despite these odds, many of Mantanani’s schoolchildren play important roles in varying State sports teams, and the fishery is slowly opening up to markets on the mainland, providing a cash income which drives further community development.
Environmental Context
While Sabah is home to SE Asia’s largest nesting aggregation of green and hawksbill turtles, no foraging populations have been recorded until recently. The turtles in SE Asia have been added to the top-ten priority listing for conservation by the IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group, and as such are among priority focus areas of this conservation initiative.
At the greater regional level, SE Asian marine turtle populations have been depleted through long-term harvests of eggs and adults, and as by-catch in the ever-growing trawl fisheries. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) lists all marine turtles on Appendix I (prohibited from international trade), while the World Conservation Union (IUCN) lists the green, loggerhead and olive ridley as Endangered, the leatherback, and hawksbill as Critically Endangered, and the flatback as Data Deficient, (insufficient data to determine it’s status to IUCN standards).
Nesting turtle populations have been well documented in Southeast Asia, but little or no known information exists on foraging populations in the region. Frustratingly for biologists and managers attempting to determine how turtle populations will be influenced by various natural and anthropogenic stresses, there is practically no information on the missing years between hatchling and returning adults, on gender ratios in the wild, the dynamics of turtle populations with regard to growth, survival, gender ratios, and no way to determine what proportion new entrants to the breeding population represent.
The population of juvenile turtles resident around the Mantanani islands represents the first ever documented evidence of foraging turtles for these endangered animals in Sabah. However, given the skewed gender ration of turtles departing Sabah’s nesting beaches, it is likely that the turtles have a disastrous future ahead: At the Turtle islands Park, in Sabah, Malaysia, management efforts have been underway for over 30 years but nearly all eggs are moved to hatcheries which produce 100% females due to warm development temperatures. Today, less than 20% of the hatchery is shaded to counter this error. It is unknown at present what impact the decades of skewed sex ratios in emerging hatchlings will have varying age classes in wild populations, but it is suggested that the decrease in abundance of male turtles, particularly over such a long time frame, will result in unnaturally low numbers of males and potentially impact the viability of the nesting populations in subsequent years. The Mantanani turtles thus are a key stage in a potentially-doomed population. Our understanding of the relationships and population dynamics at this key foraging site will be crucial to understanding larger-scale and longer-term impacts of the biased gender ratios emerging from the originating stock beaches.
But turtles are not the only problem. Turtles can be used as a catalyst to spur further action among the community given their charismatic nature, but further deep-rooted environmental concerns exist which are linked to the remoteness and lower-income status of the community. There are no waste dumping grounds. There are no incinerators for domestic waste. There are no sewage treatment facilities. There are no common practices for waste disposal. Waste is disposed of by dumping in the ocean. Plastics, Styrofoam, metals, glass and all kinds of refuse litter the lagoon waters. And there is little understanding of the impacts of these actions.
Valuable foraging habitats for dugong, turtles and reef fish are smothered with discarded refuse, and by old rotting nets, and contaminated by domestic sewage. To compound matters, revenues through the use of natural resources (those which are used for tourism) are currently not fed back in to the community. This unfair resource benefit balance sheet is something the community wishes to address but for which it lacks the capacity.
Coral reef destruction and over fishing are commonplace around Mantanani due to expanding human community and their needs, and the use of unsustainable fishery practices such as cyanide fishing and ‘bomb’ fishing. Efforts to bring about change in these trends have remained largely ineffective due to the inadequacy or impossibility of enforcement, and a lack of appreciation on the part of the fishers about the consequences of their actions. This loss of coral reefs, which also serve as refuges for the ever-shrinking supply of juveniles, has resulted in the virtual eradication of commercially valuable species.
Secondary to finfish fishing is the collection of invertebrates. The over harvesting of giant clams (in particular Tridacna spp.) has lead to their near extinction around the islands, with records of only a handful of small specimens noted during recent surveys. The continued removal of numerous molluscs, echinoderms and crustaceans by reef raiding techniques is practiced during low tide at most of the accessible reef sites, and by hookah fishing in deeper waters. Octopus and clams are taken to eat, cockles and hermit crabs as bait, sea urchins for their roe, sea cucumbers for food and for export. The removal of these individuals from the reefs is another reason for the decline in fish diversity and numbers, as the larvae and juveniles from these invertebrates often form a major part of fishes’ diet at some stage of the food chain.
One of the notable effects of blast fishing over the years has been the removal of fishes across the entire spectrum of ecological niches on the reef. Whereas previous hook and line fisheries sought out primarily carnivorous fishes, many of Mantanani’s reefs were found to be devoid of scavengers, plankton feeders and micro-benthos feeders. One example is the removal of triggerfishes (Balistidae) which traditionally keeps sea urchin (Diadema sp.) populations in check. With the removal of the triggerfishes the sea urchin populations had the opportunity to expand, denuding the reef of grazing material upon which feed a host of other organisms.
This suite of unsustainable environmental practices, from waste dumping to blast fishing, from lack of basic infrastructure to cyanide poisoning of the reefs, is in immediate need of address.
Solving the Problem
In order to address the education needs of the village, the lack of awareness of marine conservation issues, and the improvement of the livelihoods of the local community, the Marine Research Foundation, Camps International and Borneo Dream dive operator are developing a ‘Conservation for Education’ initiative, with the full backing of the community elders, the District Officer, and the Malaysian Department of Education. The Marine Research Foundation is a non-profit agency established in Sabah for the express purpose of conserving marine ecosystems through research and awareness initiatives. The MRF develops and implements conservation projects for marine communities which are practical, cost effective and targeted at solving the root causes behind resource overexploitation and misuse / mismanagement.
We envision a process of gradual raising of community education and awareness leading to environmental responsibility sharing by building village infrastructure and trust. Among the key initial requirements for village improvement, all linked to the Education for Conservation theme, are facilities for the school, an aid outpost for the community, waste dumping sites and incinerator facilities, and improvements in general environmental practices. The overall aim of the project is to assist the village in working towards a much better stewardship of the marine areas, and will provide the relevant knowledge, expertise and input to see this happen. We are committed to seeing this turn into a model conservation-for-education initiative whereby we provide education (either facilities or knowledge, or both) in return for a commitment by the community to protect their environment.
This is a cutting edge project and will combine a holistic approach to conservation and marine awareness. The main priority initially is to gain the trust of the community and start educating them about the precariousness of their marine environment. This will be conducted primarily on land, teaching and leading by example on certain issues. In addition it is hoped to start a programme of underwater clean ups and surveys to collect further data on the issues surrounding Mantanani. By working closely together Camps International, Borneo Dream and Marine Research Foundation will develop a long term initiative to help protect the waters around Mantanani and ensure the community participate in and ultimately gain from this protection.
Marine Awareness Video
