DEEP BLUE MARINE TOURISM

By : OXFORD BUSINESS GROUP

WHILE Sabah is widely known as 'The Land Beneath The Wind' for its geographical location below the trade winds, it could just as easily be known as the land of the three seas, as this northern extremity of Borneo is surrounded bythe South China. Sulu and Celebes Seas.

This location makes the state one of the most marine rich areas of the world when it comes to biodiversity.

POTENTIAL: Harnessing this unique position has thus been exercising the tourism industryfor some time, with the need to balance ecological sustainability with growing demand the key pivot of sector development.

Marine tourism can undoubtedly be a huge economic driver; AustraIia’s Barrier Reef for example, contributes over $1.5 bn a year to that country’s economy, while drawing in over 1.6m visitors annually Sabah’s reefs currently attract no more than a few hundred divers a yean yet for many diving experts, the state’s reefs are in many ways superior to those found in Australia.

DIVE SITES ABOUND: These offshore assets begin in the South China Sea,with the island of Layang Layang, a coral atoll 300 km north-west of Kota Kinabalu. Also known as Swallow Reef its unique feature is a 2000-metre clifffalling away to the sea floon with many large pelagic species, such as hammerhead sharks, obsenrable there. Closer to Kota Kinabalu is the Tunku Abdul Rahman (TAR) Marine Park, which is made up of five islands all easily accessible from the capital.

Moving round to the Sulu Sea, Lankayan Island is a major draw, famous for its whale sharks and sunken wrecks. Nearby Pulau Selingan also offers great marine diversity including a major population of green turtles.

The area is part of the Turtle Island Marine Park, with three islands some 40 km off Sandakan. Finally in the Celebes Sea is Sipadan Island, perhaps the jewel in the crown of Sabah's diving sites. Frequently rated among the top-five dive sites in the world. It rises some 600 metres from the ocean floon and has more than 3000 different species of fish alone registered in its waters.

Nearby too are the islands of Mabul and Kapalai, also highly rated dive sites. These are part of the Semporna Marine Area and the Coral Triangle, a multi-national region of high biodiversity stretching from Taiwan to Papua and back.

With such an inventory ofworld-class marine tourism venues, Sabah has a growing stake in this attractive global market, with significant potential for growth. As with much else in the state's tourism sectoc the trick is to enable growth without damaging the very asset that tourists come fom this balancing act depends on input from other industries as well, to cover all activities that may potentially disrupt or destroy the sometimes fragile ecological balance on which marine tourism depends.

PRESERVING ASSETS: The government of Sabah has long recognised this, The state`s tourism, culture and environment ministen ll/Iasidi Nlanjun, said in early 201 1 that 'the environment is the asset for the tourism industry'.

Action is thus being taken to protect it. In Sipadan, for example, access is nowlimited to 120 daily dive permits, and the governments decision to cancel a planned coal-fired power station onshore near the reefs there was the result of heightened environmental consciousness and lobbying.

At the same time. action is being taken to halt a number of fishing practices that negatively impact the reef These include the use of explosives and chemicals. practices known to be used by local fishermen as well as by those from other countries who fish illegally in Sabah's waters. A sharp drop in local shark populations is one indicator of this latter trade, with shark fin an expensive delicacy highly sought after in certain parts of Asia.

Enforcement of the rules related to these practices is now getting more attention, while tourism sector professionals are also acutely aware ofthe need for sustainable, conservation-minded development. Cooperation with other regional nations is advancing, with the Brunei DarussaIam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BINIP-EAGA) ministerial summit in Nlarch 2011 highlighting the astonishing marine diversity of the region, as well as noting the interconnection between coral reefand rainforest preservation.