Tun Mustapha Marine Park

Last updated

Tun Mustapha Marine Park
Borneo Locator Topography.png
Red pog.svg
Tun Mustapha NP
Location in Borneo
Location Sabah, Malaysia
Nearest city Kudat
Coordinates 7°15′0″N117°10′0″E / 7.25000°N 117.16667°E / 7.25000; 117.16667
Area8,988 km2 (3,470 sq mi)
Established2016
Governing body Sabah Parks

Tun Mustapha Marine Park is a marine park located off the north coast of the state of Sabah, Malaysia. It comprises an area of 898,762.76 hectares with more than 50 islands and islets located across Kudat, Pitas and Kota Marudu districts; making it the second largest gazetted marine park in the country after the Luconia Shoals in neighbouring Sarawak. [1] [2]

Contents

The marine park consists of four zones: the protection, community, multiple-used, and commercial fishing areas. [3] Around 80 thousand people are dependent on the marine park for resources, including various local Sabah and Filipino indigenous ethnics such as the Dusun, Sama-Bajau and Tausūg. [4] [5]

History

The area was originally proposed to be gazetted by the Sabah state government since 2003, shortly after the recognition as a significant marine conservation area. Initial assessment and consultation was done in the 2000s, and by 2011, a steering committee was formed by Sabah Parks to lead the establishment of the park, along with management and zoning plans. [3] In 2012, a special expedition was conducted to assess its biodiversity and ecology, and its he socioeconomic benefits for surrounding coastline residents, involving representatives from Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Sabah Parks, and the Malaysian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), [6] with high amounts of coral species were identified, along with a prominent marine ecosystem, and risks such as overfishing and fish bombing. [3] In 2016, all the islands and islets inside the area was gazetted as a marine park, including the three major islands of Banggi, Balambangan and Malawali. [7] During the time, the area was also become a part of the Sulu Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion Programme, and the Coral Triangle Initiative for Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF) initiatives. [8]

Biodiversity

Tun Mustapha Marine Park is also home to several dolphin species, including the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus), Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis), and Indo-Pacific finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides). Other marine megafauna include green sea turtles, mobula rays, and marlins. [9] Coasts on the Borneo mainland and islands throughout the park are known as established turtle hatching sites for green sea turtles, along with the hawksbill and olive ridley turtles. [10] Elasmobranchs are extensive in the park, which are typically fished and sold in markets such as in Kudat. [11]

References

  1. ↑ "Luconia shoals to be biggest marine park in Malaysia". Bernama . 13 September 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  2. ↑ "Nation's biggest marine park". Daily Express. 27 May 2016. Archived from the original on 27 May 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Reuben, Erica Joanne; Gunggut, Haijon (2021). "Marine conservation area in Sabah: The roles and contributions of Sabah Parks in establishing and managing the Tun Mustapha Park (TMP)" (PDF). Journal of Administrative Science. 18 (1): 19–46.
  4. ↑ Thomas, Sebastian (2016). "Between Tun Mustapha and the deep blue sea: the political ecology of blue carbon in Sabah". Environmental Science & Policy. 55 (1): 20–35.
  5. ↑ Olivia Miwil (25 April 2023). "Kudat community awed by presence of water spouting whale". New Straits Times. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  6. ↑ "Marine Scientists to Survey the Proposed Tun Mustapha Park". World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia. 5 September 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  7. ↑ Roy Goh (26 May 2016). "Sabah's Tun Mustapha Marine Park gazetted for conservation". New Straits Times. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  8. ↑ Jumin, R.; Binson, A.; McGowan, J.; Magupin, S.; Beger, M.; Brown, C. J.; Possingham, H.P.; Klein, C. (2017). "From Marxan to management: ocean zoning with stakeholders for Tun Mustapha Park in Sabah, Malaysia". Oryx. 52 (4): 775–786.
  9. ↑ Ponnampalam, L. S.; Kuit, S. H.; Ng, J. E. (2018). "Diversity and distribution of marine mammals in Tun Mustapha Park, Kudat, Sabah, during the Tun Mustapha Park Scientific Expedition 2017" (PDF). Sabah Parks Nature Journal. 11: 35–46.
  10. ↑ Jolis, Gavin; Joseph, Juanita; Nishizawa, Hideaki; Isnain, Irwan isnain; Muin, Hussien (2022). "Marine turtle nesting and hatching in Tun Mustapha Park, Malaysia, revealed by community-based monitoring" (PDF). Herpetological Conservation and Biology. 18 (2): 275–289.
  11. ↑ Mopilin, Nadine S.; Manjaji-Matsumoto, B. Mabel (2019). "Market surveys of elasmobranch fisheries resources in the Tun Mustapha Park, Sabah, Malaysia" (PDF). Philippine Journal of Natural Sciences. 24: 15–20.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.