Sensitive to temperature change, corals turn into a lifeless bony white colour when seawater gets too warm. This 'bleaching' can lead to death, especially in marine heatwaves. — AFP
We live in a country with exceptionally rich natural resources: Malaysia's rainforest and coral reefs are among the oldest and most diverse in the world. But how long we’ll have them is a question that vexes me, especially when it comes to the reefs.
Over the next decade, a lot of coral reefs will die due to marine waters warming with climate change. Sensitive to temperature change, corals turn into a lifeless bony white colour when seawater gets too warm. This “bleaching” can lead to death, especially in marine heatwaves.
Since February 2023, mass bleaching has been reported from the Red Sea to the South Pacific, in what scientists say is the fourth global bleaching event on record.
Locally, 2024 marked the worst bleaching event in the past decade, with “major bleaching” along the East Coast, says Alvin Chelliah, chief programme officer with Reef Check Malaysia, which monitors 300 reef sites nationwide, mostly with volunteer divers.
Up to 80% of some reefs surveyed at Pulau Redang, Terengganu, were bleached. Reefs at Pulau Tioman and around islands off Johor fared better, with bleaching of up to about 30% and most corals recovering, he says. More rainfall there may have helped.
At Pulau Lang Tengah, Terengganu, surveys found mortality of corals was 49% on average after the heat stress peak, but this figure may increase this month; for two species, mortality reached more than 90%, says marine ecologist Sebastian Szereday, founder and lead scientist of Coralku, a nonprofit organisation for coral reef research, conservation, and restoration.
At some sites where the coral cover was 10%, it is now less than 1%, says Szereday. These sites were thriving back in the early 2000s – as a local boatman recalled, coral branches were visible above the water during low tide for hundreds of metres.
Within one generation, our heritage, some of the world’s most diverse marine life, is disappearing. Coral reefs offer far more than pretty colours. They are a vital ecosystem, playing a critical role in sustaining fisheries. They protect coastlines from erosion and storm surges. And they drive tourism, albeit too much of it, sometimes.
In August 2024, I visited Pulau Redang with my two teenaged children. I wanted them to see the kaleidoscopic beauty of the corals there while some still remained. I last visited the peninsula’s East Coast 25 years ago when tourism was still relatively nascent, so I braced myself for change. I was shocked by the mass tourism swamping the island, with resorts packed to the brim and thousands more tourists arriving by boatloads daily, many of them from mainland China. This is a new trend.
Due to relaxed visa policies and new low-cost flights on Chinese airline 9 Air, tourist arrivals from China to Malaysia surged to nearly 1.5 million in the first five months this year, Tourism Malaysia reported. This is a jump of nearly 200% compared with the same period last year.
I understand the value of tourism for our economy. But uncontrolled volumes of tourists on islands result in more sewage and solid waste, and more pollution from boats, all of which affects reef ecosystems. Even some sunscreen is a hazard, and can cause bleaching.
I joined one snorkelling trip where a large number of tourists crowded over a patch of coral. I saw people bump and touch corals. Yet the staff said nothing about vigilance around corals. It’s ironic that tourism is damaging what is enriching it.
“Many divers and snorkellers are still very reckless. I see people standing on corals frequently, while divers often go crashing into reefs due to bad buoyancy,” says Szereday.
Other persistent bad practices include feeding reef fish to enable close-up photos, and boats dropping anchors on corals, which still continues if NGOs do not place mooring lines, he says.
Wastewater pollution urgently needs addressing. The Perhentian islands, Terengganu, have been described as among the most polluted in peninsula waters due to improper sewage discharge into the sea and rubbish dumping.
“Sewage and inappropriate waste disposal are big issues on all islands with a high number of resorts and kampungs. Every beach resort should have a top-notch septic tank if corals are to be protected,” Szereday says.
Local governments and stakeholders have the ability to change tourism practices but political and economic will is needed, he says, calling for the government to come up with a proper conservation plan, and for more science, coordination, and funding.
Other hazards include ghost nets, fishing nets that have been abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded. Ghost nets kill marine creatures by entangling them, and harm coral reefs too by breaking them, exposing them to disease, and blocking them from needed sunlight. In the first quarter of 2024, Reef Check Malaysia volunteers removed 140kg of ghost nets from waters around Pulau Redang.
Chelliah points out that unsustainable tourism can reduce reef resilience towards climate change. So we urgently need policies and investment to protect coral ecosystems. Research is also important. We need to understand why some corals tolerate heat better than others. For that, we need richer data that is species specific and collected with environmental data such as temperature and rainfall.
Our marine parks have an economic value of RM8.7bil annually. Given that, “It is irrational how little we fund their protection,” says Szereday.
I just hope we act before it’s too late.
Human Writes columnist Mangai Balasegaram writes mostly on health but also delves into anything on being human. She has worked with international public health bodies and has a Masters in public health. Write to her at lifestyle@thestar.com.my. The views expressed here are entirely the writer's own.
