Biodiversity Conservation

ADCON2014 on Biodiversity in Malaysia :

What is Biodiversity?

The term biodiversity was coined only in the late 1980s. It is an abbreviation for “biological diversity”. Biodiversity combines the concepts of plants and animal as genetic resources, the diversity of species and the habitats in which they live, in one term. The present usage of the term is that biodiversity is the totality and variety of living organisms on earth.

This encompassing definition is accepted in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and is also used in the country’s Assessment of Biological
Diversity in Malaysia in 1997. Hence, biodiversity includes diversity at the gene, species and ecosystem levels. The diversity of the species and the habitats and ecosystems within which they live, such as the terrestrial rainforests, the freshwater lakes and river systems, the coral reefs and marine ecosystems, all form the background to discussions on biodiversity in Malaysia.

According to the World Development Indicators, while Malaysia has only 0.2% of the world’s land mass, its diversity of flora and fauna species makes it one of the richest countries in the world in terms of biodiversity per unit area, second only to Indonesia in South East Asia. The 2001 Global Diversity Outlook recognised Malaysia as one of the 12 mega-diversity countries in the world.

• Genetic diversity refers to the variation within and between populations of species, measured in terms of the variations of genes in the populations.
• Species diversity refers to the number of species of living organisms on earth.
• Ecosystem diversity refers to the variety of habitats, biotic communities and ecological processes in terrestrial, marine and other aquatic environments in a particular area, together with the processes and interactions that take place within and between these systems

Why is biodiversity important?
Everything that lives in an ecosystem is part of the web of life, including humans. Each species of vegetation and each creature has a place on the earth and plays a vital role in the circle of life. Plant, animal, and insect species interact and depend upon one another for what each offers, such as food, shelter, oxygen, and soil enrichment.

Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity in Malaysia :

Being one of 17 megadiverse countries in the world, Malaysia is home to an extensive network of coral reefs and globally significant marine biodiversity. Malaysia has established a system of marine parks, which aims to protect and manage the marine biodiversity in the waters surrounding 40 islands. In spite of their protected status and current management efforts, there are several threats of diverse origin that affect the marine biodiversity of Malaysia.

Declining fish stocks and the exploitation of breeding grounds; loss of habitat for marine life and destruction of coral reefs as well as habitat degradation and the degradation of water quality are the principle threats. These have been identified to derive from the federal-state split in jurisdiction over the marine park islands and surrounding water bodies; sector-based policy-making and planning with regard to marine park islands and from a low level of awareness across all sectors and stakeholders.

The project will strengthen the system of marine protected areas in Malaysia and thereby contribute to the conservation of globally significant biodiversity. The project targets 164,534.2 hectares of sea, under improved management, for the conservation of marine biodiversity. The project will build upon significant nationally driven initiatives to conserve the marine biodiversity of east coast Peninsular Malaysia. Project activities will be carried out in three marine parks, chosen as the pilot locations – Pulau Tioman Pahang, Pulau Redang Terengganu and Pulau Sibu-Tinggi Johor.

Development Objectives :
To ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in Malaysia and sustainable island development.

Activities :

1. Stocktaking – Collection and review of available information, stakeholder identification, capacity building needs assessment
2. Socialisation of key consultative management stakeholders including agreement to/ prioritization of key processes/guidelines to be developed and delivered.
3. Development of good practice processes/guidelines.
4. Training in use of good practice processes/guidelines.
5. Field testing and revision of the processes and guidelines specified in the ‘Development’ phase.
6. Implementation of processes using: Guidelines developed in the Development Activity Module , Persons trained in the Training Activity Module, Any on-going monitoring of key outcome indicators as specified in the relevant guidelines.
7. End of Project evaluation of the delivery of Outcomes and other progress indicators.
8. Replication of key mechanisms in non-Project Site areas.

Help the efforts in the marine life biodiversity conservation :