MSP advocates sustainable, holistic marine protection process

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A group photo of the participants and speakers of the MSP event in Terengganu.

A group photo of the participants and speakers of the MSP event in Terengganu.

TERENGGANU: Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) and WWF-Malaysia collaborated to organise a seminar and training on Introduction to Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) to address the turtle-fishing conflict in Terengganu yesterday.

MSP is an operational process to ensure an integrated, ecosystem-based approach to the planning, protection, management and sustainable use of marine areas and their resources.

Turtle-fishing conflict, on the other hand, refers to direct catch, by-catch, use of illegal fishing gears, and ghost nets by local and foreign fishermen, which could be detrimental to the marine ecosystem.

WWF-Malaysia conservation director Dr Sundari Ramakrishna said WWF-Malaysia has chosen Terengganu and Melaka as key sites as both are believed to have important turtle population that needs protection for their habitat, and requires addressing the turtle-fishing conflict in the area, which is causing the death of adult turtles.

“We are concerned over the increasing deaths of adult turtles in Terengganu in the past few years as well as the coastal development in Melaka, threatening the only hawksbill population in the area.

“We believe the MSP process is important in bringing stakeholders together to address conflicting use of space towards a common sustainable development goal. WWF aims to assist governments and competent organisations to achieve marine protection and sustainable use of marine resources,” she said.

“We also aim to assist in working to set enabling conditions for the implementation of ecosystem-based integrated ocean management, including the development and promotion of practical spatial conservation tools. By promoting ecosystem-based integrated ocean management, WWF will help ensure that ocean use is managed in a manner that is integrated between sectors, countries and governments in a holistic and adaptive manner,” Dr Sundari added.

The event targeted relevant government agencies including Department of Environment (DoE) Terengganu, Department of Fisheries (DoF) Terengganu and Terengganu District Offices.

This seminar and training, which first started in Sabah, marked the first of a series of MSP events to be held in Peninsular Malaysia.

The three-day event started with presentations from experts from UMT, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Fisheries, and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).

Speakers covered a range of topics from ocean policy, environmental law and governance, the importance of MSP, to fisheries law and zoning.

The training allowed participants to be actively engaged in discussions and activities on marine resource management, identifying target resources, characterising and managing stakeholder engagement, and assembling the enabling environment for a successful MSP process.

The event introduced the concept of MSP to the relevant stakeholders, provided hands-on training on developing an MSP document and map, and assisted stakeholders to make trade-offs in stakeholders’ interest and balancing decision-making.