ID :
60750
Fri, 05/15/2009 - 13:00
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/60750
The shortlink copeid
M'SIA TO UNDERTAKE SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION OF CORAL TRIANGLE
By Mohd Nasir Yusoff
MANADO (Indonesia), May 15 (Bernama) -- A 52-day integrated scientific sailing
expedition beginning next month will be Malaysia's concrete contribution to the
Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) to maintain the health and productivity of the
coral triangle which covers Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New
Guinea, Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced here Friday that the Prime
Scientific Sailing Expedition (PSSE) 2009 would be launched on June 15, and
would involve the KD Perantau vessel.
The expedition would incorporate various oceanographic studies, including
mapping of the marine flora and fauna such as coral reefs, marine mammals, fish
and invertebrates that inhabit the Malaysian territory of the South China Sea
and the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea, he said.
"The expedition is also to explore and discover, through the collection of
intensified data by application of state-of-the art technologies in the field of
physical, geological, chemical and biological oceanography," he said in his
speech at the CTI Summit, here.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had earlier opened the
first-ever CTI Summit, attended by all the six heads of government of the CTI
member
countries and scores of marine experts, scientists and marine conservation
activists, at the Grand Kawanua International Convention Hall.
Najib said the PSSE was just one of the many ongoing CTI-related efforts
being undertaken by Malaysia in managing its own maritime biodiversity,
including areas in Malaysia covered under the CTI and expected to have
significant positive impact on the Coral Triangle Area.
He said the PSSE was initiated by the Ministry of Science, Technology and
Innovation in collaboration with the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) through the
National Hydrography Centre, the Centre of Excellence in Oceanography and the
Marine Science Centre.
He said that due to the complexities and the rich and unique biodiversity in
the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea, it had been made a priority in the research planning and
implementation of the Ninth Malaysia Plan to conduct such an integrated
expedition to ensure that a wealth set of marine databases and potential new
discoveries could be established.
Najib said that coincidentally the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea was part of the
designated areas in the Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape Programme which was a melting
pot, and pointed out that conscientious efforts to innovate and regulate
activities to minimise conflicts and disasters and stimulate economic activities
as well as facilitate marine life conservation were of prime importance.
Towards that end, he said, smart partnerships and strategic alliances and
cooperation between coastal communities, government agencies, non-governmental
organisations and other related stakeholders at the national and regional level
were of the highest priority.
While thanking Susilo and Indonesia for hosting the important and timely
summit in the cooperative management of the triangle's rich marine biodiversity
in this region, he said Malaysia being a biodiversity rich nation had always
taken various measures to conserve and sustainably utilise its rich biological
resources.
"The National Policy on Biological Diversity launched in 1998 gives clear
direction for the management of biodiversity in the country. Malaysia, as an
active member of the Convention on Biological Diversity, has also played an
important and leadership role in promoting and implementing the objective of the
convention domestically, regionally as well at the international level," he
said.
He drew the attention of the participants to the fact that the Earth's
future lies in the ocean and recognised that strong evidence has been compiled
to emphasise the need for urgent action to protect biodiversity in selected
seabed habitats and marine areas in need of protection.
"Hence, this Coral Triangle Initiative is important to complement and enrich
national and regional efforts in managing the world's richest marine
biodiversity area though it covers approximately only two per cent of the
world's oceans.
"It is unfortunate that knowledge about the oceans is still very limited and
the development of maritime countries often depends on the potential to exploit
sustainably the marine resources," he said, adding that Malaysia would make a
contribution of US$1 million (RM3.54 million) to the CTI Projects.
Najib stressed that enhancing the knowledge and understanding of the
connectivity of large marine ecosystems, ocean dynamics, air-sea interaction,
seabed changes and coastal processes were prerequisites for managing the marine
environment and ecosystems in a more precautionary way towards supporting
sustainable economic opportunities from ocean resources.
Results from marine scientific research provided input for policy makers in
pursuing developmental options and also benefited society, for example, in terms
of ocean data management, measuring and monitoring the status of health of coral
reefs and their resilience, bio-resources and food security as well as weather
forecasting, he said.
This would help nation states to adapt mitigative measures towards the
prevention of natural disasters, thus withstanding stressors and threats to
climate change in this changing marine environment, he added.
Najib said the coral triangle area, which housed nearly 75 per cent of all
the coral reef species and 40 per cent of coral fish species known to mankind,
had also an important socio-economic dimension which had to be sustained for the
well-being of countries in this region.
"Due to the high species of diversity and the discovery of many more new
species, this area of ours provides enormous commercial potential for its
traditional use as well as the application of new technologies such as
biotechnology for wealth creation of the nations in this region," he said.
In that context, he said he believed that the CTI Projects must be
implemented based on national priorities and in line with national policies to
ensure that countries participating in the projects could contribute and benefit
meaningfully from the initiative.
Najib said the projects should be built upon existing initiatives and
projects in this area to avoid the duplication and wastage of resources and
added that there must be tangible outputs which were implementable and could be
sustained beyond the duration of the projects.
"We, too, must recognise the role of local and indigenous communities in
this area and integrate their traditional, scientific, technical and
technological knowledge in the projects," he said, adding that this was to
ensure the relevancy of the projects on the ground and that their
recommendations and outputs were implementable at the grassroots level for
meaningful outcomes.
-- BERNAMA
MANADO (Indonesia), May 15 (Bernama) -- A 52-day integrated scientific sailing
expedition beginning next month will be Malaysia's concrete contribution to the
Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) to maintain the health and productivity of the
coral triangle which covers Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New
Guinea, Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced here Friday that the Prime
Scientific Sailing Expedition (PSSE) 2009 would be launched on June 15, and
would involve the KD Perantau vessel.
The expedition would incorporate various oceanographic studies, including
mapping of the marine flora and fauna such as coral reefs, marine mammals, fish
and invertebrates that inhabit the Malaysian territory of the South China Sea
and the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea, he said.
"The expedition is also to explore and discover, through the collection of
intensified data by application of state-of-the art technologies in the field of
physical, geological, chemical and biological oceanography," he said in his
speech at the CTI Summit, here.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had earlier opened the
first-ever CTI Summit, attended by all the six heads of government of the CTI
member
countries and scores of marine experts, scientists and marine conservation
activists, at the Grand Kawanua International Convention Hall.
Najib said the PSSE was just one of the many ongoing CTI-related efforts
being undertaken by Malaysia in managing its own maritime biodiversity,
including areas in Malaysia covered under the CTI and expected to have
significant positive impact on the Coral Triangle Area.
He said the PSSE was initiated by the Ministry of Science, Technology and
Innovation in collaboration with the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) through the
National Hydrography Centre, the Centre of Excellence in Oceanography and the
Marine Science Centre.
He said that due to the complexities and the rich and unique biodiversity in
the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea, it had been made a priority in the research planning and
implementation of the Ninth Malaysia Plan to conduct such an integrated
expedition to ensure that a wealth set of marine databases and potential new
discoveries could be established.
Najib said that coincidentally the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea was part of the
designated areas in the Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape Programme which was a melting
pot, and pointed out that conscientious efforts to innovate and regulate
activities to minimise conflicts and disasters and stimulate economic activities
as well as facilitate marine life conservation were of prime importance.
Towards that end, he said, smart partnerships and strategic alliances and
cooperation between coastal communities, government agencies, non-governmental
organisations and other related stakeholders at the national and regional level
were of the highest priority.
While thanking Susilo and Indonesia for hosting the important and timely
summit in the cooperative management of the triangle's rich marine biodiversity
in this region, he said Malaysia being a biodiversity rich nation had always
taken various measures to conserve and sustainably utilise its rich biological
resources.
"The National Policy on Biological Diversity launched in 1998 gives clear
direction for the management of biodiversity in the country. Malaysia, as an
active member of the Convention on Biological Diversity, has also played an
important and leadership role in promoting and implementing the objective of the
convention domestically, regionally as well at the international level," he
said.
He drew the attention of the participants to the fact that the Earth's
future lies in the ocean and recognised that strong evidence has been compiled
to emphasise the need for urgent action to protect biodiversity in selected
seabed habitats and marine areas in need of protection.
"Hence, this Coral Triangle Initiative is important to complement and enrich
national and regional efforts in managing the world's richest marine
biodiversity area though it covers approximately only two per cent of the
world's oceans.
"It is unfortunate that knowledge about the oceans is still very limited and
the development of maritime countries often depends on the potential to exploit
sustainably the marine resources," he said, adding that Malaysia would make a
contribution of US$1 million (RM3.54 million) to the CTI Projects.
Najib stressed that enhancing the knowledge and understanding of the
connectivity of large marine ecosystems, ocean dynamics, air-sea interaction,
seabed changes and coastal processes were prerequisites for managing the marine
environment and ecosystems in a more precautionary way towards supporting
sustainable economic opportunities from ocean resources.
Results from marine scientific research provided input for policy makers in
pursuing developmental options and also benefited society, for example, in terms
of ocean data management, measuring and monitoring the status of health of coral
reefs and their resilience, bio-resources and food security as well as weather
forecasting, he said.
This would help nation states to adapt mitigative measures towards the
prevention of natural disasters, thus withstanding stressors and threats to
climate change in this changing marine environment, he added.
Najib said the coral triangle area, which housed nearly 75 per cent of all
the coral reef species and 40 per cent of coral fish species known to mankind,
had also an important socio-economic dimension which had to be sustained for the
well-being of countries in this region.
"Due to the high species of diversity and the discovery of many more new
species, this area of ours provides enormous commercial potential for its
traditional use as well as the application of new technologies such as
biotechnology for wealth creation of the nations in this region," he said.
In that context, he said he believed that the CTI Projects must be
implemented based on national priorities and in line with national policies to
ensure that countries participating in the projects could contribute and benefit
meaningfully from the initiative.
Najib said the projects should be built upon existing initiatives and
projects in this area to avoid the duplication and wastage of resources and
added that there must be tangible outputs which were implementable and could be
sustained beyond the duration of the projects.
"We, too, must recognise the role of local and indigenous communities in
this area and integrate their traditional, scientific, technical and
technological knowledge in the projects," he said, adding that this was to
ensure the relevancy of the projects on the ground and that their
recommendations and outputs were implementable at the grassroots level for
meaningful outcomes.
-- BERNAMA
