Malaysia unveils first national plan for marine mammal conservation

KOTA KINABALU (Dec 10): Malaysia has taken a major step toward strengthening marine conservation with the development of the first ever National Plan of Action (NPOA) for the Conservation and Management of Marine Mammals 2026-2035, the country’s first coordinated strategy dedicated to safeguarding whales, dolphins, porpoises and dugongs across its waters.

Hosted by the Department of Fisheries Malaysia and the Marine Research Foundation, with support from Yayasan Sime Darby, the NPOA Marine Mammal Workshop took place recently at Grandis Hotel in Kota Kinabalu.

The workshop brought together key stakeholders from across the country including federal and state agencies such as fisheries, wildlife and forestry departments, enforcement bodies, research institutions and NGOs.

Participants reviewed the national plan, exchanged insights and discussed key priority actions needed to support its implementation, including research and monitoring, mitigation measures, protecting and restoring marine mammal habitats, and strengthening cooperation and data sharing among relevant agencies.

During his officiating speech, Nazri bin Ishak, Director of Policy and Strategic Planning Division, Department of Fisheries Malaysia, said: “The NPOA has become critically important not just as a policy document, but as a shared roadmap for all parties involved, directly or indirectly, in the management, conservation and research of marine mammals.

“We would like to express our appreciation to MRF for being a co-organiser of today’s workshop. We greatly appreciate the close collaboration between MRF and the department, not only in terms of technical expertise but also MRF’s continued commitment to conservation in the region”.

Dr Nicolas Pilcher, Director of the Marine Research Foundation added, “While we work with the Department of Fisheries Malaysia towards finalising the draft NPOA document, we want to acknowledge everyone who is already doing incredible work on the ground to protect Malaysia’s marine mammals.

“This is an important policy step forward in the complex journey of conservation, and builds on all of the research and conservation already underway, ” he said.

Highlighting the diversity of Malaysia’s marine mammals, Dr Vivian Kuit, Scientific Officer at MareCet informed the gathering that “Our country hosts at least 27 marine mammal species, making Malaysia one of Southeast Asia’s most diverse. These include coastal residents such as the Irrawaddy dolphin, Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, finless porpoise, and dugong, as well as seasonal visitors like Bryde’s whales and spinner dolphins.

“These species occupy a wide range of habitats from Kuching Bay in Sarawak and Johor’s east coast near Tioman Island, to Brunei Bay shared by Sabah and Sarawak, Sabah’s waters including Tun Mustapha Park, and the Langkawi archipelago,” said Dr Kuit.

Despite the diversity, decades of coastal development and increased marine activity have placed growing stress on these species. Key threats include accidental catch and entanglement in fishing gears, loss of critical habitats, particularly seagrass beds, mangroves, and estuaries, underwater noise pollution from seismic surveys, as well as vessel strikes, especially involving larger whale species.

Nazri concluded that the NPOA Marine Mammals reinforces Malaysia’s commitment to the Convention on Biological Diversity, CITES, and the National Policy on Biological Diversity 2022-2030, elevating marine mammal conservation as a national priority while ensuring that the plan is practical for implementation by all parties.