Pelan pengurusan taman laut: Pulau Babi Besar, Kepulauan Lima dan Kepulauan Mertang, Mersing Johor

Marine parks are categorized as a marine protected area (MPA). IUCN (1994) defined MPA as an area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means. Based on this definition, marine parks management could be a mixed approach of different management objectives as stated under IUCN (1994) and it is not only under the category of IV where the protected area is managed mainly for the sustainable use of natural ecosystem (Managed Resource Protected Area).Management of marine parks should involved not only the responsible agency for the governance, but at the same time involve all stakeholders. It should be run for conservation, also with social and economic objectives, set up for scientific, economic and cultural reason and at the same time value the cultural importance (wilderness), and of course the restoration and rehabilitation (Lee & Julie, 2003). ECOTOURISM AS PART OF MARINE PARK MANAGEMENT Ecotourism is one of the activities that can help marine parks to sustain economically and environmentally. Through ecotourism, the marine resources would need to be conserved as the benefits of its conservation and restoration often equate to economic income generation that fund and support conservation efforts in the long run, while at the same time provide alternative job opportunities for the locals (Alexander 2005). According to the National Eco Tourism Plan (NETP) 2016-2025, ecotourism encompasses five aspects, which are: 1) Conservation of nature and culture; 2) Reinvestment of income to maintain quality of resource and conservation; 3) Ecologically, economically, and socio-culturally sustainable; 4) Ethical, demonstrating corporate social responsibility; and 5) Education about biodiversity, habitats and culture. The NETP has identified that among the key issues faced by ecotourism sites are the lack of benefits to the local community, no tourism concession strategy in park management plans, park managers not sufficiently trained in tourism, and gaps in providing supporting services in ecotourism destinations. In the National Ecotourism Strategies, Strategy No. 3 outlines the Synergy between Ecotourism and Conservation (Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia 2016). In this strategy, marine parks and marine protected areas need to be repositioned as ecotourism destinations that champion the conservation and management of marine and terrestrial resources. The adoption of best practice management of marine parks as ecotourism destination can contribute to attract tourists to enjoy the natural resources in a responsible manner while giving back to the local community in the long run. NETP also highlights the need for Park Management Plan to ensure that ecotourism destinations are managed sustainability. The Park Management Plan shall cover aspects of: 1) Policy; 2) Resources and Characteristics; 3) Action and Management Plans; and 4) Concessions Management Plan. Specifically for Marine Parks, there is a crucial need to reduce the pressure on marine resources especially coral reefs due to unsustainable tourism development and irresponsible tourist behavior (Australian Marine Parks 2018). A list of actions that could be integrated into the Marine Park Management Plan are: 1. Carrying capacity studies through technique of Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) 2. Implement visitor management strategy at marine sites with high tourist visitations 3. Reef restoration programme at reef areas 4. Regulation and stringent enforcement for diving and snorkeling activities 5. CSR programmes for conservation efforts such as beach clean-up, coral restoration and reforestation 6. Implement climate change mitigation and adaption plan for coastal and island tourism that incorporates marine spatial planning GREEN PRACTICES OF SMALL ISLAND CHALET OPERATORS Green practice is not a new technique or method in greening the operation or reducing the operational impacts. Particularly for areas with rich natural resources such as the marine parks, the adoption of green practice is pertinent to the sustainability of the marine resources in the long run. However, the implementation of the green practices are challenged by the lack of knowledge and skills, lack of professional advice, uncertainty of outcome, lack of certifiers/verifiers, lack of resources, implementation and maintenance costs of the destination managers and operators. Yusof and Jamaludin (2014a) have identified ten areas of green practices that can be categorized into ‘physical design attributes’ and ‘ambient design attributes’. Physical design attributes comprise of sustainable site planning and management, materials and resources, solid waste management, sewage management and freshwater management. Ambient design attributes include indoor environmental quality and ventilation, visual amenity element, pollutants, noise control, and energy management and conservation. There are four types of services that commonly offered by small-island chalets in marine parks are accommodation, food, recreation and laundry. Among the factors identified that contribute to the efficiency of solid waste management in marine parks are the distance between island and the main land, the number and capacity of the chalets in the island, and the awareness and knowledge of the chalet operators (Yusof and Jamaludin 2014b). Other identified significant barriers are the lack of green experts and lack of resources in term of manpower, green equipment and difficulty in balancing the quality of service with environmental performance. Additionally, other less significant barriers that need to be addressed are high implementation and maintenance cost and lack of government support. These barriers need to be analysed and strategised as part of the marine park management plan in ensuring a long-term sustainability between the physical development and the environmental resources of the area. At the same time, traditional system of environmental governance particularly adopted by the peripheral communities usually contrasted with the top-down governance, thus create barriers to sustainable adaptation to climate change. These include lack of awareness, inappropriateness of traditional decision-making structure and the short-term view of resource management and sustainability held by many community decision makers (Nun et al. 2014)