Reef Status of Semporna Priority Conservation Area November 2009 Nina Ho Kenneth Kassem © Jurgen Freund / WWF-Canon Reef Status of Semporna Priority Conservation Area Nina Ho Kenneth Kassem WWF-Malaysia Report Produced Under Project MY0256 Facilitating Collaborative Management of Coral Reefs and Adjacent Ecosystems with Tourism and Fisheries i WWF-Malaysia (PN. No. 777/4) Sabah Office Suite 1-6-W11, 6th Floor CPS Tower, Ctr. Point Complex No.1, Jalan Centre Point 88800 Kota Kinabalu Sabah, Malaysia Tel: +60 88 262 420 Fax: +60 88 242 531 E-mail: [email protected] Copyright ©2009 WWF-Malaysia. All right reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, Stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. The opinions of the authors articulated in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of WWF-Malaysia. First published 2009 Design and layout by Nina Ho and Angela Lim Suggested citation: Ho, Nina & Kassem, Kenneth. (2009). Reef Status of Semporna Priority Conservation Area. Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia: WWF-Malaysia. Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia Cataloguing – in-Publication Data Ho, Nina Ann Jin. Reef Status of Semporna Priority Conservation Area. Kota Kinabalu / Nina Ho Ann Jin, Kenneth Ramsey Kassem. Bibliography: p.14 ISBN 978-983-44945-6-8 1. Reef ecology-Conservation-Sabah-Semporna. 2. Reef animals-Conservation-Sabah-Semporna. I. Kassem, Kenneth Ramsey. II. Title. 577.789 Printed in Malaysia ii Contents Acronyms……………………………………………………………………………...iv Acknowledgment……………………………………………………………………...iv Introduction..................................................................................................................1 Geographic scope.......................................................................................................2 Materials and Methods................................................................................................4 Results ...........................................................................................................................6 Substrate.....................................................................................................................9 Southern reefs ........................................................................................................9 Northern reefs ........................................................................................................9 Invertebrates.............................................................................................................10 Southern reefs ......................................................................................................10 Northern reefs ......................................................................................................10 Fish...........................................................................................................................11 Southern reefs ......................................................................................................11 Northern reefs ......................................................................................................11 Discussion....................................................................................................................12 Reference.....................................................................................................................14 Appendix.....................................................................................................................15 Appendix 1: Map of Semporna PCA Northern Reefs .............................................15 Appendix 2: Map of Semporna PCA Southern Reefs .............................................16 Appendix 3: Map of Semporna PCA Live Coral Cover Category ..........................17 Appendix 4: Semporna PCA Reef Status Summary................................................18 Appendix 5: Table of General Resource Use Category...........................................19 Appendix 6: Table of Average Percentage and Category of Coral Cover ..............20 Appendix 7: Chart of Percentage of Substrate Cover..............................................21 Appendix 8: Table of Number and Density of Targeted Fish ................................22 Appendix 9: Table of Number and Density of Targeted Invertebrates ...................23 Appendix 10: Table of Human Impact Index in Semporna PCA ............................24 iii Acronyms GCRMN Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network GPS Global Positioning System ICRI International Coral Reef Initiative PCA Priority Conservation Area SCUBA Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus SSME Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion iv Acknowledgement We thank our project donors from WWF-Netherlands, the Hupkes Family in Netherlands, and the Adessium Foundation. Thanks to Reef Check Malaysia for providing training to our stakeholders in Semporna PCA. Thanks to all Reef Check surveyors consisting of professional divemasters from local dive operators and volunteers (Bobby Joanes Basolius, Richard Usah, Hardy Habirah, Allister Lee, Ron Freddy, Glenn L, Ronny Bin Lobin, Jessica Mikiu Tiongsoh, Jennifer E. Missi, Andreas K. Stephen, Subuh Yunus @ Stephen, Melvin Mijoh, Lorence J. Laisang, Julia Ng Su Chen, Yusran Maidin, Joseph Chung, Alex Canumay, Wendy E.Delacruz, Honarius Basil, SF Chong, Daniel Doughty, Japson Wong, Obata Kenichi) who participated in this survey. Thanks also to Angela Lim for patiently editing and formatting this report. We also thank Sikula Magupin for producing informative maps for this report. v Introduction The Semporna district lies at the extreme southeast corner of the east Malaysian state of Sabah in the Sulawesi Sea. The district waters contain parts of the globally significant (for biodiversity) Semporna Priority Conservation Area (PCA) of the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion (SSME). This area lies well within the Coral Triangle and thus is within the richest areas in the world. Malaysia’s largest concentration of coral reefs is found here, along with large expanses of mangroves and seagrass beds. The area boasts a wide diversity of coral reef geomorphology, including a barrier reef formation, fringing reefs, patch reefs, a pre-atoll, and Sipadan Island, an oceanic seamount. There is one existing marine protected area in the district which covers 350 km2 out of the approximately 7680 km2 of Semporna PCA. The Tun Sakaran Marine Park contains 8 islands and is the first marine protected area in Malaysia to include local communities within its boundaries. Sipadan Island’s waters are proposed as a park and the intention to gazette was published in mid-2009. The status of the coral reefs in Semporna is largely unsurveyed and unreported to date, except for areas that have been surveyed by Sabah Parks, the University Malaysia Sabah, the Marine Conservation Society (UK), and WWF-Malaysia. These have been limited particularly to Sipadan Island and the Tun Sakaran Marine Park. Sipadan Island survey data in 1994 show that live hard coral cover at shallow reefs (5–10 m) was high in all areas (up to 95%). Whereas the mid-depth slope (10–25 m) with the best coral growth cover was estimated between 25–50% (Wood 1994). The Tun Sakaran Marine Park had an average percentage of hard coral cover at the reef rim and upper slope from 11–30% in conclusion of survey and monitoring programmes over a 10-year period since 1998. (Wood et al. 2008) Coral reefs form the foundation of the economy in Semporna for local community fisheries and the tourism industry. Semporna’s fisheries products extracted from coral reef areas include collection of fish for the regional live reef fish trade and consumption in local seafood restaurants. The coral reefs of Sipadan and Mabul are increasingly popular international dive destinations, and interest in dive tourism is expanding throughout the district. The Semporna PCA was ranked as globally significant for its high biodiversity and rich mix of habitat types in a workshop of local and international experts in 2001 (Stakeholders of SSME et al. 2003). It is a priority site for Marine Industry and Tourism Zone in the Government’s Sabah Development Corridor planning document (State Government of Sabah 2007). It was included on the “A” list for recommendation for nomination as a marine natural World Heritage Site (Hillary et al. 2002). As a high priority site within the SSME, it is also a high priority site in the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security. This report documents the first comprehensive survey of the status of coral reefs in Semporna. The results will be used as baseline data for the monitoring and management of natural marine resources in Semporna PCA. 1 Geographic scope Between January 2008 and June 2009, surveys were carried out by WWF-Malaysia Semporna PCA team, volunteers, and local dive operators. The total reef area of Semporna PCA is approximately 7,680 km2. WWF-Malaysia surveyed 35 sites with 64 transects during this period covering all reef types across the entire Semporna PCA. The surveys were conducted first on the Southern reefs which form the barrier reef extending from Roach Reef in the west to Ligitan Reef in the east. These include: Hands Rock, Darby Bank, Alert Patches, Second Reef, Roach Reef, Friedrich Reef, Horn Reef, Ezerhzog Reef, Yoshi Point, Mabul, Kapalai, Cust Reef, Ligitan, Denawan and Si Amil. (Appendix 1) The remaining