Benefits of Marine Protected Areas
By Marla Lise
Marla is an ocean lover with a passion for marine conservation
Photo: Screengrab from CNA video
Singapore’s Sisters’ Islands Marine Park
Singapore and Marine Park are not really words that you would imagine seeing together, but it’s true that our shores house a Marine Protected Area (MPA) called Sister’s Islands Marine Park. This 40-hectare MPA was opened in 2015 and covers the space around Sisters’ Islands as well as the western reefs of both St John’s Island and Pulau Tekukor.
Singapore’s MPA is home to Singapore’s first turtle hatchery and provides a safe refuge for our marine biodiversity. In 2017, the park was designated as a public park, making it an offence to fish, collect corals or moor boats near the area without prior permission from the National Parks Board. It is also illegal for people to catch or release animals in this area, which could bring them a fine of up to $50,000 or jail time.
In 2018, Singapore installed 8 reef structures at Sister’s Islands in hopes of giving corals an extra 1,000sqm of reef substrate by 2030. These new artificial reefs could provide a platform to transplant nursery-grown rare coral species and transform bare seafloors into healthy marine ecosystems.
Marine Protected Areas
Singapore’s waters are some of the busiest in the world, yet they house over a third of the world’s coral species, with about 250 species of hard coral. The Sister’s Islands were chosen for the MPA because it was found that some of the reefs there were Singapore’s ‘mother reefs’. Singapore has already lost about 60% of its reefs because of land reclamation. Providing a safe zone is definitely imperative to making sure that we do not completely lose our reefs.
MPAs have many benefits to the marine ecosystem, ultimately centering around ecosystem-based management and a provision of ‘no-take’ areas, allowing fish to thrive and repopulate depleted oceans. There are many examples around the world of how MPA have saved marine ecosystems from destruction, here we’ll look at two from our region.
Get involved in conserving Singapore’s marine life!
If you’d like to get involved, here are three ways to do so:
1. Become a Marine Steward
This is the most direct way to contribute! Sign up for a 1 or 2 year membership. As a group. All are welcome – whether you are a diver, a marine biologist, an angler or an ocean lover, we are all relevant to marine conservation
2. Volunteer
Email Marine Stewards with an introduction and your area of interest to volunteer
3. Shop!
Buy something from Marine Steward shop! The registered Singapore non-profit with 100% of proceeds going towards the cause.
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Marine Stewards is a registered non-profit incorporated in Singapore. With a mission to promote a healthy fishing culture through sustainable fishing guidelines, education and outreach. Follow on Facebook and join their Facebook group here!
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