Malaysia’s marine environment

Centre of the world’s richest marine waters

Malaysia is blessed with an extremely rich marine environment. Our warm tropical seas are home to some of the richest coral reefs, mangrove forests, seagrass beds and other important habitats in the world. The Straits of Malacca, South China Sea, Sulu Sea, and Sulawesi Sea form the boundary between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. This convergence puts Malaysian waters in the centre of the Coral Triangle – the world’s richest marine waters. These warm tropical waters are also home to one of the world’s largest populations of endangered green sea turtles and other endangered marine species such as hawksbill turtles, dugongs, whale sharks, and humphead wrasse.

These ultra rich habitats form only a small percentage of Malaysia’s vast marine area. In fact, Malaysia’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) - the area of the sea 200 nautical miles from shore, over which Malaysia has special rights on the use of marine resources - is larger than its land area (approximately 330 000km² land area vs. 450 000km² EEZ). This vast sea area is rich with fishery resources and habitats which play an important role in food production. Fish comprise 60 - 70% of Malaysian protein intake. Fish are an important sustainable resource but are threatened by overfishing and habitat destruction.

WWF-Malaysia has a long history of marine conservation work in the country. One of our very first projects helped to establish the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Since then we have worked with marine parks in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and on fisheries issues in Sabah and Langkawi. We help protect endangered sea turtles in Melaka, Terengganu, and Sabah. As part of the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion programme, we are collaborating with partners in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines to ensure the sustainability of the apex of the Coral Triangle.