Impacts of tourism development and proposed management on Mabul Island, Sabah, Malaysia

The impact of tourism development on Mabul Island was examined in this study. Consistent with the concept of Limits of Acceptable Change, ways and means have been suggested for formulating a comprehensive approach to integrated management of the island resources. Currently, the marine resources are...

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Main Author: Aw, Soo Ling
Format: Thesis
Language:English
English
Published: 2009
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spelling my.ums.eprints.428392025-02-28T01:37:57Z https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42839/ Impacts of tourism development and proposed management on Mabul Island, Sabah, Malaysia Aw, Soo Ling G154.9-155.8 Travel and state. Tourism The impact of tourism development on Mabul Island was examined in this study. Consistent with the concept of Limits of Acceptable Change, ways and means have been suggested for formulating a comprehensive approach to integrated management of the island resources. Currently, the marine resources are exploited by the tourism industry as well as the islanders for income generation. Their activities are poorly regulated, resulting in unsustainable practices. For developing knowledge-based regulatory standards, an in-depth scientific understanding of the impact of the various anthropogenic activities was deemed necessary. The focus of this investigation was on observing their changes in selected ecological indicators, namely coral cover, abundance and occurrence of indicator species of reef fish and marine invertebrates, seagrass cover, land-use profile, quality of groundwater and inshore coastal water, and the socio-economic condition of the stakeholders. The findings indicated that degradation of the marine and terrestrial environments of the Mabul Island. This is evident from decline in the hard coral cover from an average of 37.5% in 1979 to 17.6% in 2007 where no signs of coral recovery were noticed. Chaetodontids had shown a significant decline in numbers on the reefs with low percentage coral cover. The presence of abundant Diadema sea urchin was linked to increased algal production caused by high nutrient level in the water. A dense seagrass cover so close to the local villages could be an indication of eutrophication from sewage outflows, while the sparse seagrass near the resorts was degraded by sedimentation due to construction activity. Faecal coliform level exceeding 0 CFU/100 ml of groundwater had indicated bacteria contamination and considered unsafe for drinking. Although the overall quality of coastal water is considered safe under the water quality standard specifications for marine life and human recreational activities, but the elevated nutrient load can threaten the suitability of water for uses by humans and for marine life. About 85% of the land area has been cleared for village housing projects, resorts and budget accommodation. Tourists, dive guides and islanders share the view that the island ecosystem has undergone deterioration. Tourists holding environment-friendly attitudes have expressed overcrowding and concern over growing number of resorts. Information synthesized from the resources have reached the limits of acceptable change and any further threaten the sustainability of the marine critical habitats, vulnerable marine life and income-generating potential of the ecotourism business. A ceiling on the further activities has been recommended to control degradation of the marine resources. The issues related to overcrowding and poor waste management have been thoroughly addressed. A holistic and thoroughly integrated management of the island ecosystem, with clearly defined and prioritized action plans is urgently needed for implementation to sustain the marine ecotourism industry and livelihood of islanders. 2009 Thesis NonPeerReviewed text en https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42839/1/24%20PAGES.pdf text en https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42839/2/FULLTEXT.pdf Aw, Soo Ling (2009) Impacts of tourism development and proposed management on Mabul Island, Sabah, Malaysia. Masters thesis, Universiti Malaysia Sabah.
institution Universiti Malaysia Sabah
building UMS Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaysia Sabah
content_source UMS Institutional Repository
url_provider http://eprints.ums.edu.my/
language English
English
topic G154.9-155.8 Travel and state. Tourism
spellingShingle G154.9-155.8 Travel and state. Tourism
Aw, Soo Ling
Impacts of tourism development and proposed management on Mabul Island, Sabah, Malaysia
description The impact of tourism development on Mabul Island was examined in this study. Consistent with the concept of Limits of Acceptable Change, ways and means have been suggested for formulating a comprehensive approach to integrated management of the island resources. Currently, the marine resources are exploited by the tourism industry as well as the islanders for income generation. Their activities are poorly regulated, resulting in unsustainable practices. For developing knowledge-based regulatory standards, an in-depth scientific understanding of the impact of the various anthropogenic activities was deemed necessary. The focus of this investigation was on observing their changes in selected ecological indicators, namely coral cover, abundance and occurrence of indicator species of reef fish and marine invertebrates, seagrass cover, land-use profile, quality of groundwater and inshore coastal water, and the socio-economic condition of the stakeholders. The findings indicated that degradation of the marine and terrestrial environments of the Mabul Island. This is evident from decline in the hard coral cover from an average of 37.5% in 1979 to 17.6% in 2007 where no signs of coral recovery were noticed. Chaetodontids had shown a significant decline in numbers on the reefs with low percentage coral cover. The presence of abundant Diadema sea urchin was linked to increased algal production caused by high nutrient level in the water. A dense seagrass cover so close to the local villages could be an indication of eutrophication from sewage outflows, while the sparse seagrass near the resorts was degraded by sedimentation due to construction activity. Faecal coliform level exceeding 0 CFU/100 ml of groundwater had indicated bacteria contamination and considered unsafe for drinking. Although the overall quality of coastal water is considered safe under the water quality standard specifications for marine life and human recreational activities, but the elevated nutrient load can threaten the suitability of water for uses by humans and for marine life. About 85% of the land area has been cleared for village housing projects, resorts and budget accommodation. Tourists, dive guides and islanders share the view that the island ecosystem has undergone deterioration. Tourists holding environment-friendly attitudes have expressed overcrowding and concern over growing number of resorts. Information synthesized from the resources have reached the limits of acceptable change and any further threaten the sustainability of the marine critical habitats, vulnerable marine life and income-generating potential of the ecotourism business. A ceiling on the further activities has been recommended to control degradation of the marine resources. The issues related to overcrowding and poor waste management have been thoroughly addressed. A holistic and thoroughly integrated management of the island ecosystem, with clearly defined and prioritized action plans is urgently needed for implementation to sustain the marine ecotourism industry and livelihood of islanders.
format Thesis
author Aw, Soo Ling
author_facet Aw, Soo Ling
author_sort Aw, Soo Ling
title Impacts of tourism development and proposed management on Mabul Island, Sabah, Malaysia
title_short Impacts of tourism development and proposed management on Mabul Island, Sabah, Malaysia
title_full Impacts of tourism development and proposed management on Mabul Island, Sabah, Malaysia
title_fullStr Impacts of tourism development and proposed management on Mabul Island, Sabah, Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Impacts of tourism development and proposed management on Mabul Island, Sabah, Malaysia
title_sort impacts of tourism development and proposed management on mabul island, sabah, malaysia
publishDate 2009
url https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42839/1/24%20PAGES.pdf
https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42839/2/FULLTEXT.pdf
https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42839/
_version_ 1825809958049939456
score 13.244413