Bank employees help restore coral reefs in Tioman

A diver planting corals in the waters around Tioman island.

A TEAM from AmBank supported Reef Check Malaysia (RCM) in their work to rehabilitate coral reefs off Pulau Tioman.

Nine employees planted 200 corals of opportunity, which are living corals that have been dislodged and transplanted to areas lacking coral.

RCM is a non-governmental organisation established in 2007, which is committed to a healthy ocean and bringing all stakeholders together to manage coral reef sustainably.

RCM’s field office on Tioman is managed by Cintai Tioman, which is a long-term community programme to protect coral reefs and improve the livelihoods of the island community.

The end goal is to ensure the sustainable use of the island’s natural resources for the benefit of all stakeholders.

AmBank Group corporate communications and marketing head Shazman Shahid said the coral reef planting was one of their sustainability activities to raise environmental awareness among employees.

“AmBank hopes this effort will help to conserve marine biodiversity.”

RCM chief programme officer Alvin Chelliah said coral reef rehabilitation takes a lot of time, effort and cost.

“It is great to have corporations such as AmBank supporting our work to keep protecting the reefs in Tioman,” he said.

The AmBank team also deployed 36 coral pots at RCM’s reef rehabilitation site in Kampung Tekek.

The corals deployed will be monitored regularly to assess their survival and growth rates.

In addition, the bank employees recycled glass bottles and built coral blocks.

The team will observe and record marine life inhabiting the site over time.

RCM also has field teams based in Mantanani, Semporna, Redang and Johor islands.

It focuses on training divers and conducting surveys at over 300 locations around Malaysia to monitor coral reef health.