WWF-Malaysia urges Sabah govt to reconsider proposed mining industry in Tun Mustapha Park

KOTA KINABALU: WWF-Malaysia commends the Sabah government's commitment to not grant any mining permits in Maliau Basin, but urges the administration to reconsider mining in Tun Mustapha Park (TMP).

In a statement issued on Thursday (Aug 8), the organisation said it was concerned by the recent announcement made by Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal regarding the proposed silica sand mining industry in Pulau Balambangan, Kudat.

Balambangan is located approximately 21km north of the Tip of Borneo, in the Kudat district within TMP.

Balambangan's coastal seas constitutes part of TMP and is marked as a Priority Conservation Area (PCA) under the Coral Triangle.

TMP is also home to the second-largest concentration of coral reefs in Malaysia, which contributes to more than 12% of Sabah's marine fisheries and aquaculture production with a value of RM184mil in 2017.

Sedimentation and soil erosion have unfavourable prevailing implications on the environment and the communities that rely on it.

WWF-Malaysia conservation director Dr Henry Chan (pic) said Balambangan is located within the biodiverse-rich TMP, and any mining activities will have an adverse impact on the environment.

"As such, we urge the state government to take this into consideration and turn down the proposed mining project, " he said, in reference to the announcement by Mohd Shafie during the state assembly meeting on Tuesday (Aug 6).

"Based on a study published by SymbioSeas and WWF Ocean with WWF Malaysia in early 2019, it is projected that a huge percentage of coral reefs in TMP will experience annual severe bleaching in 15 years' time.

"Human stressors like island silica mining must be urgently addressed as it can lower the resilience of coral reefs, which further diminishes the capacity to resist and/or recover from disturbance events and maintain ecosystem function.

"This climate change impact is inevitable, " continued Dr Chan.

He said quarrying causes a chain reaction of geographic repercussions in some cases, leading to irreversible environmental deterioration.

"In the case of the proposed Balambangan mining project, operations are likely to impact the aesthetic value, water quality of the coastal areas and the rich fish stock around the coral reef areas, " Dr Chan lamented.

The current fish landings in the Kudat region represent the highest concentration in Sabah where 100 tonnes of fish landed from TMP are valued at about RM700, 000 daily.

Prolonged quarrying activity will directly affect the fishing industry, as mining effluent will damage both land and aquatic biodiversity.

A 2011 Valuation Study of the proposed TMP by the Coral Triangle Initiative estimated that conservation and ecotourism expansion would bring in a value of RM343mil, exceeding extractive industries of limestone and silica sand mining at only RM100mil (sand mining standing at only RM8.6mil).

The economically viable decision would be to invest in preservation and sustainable tourism.

WWF-Malaysia believes that there must be pressure to protect these sensitive and high heritage value areas as the island can potentially provide income for local communities, fishermen, tourism players and others within and beyond TMP for a period spanning much longer than the mining project.