Reef Check Malaysia

Happy World Reef Awareness Day! Let's help support our reefs together ❤️‍🩹

We're bringing Kod Blue 2026 to Kampung Mukut, Tioman Island and it's happening on Saturday, 19 September 2026!

Join us for a day of beach/underwater cleanups and a food market by the community! Sign up to secure your spot to join us : https://rzp.io/rzp/kodblue2026

Registration fee:
Beach cleanup - RM20
Underwater cleanup - RM300

See you there! 👋🏼

Huge thanks to Next1de for adopting 2 Fragments of Life through the Adopt seKarang programme! The coral fragments were adopted on behalf of NexT1DE and they have been safely tagged on our Coral Nursery Table in Larapan Island.

We hope they continue to grow healthily 🪸

Your contribution not only help to support the conservation of our marine ecosystem but also the work of our CMCGs.

You can now adopt a coral in Redang or Semporna! Once you’ve chosen your coral's location, our amazing Community Marine Conservation Groups (CMCGs) will plant it for you and keep you updated as it grows and thrives.

Visit our 'Adopt seKarang' page on our website to learn more and start your coral adoption journey today (link in bio 🔗)

Adopt one for you or for your loved ones and help our reefs and community to thrive 💙

We are saddened by the recent discovery of fish bombing activity at our reef rehabilitation site in Selakan. Years of hard work and careful restoration were destroyed in seconds.

However, we are grateful for the prompt action taken by the State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister and Sabah Parks on this matter. We are also thankful to everyone who helped raise awareness by sharing, commenting, and speaking about this incident. 🤍

We hope stern action will be taken to ensure this destructive practice is stopped and prevented from happening again in the future. We remain committed to supporting both our marine ecosystems and local community marine conservation groups in protecting their homes.

We completed 'Bengkel Pelan Pengurusan Biodiversiti Pulau Bidong' which was held in collaboration with Terengganu State Parks and last week in Terengganu.

The workshop gathered representatives from various Terengganu state agencies to explore ways to achieve participatory, integrated, and sustainable management of our islands. Discussions ranged from marine resource management to addressing challenges and identifying practical solutions.

We’re sincerely grateful for the active and meaningful participation from everyone involved. Your insights and contributions played an important role in highlighting key challenges and shaping possible pathways forward.

A heartfelt thank you to all who shared their time, ideas, and commitment. Together, we are making meaningful progress towards a more sustainable future for Terengganu’s marine and island ecosystems.

We also look forward to more states joining this important conversation on sustainable marine and island management.

The project is supported by Oceans 5.

A sad day for our Selakan rehabilitation site.

It was discovered that two fish bomb craters destroyed at least 10 reef stars and the corals that have been growing on them for the past two years.

Based on the craters and coral fragments found around the site, it is believed that the incident happened yesterday or two days ago, either early in the morning or during sunset.

The Selakan Marine Conservation Group's Manager, Ulas Musedi, expressed his sadness at seeing the corals that they had planted and cared for over the past two years destroyed in the blink of an eye. Even though the has been regularly patrolling the area, these fish bombers still managed to find a way.

We urge everyone to report fish bombing activities to the relevant authorities if you witness them. Please also avoid supporting this activity by buying fish known to be obtained through fish bombing.

Watching our reefs recover takes years, but destruction can happen in an instant. Our reefs need all of us to protect them.

The work to draft the Community Protocol continues in Kampung Larapan 💙

In April, our team carried out 3 engagement sessions with the community:

1️⃣ A community engagement session during Hari Raya to reintroduce the Jawatankuasa Protokol Komuniti Pulau Larapan (JPKPL) and share the objectives of the Community Protocol, while hearing concerns from villagers.

2️⃣ JPKPL, with support from Reef Check Malaysia, held their first Community Protocol drafting workshop with guidance from Tuan Galus Ahtoi and representatives from WWF-Malaysia. Discussions covered marine resource protection, outsider entry, development activities, and forest encroachment, alongside island visits, community-led mapping exercise to identify key resource areas and locations of houses based on local knowledge, and a traditional “mengarang” activity.

JPKPL members even had the chance to engage with an external fisher to remind him that the area falls under community waters, where access to resources requires permission from the village head.

3️⃣ A knowledge exchange session was also held with the Berungus Community Protocol team, supported by WWF-Malaysia and the Berungus community. The session included sharing of the CP progress in Larapan and a presentation from Puan Samarlin on how Berungus CP came about. Key aspects shared included the importance of resource mapping, setting clear rules for resource use, requiring permission for outsider entry, and documenting traditional practices as part of the protocol which then allowed the participants to ask related questions.

These sessions continue to strengthen community knowledge and contribute to the next draft of the Community Protocol.

This project is part of community project with Kg Larapan Hujung community, a grant recipient of the Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature Grants Programme - OCEAN, funded by UK International Development.

If we can feel the heat, so can our corals!

When faced with prolonged increased temperatures, our corals are vulnerable to bleaching. A coral bleaching event is predicted to happen again this year. We are currently at the “Warning” stage in Sabah, where there is a risk of possible bleaching.

As part of our collaborative effort with partners in Sabah, find out all you need to know about coral bleaching here. If you see corals bleaching in Sabah, remember to report it to us by scanning the QR code provided.

All information and reports will be compiled and shared with the Sabah Coral Bleaching Taskforce/Committee so appropriate action can be taken based on the severity and progression of the bleaching. Every help counts 🤝

Our reefs have been in a constant battle against CoTs this year.

Our team in Semporna, together with CMCGs from Selakan, Larapan, and Kunak Darvel, were mobilised to remove these coral predators from Tabawan Island.

A total of 558 CoTs were removed during the first dive, while 476 CoTs were removed during the second dive, bringing the total number removed to 1,034 individuals.

Observations during the activity indicated that CoTS were particularly abundant at depths of approximately 5 meters and deeper.

We are currently engaging with relevant government agencies and partners to coordinate a larger-scale cleanup effort for CoTs, including the mobilization of teams and resources.

If you see too many Crown-of-Thorns on your next dive, report it to us!

By 2050, more plastic will be in the ocean than fish.

Join us this International Coastal Cleanup day and let's take one step to prevent this from happening together!

Sign up to volunteer or register your cleanup here: https://tr.ee/iccmy2026

If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].