Tun Sakaran Marine Park, also known as Semporna Islands Park, is a marine park located off the east coast of

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. It consists of the

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

s of Bodgaya, Boheydulang, Sebangkat, and Salakan, the sand

cay A cay ( ), also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, including in the Caribbean and on the Great ...

s of Maiga, Sibuan, and Mantabuan, and the patch

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

s of Church and Kapikan. In 2004, the park became the seventh gazetted area under

Sabah Parks Sabah Parks ( ms, Taman-Taman Sabah) is a conservation-based statutory body established in 1964 with the purpose of conserving the scenic, scientific and historic heritage of the state of Sabah, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. The organisation ...

with a total area of 350 km². There are approximately 2,000 people living within the park, most of whom consist of the nomadic Bajau Laut (Sea Gypsies) people, who live in

stilt house Stilt houses (also called pile dwellings or lake dwellings) are houses raised on stilts (or piles) over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding; they also keep out vermin. The ...

s and

houseboat A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a home. Most houseboats are not motorized as they are usually moored or kept stationary at a fixed point, and often tethered to land to provide utilities. How ...

s in and around the marine park.Tun Sakaran Marine Park
Sabah, Malaysia. To this day, out of the eight islands, there is only one island ( Sebangkat) that has an owner and legal grant holder after the gazetting in 2004.

History

Bodgaya was first gazetted in 1933 as a forest reserve, while Boheydulang as a bird sanctuary. Proposals to establish a state park was first made in 1977. Later in 1998, a collaboration, known as the Semporna Islands Project, between the

Marine Conservation Society The Marine Conservation Society is a UK based not-for-profit organization working with businesses, governments and communities to clean and protect the oceans. Founded in 1983, the group claims to be working towards "cleaner, better-protected, h ...

(MCS),

, WWF Malaysia and Nature Link took place. It was funded by the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

under its global environment budget line. Finally in 2004 the islands were gazetted as a state park by Sabah Parks.

References

External links

Sibuan Island of Tun Sakaran Marine Park

Semporna Islands Project

Sabah Parks
National parks of Malaysia Protected areas established in 2004 Protected areas of Sabah Marine parks of Malaysia {{Sabah-geo-stub