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Malaysia closes dive sites
29 July 2010
The Malaysian Government has closed twelve key reef sites until the end of October, in a bid to tackle coral degradation.
The closures include the diving destinations of Tioman and Redang islands, due to damage caused by a combination of climate change and tourism.
Large areas of coral have been showing signs of dying off due to a rise in sea temperature, currently some 2°C above normal levels at 31°C.
Closures are not going to affect that, but it is hoped they will help reduce the damage caused by heavy tourism involving beach-goers, snorkellers and divers.
It is not clear whether the Malaysian Government is viewing the relatively short closure period of a few months as a trial for a longer ban.
Appreciable revenue is being sacrificed, given that about a million tourists a year visit the reefs.
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