3R Knowledge Transfer Programme: Telaga Batin Community, Teluk Ketapang
May 2023- May 2025
The 3R knowledge transfer programme with the Telaga Batin community, Kuala Nerus has been successfully launched which scheduled to take place from May 2023- May 2025, under the supervision of Dr. Siti Aisyah Saat and team. This programme aims to provide knowledge and awareness about the 3R programme, provide side income to the community through sale of recycled goods, used cooking oil and electronic waste.
Blue School Program Inspiring Future Stewards of the Ocean
In the spirit of World Ocean Week 2023 (WOW2023), an enlightening educational initiative, the Blue School Program, was successfully conducted on June 8, 2023. This inspiring event brought together the students of Sekolah Kebangsaan Batu Rakit under the theme “Our Ocean, Our Future.” Jointly organized by Petronas Kertih Port in collaboration with the Sea Turtle Research Unit (SEATRU), the program aimed to cultivate awareness among school students about the paramount importance of safeguarding our oceans and their delicate ecosystems to preserve the environment necessary. Led by Associate Professor Dr Mohd Uzair Rusli, the Sea Turtle Research Unit played a pivotal role in orchestrating this impactful event. Through engaging activities and interactive sessions, the Blue School Program provided students with a unique opportunity to explore and learn about marine life, conservation practices, and the interdependence between human actions and the health of our oceans. The program offered valuable insights and instilled a sense of responsibility among the young participants to become stewards of the sea. The chosen theme, “Our Ocean, Our Future,” served as a reminder that the well-being of our oceans directly impacts the well-being of our planet and future generations. By nurturing this understanding at a young age, the Blue School Program aspired to spark a lifelong commitment to environmental conservation among the students.
INOS and DoFM Quest for a Better Pulau Kapas Marine Park
Pulau Kapas, a small island near Kuala Terengganu, is a serene sanctuary for nature lovers and adventure seekers in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. With its white sandy beaches and thick palm trees, it offers a laid-back environment and a “home away from home” vibe in a typical Malay village setting.
Snorkelling and diving are popular activities near the western shore’s shallow coral reefs, where tourists can see a variety of fish species and sea turtles. The island also has several good diving locations, including a World War II Japanese shipwreck, which has turned into an underwater “forest’ full of corals and fish.
The Institute of Oceanography and Environment (INOS) and the Department of Fisheries Malaysia (DoFM) are collaborating to revitalise the Pulau Kapas Marine Park. This collaborative project aims to preserve coral reefs’ ecological and economic value. To that end, the INOS and DoFM have comprehensively researched the park’s habitats and resources, culminating in a field survey since July 2022.
Prof. Dr Zainudin Bachok coordinated the study, which employed three approaches to collect data: SCUBA diving surveys, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) surveys of shallow reef areas, and sound mapping of the deeper bottom. A GIS technique was used to assess and arrange the data, which included information on the structure, shape, and distribution of corals and associated species.
Marine awareness campaign needs to persist, should be everyone’s responsibility
Thursday, 08/06/2023
Efforts taken to save the oceans can be seen as still being at a low level. Although the world took the initiative to introduce the World Oceans Day on 8 June more than 30 years ago in conjunction with the Earth Summit in Rio de Jeneiro, the action has not led to significant impacts.
The reality is that many among the society especially in Malaysia are still taking lightly the importance of environmental conservation that also includes ocean health maintenance.
This group has failed to realize the oceans’ valuable and sustainable contributions to human lives, such as the supply of oxygen for the respiratory system, provision of sufficient seafood catch, and help with weather and climate stability.
The oceans have become polluted as a consequence of environmental conservation negligence, such as unsystematic solid waste disposal, inefficient toxic waste management, throwing of rubbish into rivers. Indirectly this has had an effect on marine lives that see rubbish in the oceans as their food.
In addition, a serious plastic pollution problem in the oceans has also led to the dangerous microplastics. Microplastics are formed from small micro-sized particles that are separated, and they remain in the oceans as well as in marine animals such as fishes. Not only that, humans that have eaten these fishes have also eaten the microplastics, which may interfere with their health depending on the amount eaten.
Studies have shown that about 80 percent of the plastic in the oceans have come from land, where they have been taken by the rivers and streams to the oceans. Since the oceans are large and have no physical boundaries, it is currently estimated that between 15 and 51 trillion pieces of plastics are on the surface and bed of the world’s oceans.
According to a microplastic researcher from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), Associate Professor Dr. Yusof Shuaib Ibrahim, humans received about 5 grams of microplastics within a period of one week, and it is equivalent to a piece of a credit card. This discovery is worrying!
The failure of the World Oceans Day campaign has also been proven with the presence of reports on turtle deaths every day. Recently, a news has gone viral about a turtle found dead by passers by at Pandak Beach, Chendering, Terengganu, due to inhuman acts. The turtle was discovered with its shell broken as a result of strong hits and its feet tied up. This incidence has further strengthened the conclusion that the society has not understood the connection between the oceans and humans.
In conjunction with the World Oceans Day celebration, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu through the Institute of Oceanography and Environment (INOS) has also organized several activities to support the efforts to protect the oceans and the marine ecosystem. Among the activities organized were the marine gallery exhibition in conjunction with the INOS Open Day, Beach Clean Up programme, Puppet Story Telling, Blue School Project, Bring Our Turtles Back, Sea Turtle Conservation Programme and others.
Hence, all parties are called to work together hand in hand in an effort to increase the awareness of the importance of environmental conservation, especially the oceans for the sake of the well-being of our lives.
UMT FOCUSES ON RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE ASSIMILATION TO ENSURE NATION’S FOOD SECURITY (Establishment of Malaysia Shellfish Society and launch of Food Sustainability and Security: An International Conference (FUSE20223)
Wednesday, 11/10/2023
In general, the world has been undergoing a phase of human population increase, and according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), the country’s population has experienced an increase of 2.1 percent from the total of 32.7 million in 2022.
The increae in world’s population is expected to provide an impact towards food demand, and it can be concluded that the higher the population, the higher the demand for food supply.
The scenario has already been discussed earlier by one of the public universities in the east coast, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), which focuses on research in the field of fisheries and aquaculture. Its Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP) has been officially recognized as a Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE) for Food Food under the research theme of Sustainable Shellfish Aquaculture.
Vice Chancellor Professor Dato’ Dr. Mazlan Abd Ghaffar said UMT’s role is big in that it carries out research to provide plans and consultation services to assist the government in facing the challenges of food security, one of the world’s issues nowadays.
“We urge all parties, be they researchers, industry players, farm operators, or NGOs, to take on the government’s call to help solve the issues of food security in the country specifically and the world in general,” said Professor Mazlan in his speech during the opening ceremony of the Food Sustainability and Security: An International Conference (FUSE20223) recently organized by UMT.
The establishment of the Malaysian Shellfish Soceity (MSS) is timely in light of the issues regarding the sustainability of crustacean supplies in the region, he added.
“UMT will continue with this kind of initiative to support the effort of ensuring the security of aquatic-based food in line with the country’s needs,” Professor Mazlan said.
The conference with the theme “Innovations in Aquaculture and Agro Food” was attended by 60 participants, some of which hailed from nine countries and others were representatives from the Department of Fisheries and food and farming industries.In addition, another focus of the discussion was regarding the initiative to reduce the cost of production and the effort to reduce the cost of the country’s food sales. This has received support from international institutions who are currently UMT’s collaborative partners in the United Kingdom and Canada.
UMT SIGNED A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF MARINE RESEARCH AND RENEWED MOU WITH NATIONAL SUN-YAT SEN UNIVERSITY
Thursday, 07/12/2023
UMT signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Academy of Marine Research (NAMR) and renewed MoU with Taiwan’s National Sun Yat-Sen University on 1 November, signifying both parties’ intention to strengthen the relationship and work together in pursuit of excellence in academic, research innovation, and global engagement. UMT Vice Chancellor Professor Dato’ Dr Mazlan Abd Ghaffar led the UMT delegates to the agreement signing.
Through the signed MOU, both institutions will collaborate in various areas including mobility programmes that can facilitate the exchange of students, faculty, and researchers between both institutions, providing them with invaluable exposure to different academic environments and cultures.
Moreover, researchers from the two institutions will have the opportunity to work together on joint research activities and cutting-edge research projects to address food security challenges. The collaboration will also enable the joint use of laboratories, libraries, and other academic resources, thus optimizing the benefits for both parties. Both institutions can also enhance the capacity building of respective students, researchers, and communities in addressing food security challenges through training programmes, workshops, and seminars.
UMT widens its marine conservation campaign
Sunday, 09/07/2023
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) has recently organized a one-day carnival in an effort to promote the ocean conservation campaign.
The event was a sign of support from the institution popularly known as the marine university for the World Oceans Day celebrated globally every 8 June.
UMT continuously promotes the conservation of ocean resource conservation efforts and fills its calendar with activities that aim to increase the awareness of the importance of ocean conservation among every segmen of the society.
UMT’s Institute of Oceanography and Environment (INOS) Prof. Ts. Dr. Mohd Fadzil Mohd Akhir said the institute has been entrusted with devising strategies and outlining the activities that lean towards ocean conservation campaign.
“Several campaigns have been organized for the past ten years, and we noticed that the society has begun to realize the importance of environmental conservation.
“The effort must be continued for the awareness to remain in the people’s hearts. It is important that we start introducing this to kindergarten and primary school pupils to mould them to become agents that disseminate information on ocean conservation in the future.
The theme for the carnival was Planet Ocean: Time to Change, chosen in line with the climate change occurring in the ocean and on land lately.
“We hope more agencies and NGOs will collaborate with UMT in promoting activities related to the awareness of the importance of the ocean at the national and global levels.
He said various activities were specially arranged for the community around Kuala Nerus to join to make the event a success.
“We organized several effects, including a beach cleanup, an exhibition with the community, sand castle building competition, beach volleyball tournament, colouring contest for children, indoor rowing competition, ship building from reusable material competition, and WOW ship.”
Meanwhile, UMT Vice Chancellor Prof. Dato’ Dr. Mazlan Abd Ghaffar urged all parties to support UMT’s effort in environmental conservation.
“UMT takes the initiative to educate and make the people realize the importance of ocean conservation, befitting its status as a university focusing on marine science and s aquatic resources.
“Melalui program seperti ini ia memberi peluang kepada masyarakat untuk terlibat secara langsung bersama-sama UMT dalam usaha memulihara alam sekitar dan menyemai semangat untuk melindungi biodiversiti marin demi kehidupan yang lebih baik”. Katanya.
“This sort of programme gives the society an opportunity to be directly involved with UMT to conserve the environment and instill the motivation to protect the marine biodiversity for a better life,” he said.
Three public universities co-organize programme for fishermen community
Friday, 17/02/2023
The existence of universities is not only for the purpose of producing knowledgeable youths but also contributing to the local community.
Looking at the local community’s needs, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), in collaboration with Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) and Univesiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), has taken the initiative to approach the local community, who are mostly fishermen and from the B40 group.
The programme organized by the three universities in the form of a strategic collaboration was aimed at providing information about academic, health, epidemics, farming, and opportunities for income generation through knowledge sharing programmes.
In line with the university for society (U4S) goal, the programme “Jom Carre Komuniti Nelayan” (Let’s Care about the Fishermen Community) brought together the community and the universities and bridged the gap between academia and the local fishing community.
UMT Vice Chancellor Prof. Dato’ Dr. Mazlan Abd Ghaffar said the two-pronged programme fulfilled the Ministry of Higher Education’s aspiration to help local communities and served as a platform for disseminating knowledge about environmental conservation.
“As urged by the Ministry of Higher Education, each innovative product developed by universities needs to be introduced to stakeholders that include students, communities, and industries.
“In line with UMT’s mission of “Generating Knowledge for the Society’s Wellbeing and Environmental Sustainability,” the university is concerned with issues faced by fishermen, such as decreased catch size, smaller fish sizes, a change in fish species along the coastlines, less effective fishing equipment, and lack of fishing hotspots.
“Therefore, UMT has taken the initiative to overcome the issues by lending its expertise in terms of building fish aggregating devices and artificial reefs to replace destroyed habitats and establish new ones for fishery resources, identifying fishing hotspots by species and sizes using mapping technology, and modifying fishing equipment in terms of size and form,” he said.
He added UMT is committed to transforming the lives of the fishermen by designing modern fishing boats that meet the required specifications and can provide greater impact to the socioeconomic development of the fishermen and the sustainability of the country’s fishery industry.
Various activities were organized, including talks on fisheries and farming, a motivational talk for students, games for adults and children, colouring and drawing contest for children, sales booths, exhibition and free medical checkup.
In addition, the agenda of normalizing a healthy lifestyle was also implemented by offering services related to health and food selection based on balance diet.
The programme drew the attention of Director General of Higher Education Dato’ Professor Dr. Husaini Omar, who has made time to officiate the programme.
