Alternative Livelihoods for Fisher Folks

The overall economic and culture dependency from fishery is a critical obstacle for the future development of the coastal communities such as Mantanani Islands. To many fishers looking out for a catch, unsustainable fishing methods of the past and general overuse of fish stocks without enough care for recreation contributes to a drastic depletion of the productivity of coral reefs.

On the other hand, there are no other reliable income alternatives for the local communities. Traditions and deep-rooted cultural behaviors are factors in creating serious barriers for development and change.

Based on Socio-economic Assessment executed in January 2013 on Mantanani and the ideas of the Mantanani Master Plan Mantanani Development, the project will address economic, environmental and social issues in building sustainable future livelihood conditions for fisherfolk communities in three identified project sites on Sabah coastline.

Part of this project is the participatory development of conservation strategies for the ecological high valuable breeding grounds around Mantanani Islands and the coastline.

ALFF is led by MENGO Malaysia Environmental NGO association, executed in collaboration with Blue Life, EcoKnights and ReefCheck Malaysia and supported by the Shell Foundation.

Mantanani Agrotourism and Homestay Initiative

In 2012, ten households in Mantanani’s Kampung Padang underwent the registration process for the Malaysian Homestay Program. The renovation of five village houses by Antipodeans Group, Australia brought enormous awareness to this income opportunity within the village.

Accommodation test-run with the Antipodeans Group and application for governmental license reflected the community’s interest in terms of new approaches in tourism activities on Mantanani. Until now, the tourism operations of existing operators are very much isolated from the community: only 8% of households are benefiting from the more than 1,000 tourists visiting the island everday from Kota Kinabalu, shows a study fom 2012

There are various dialogues, awareness and talks on the homestay initiatives and its activities. Since October 2012, there have been increasing interests including additional applications beyond the initial selected ten homes. Despite the wide interests, there have also been cultural and small-pockets of social resistance, land issues and misunderstandings of the homestay concept which will need to be addressed within the community and district authority.

Blue Life is leading the development patiently and will support mainly the participation in the program, training, discussion groups, guidance for improvement of the houses = all in closed collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Environment of Sabah. Blue Life is continuously trying to secure funding and volunteers to support the investment of homestay development including the upgrade of houses, marketing, transportation and activity development.

Multi-trophic Mantanani Greenhouse

In 2012, the ground stone for Greenhouse was laid and first structures built. The construction will be continued to achieve the goal of the Greenhouse which is to deliver fresh vegetables to the school canteen and tourist resorts on Mantanani.

The Greenhouse will bring alternative income sources and opportunities for agrotourism and volunteers work. Aquaculture and hydroponic (aquaponic) as well as the use of different sources for the fresh and seawater in a re-circulated way are part of the multi-trophic character where different resources and nutrients involving specific levels of the same food chain.

The Join Venture with community members will result in the ‘Mantanani Greenhouse Management’ enterprise, and provide job opportunities including the supply of starter gardening kits for interested Mantanani households.

H2O Help to Offer Clean Drinking Water for Mantanani

Supply of high valuable drinking water to the community on Mantanani Islands is the main concern of this project. H2O will suplly bottled clean drinking water for the school and villagers on the island.

H2O started with the great effort of the Meet a Need initiative of a multinational company Jebsen & Jessen in 2012. Within the school ground the structure of the water station was built by 23 volunteer employees hailing from six Southeast Asian countries. They worked with local island volunteers for a strenuous week to complete the water station under the guidance of Blue Life and EcoKnights.

In 2013 the sand filter unit, newly-dugged wells, potable water storage tanks and the water station will be established. The project will generate two jobs for locals who will be responsible for cleaning, storing, filling and maintaining the sand filtration system. Potable water is bottled to minimized waste, indirectly preventing the over usage of water-borne diseases and the other related health problems. Fifty wells will be examined and water samples taken for analysis to detect and determine degree of bacterial contamination.

Coastal communities on islands in particular are constrained by their overall dependency from fishery as the main income source for food security.

Non-existent basic infrastructure services like electricity supply and waste or waste water treatment hamper most initiatives to create new enterprises in such locations. Transportation limitations do not allow for more distant emploers. Job skills, work attitudes, and ethnic and culture traditions are strongly connected with marine natural resources.

Marine resources like fish and seafood are over-challenged; stocks are dwindling and a lot of fishermen catch less than what they used to 5 to 10 years ago. Non-sustainable fishing practices accelerates depletion of the already threatened resource, reefs as the basis of natural recovery is quickly collapsing and pollution with waste or waste water contributes further to the problem.

The communities are threatened in terms of social and economic future; young people are forced to migrate far away where work is more available. Burdened by a range of disadvantages, community development and poverty alleviation are real challenges on the island considering there is already a great gap compared to other rural areas, and much more to urban populations in Malaysia.

Alternative Livelihood for Fisher Folks (ALFF)

Support Needs

10-12 national volunteers UMS Kota Kinabalu (1 week)

Objectives

Rapid Socio-economic Impact Assessment

Outcomes

Household Survey, focus on income situation, perceptions, obstacles and barriers to new job opportunities, awareness on the environmental situation and infrastructure.

Output

Review of the household survey, improvements in the project phase 2 project design, and moving towards the Mantanani Master Plan 2020 as proposed action planning document.

Partner

MENGO Malaysia Environmental NGOs

Reef Check

EcoKnights

National and International Volunteers

Donor

Sarawak Shell Berhad

Duration

2013

Tourism business opportunities for the Mantanani community members are to find in activities like Home-stay (community) tourism, services and supply for tourism enterprises and tourists and jobs created through tourist activities.

Any community based tourism activity have to be part of the overall tourism concept for the island, approved by the Kota Belud District office.

Mantanani is visited by approximately 70,000 day tourists per year, number increasing. Approximately 90% of these tourist are day tourist, staying only for 5 to 7 hour in the island.

There is an expressed interest of many Mantanani community members to rent out rooms or houses to tourists within the Malaysia home-stay program.

Blue Life was supporting the analysis of the opinion, expectations and perceptions of the community members within a master work of student of University College London (UK) in May and June 2012. The finding showed, that there are restrictions and sensitivities to consider. The number of home-stay in the Kampong should be limited to beware the character and originality of Kampong and the lifestyle. As much as possible the families should still live in the house offered as home-stay facility.

In September 2012 we supported the project “Youth for Community Tourism”, in collaboration with the NGO Antipodes, Australia. A group of 22 students support edactively the finishing and equipment of five pre-selected home-stay opportunities on Mantanani. With this home-stay tourism in 10 houses in the village asked in December for the government approval and more interest was coming up.

It is essential that all home-stay facilities have to follow the guidelines and regulation of the Homestay Malaysia Program to avoid resort-like “home-stay” through aggregation of new build houses outside the Kampongs. Homestay, means that the guests are staying together with their hosts and enjoying with respect the lifestyle and the hostility of the community.

Homestay & Agri-Tourism on Mantanani

Support Needs

Donations for renovation materials and repair capacities Land ownership seminars and tourist guide training.

Training and visit of other Homestay facilities in Sabah.

One project assistant 2 years job opportunity.

Five volunteers (min 6 weeks)

Objectives

Creation of sustainable, alternative income sources and non fishery jobs through tourism activities in rural community of Mantanani Island.

Outcomes

New household-related income sources

Awareness on the usage of environmental resources

Social development through contact with different national and international cultures.

Improvement of human capacities through training.

Output

10 further houses comply with Malaysia Homestay standard and approval of licenses.

Improvement of living and sanitary consitions, house structures and infrastructures.

3 local guides for activities such as birding, island walks, kayaking, cultural activities.

Partner

Ministry of Tourism

Antipodeans

National and International Volunteers

Duration

2013-2014

Mantanani Besar is a much desired tourist destination for divers, snorkelers, sun-seekers and bird watchers all the year round.

But, the island is even home to more than a thousand people, mainly from the ethnic group of Bajau, living traditionally from fishing.

“”The Mantanani project shows at best the philosophy of Blue Life – being the Bridge, the Broker and the Catalyst for ecoservices, ecotourism and for coastal communities”"

Blue Life is profiling and implementing on this island a sustainable eco-tourism concept, which is the declared business idea of the new emerging high end resort ‘Sebayan’, as the donor of this project.

Partnering with the community to create non-fisheries alternatives to income, infrastructure, education and different services while consequently increasing the conservation of the marine and terrestrial biodiversity of the fragile environment are the fundamental pillars to build up this eco-tourism destination.

The community is encouraged by Blue Life to work in specialist interests and form working groups to contribute actively to all aspects in the developments and to have a podium to protect their needs and demands.

Blue Life initiated the collaboration among all parties’ specifically active non governmental organisations already on the island, called the ‘Coalition of Mantanani Development’, or CMD. The ambitious goal is to present the Mantanani Development Masterplan 2020. This document will be the guideline for the transformation of the manifold needs and wishes into real interventions, policies and sustainable businesses.

The private tourist operators also started the ‘Round Table’ and exchanged visions, ideas and obstacles of tourism on the island.

A high priority goal is to establish the MICA, Mantanani Island Conservation Area – a partnership with the government, the Coalition of Mantanani Development and the private operators to increase the protection status for the marine environment as well as for birds, animals and forests on and around the islands for the long term.

The Mantanani project shows at best the philosophy of Blue Life – being the Bridge, the Broker and the Catalyst for ecoservices, ecotourism and for coastal communities.

Agriculture activities focus on coconut  palm plantation where no real systematic use of coconut or other material from the palms is yielded. Palm growth is constraint by harsh island weather conditions; pure soil (coral sand), permanent wind, high temperatures and sun activities.

Freshwater is scarce resource and aquaculture is not established in sea or freshwater. There is a need for restocking activities with juveniles of different species in the surrounding overfished and destructed reefs, where a high-level of fishing activities exists.

The transportation of fresh vegetables from mainland is limited by the high costs of transport. Tourist operators do not contribute to the food supply of the villages, catering only to the food demand of their operations yet at the same time draw freshwater from the ground for 90% of its water usage aside from drinking.

Scientific research has evidence that children of the local primary school has shown significant signs of malnutrition, dwarfing and imbalance in protein energy intakes. Daily local diet consists of rice and fish / salted fish. When fishing routine is disrupted by weather patterns and no fresh fish is available, a big propotion of community consumes rice, salted fish and canned meat-product. Fresh vegetable and fruit are not staple, uncommon and hard to come by.

Multi-Trophic Greenhouse

Support Needs

Donations for construction and equipment

Incubator Finance

Solar cell system 100 m2, electrical board

Aquaculture tank and piping systems

5 national volunteers (Malaysia or Indonesia)

5 international volunteers (6 weeks)

Training cource for 5 local people in aquaponic greenhouse techniques

Job Opportunity: 1 Project Manager (National, Bahasa and Ubian essential)

Objectives

Objective 1 – Sustainable vegetable production in a multi-trophic greenhouse to improve food security for malnutrients students in the school canteen, to villagers and tourist.

Objective 2 – Demonstration of the sustainable application of aquatic agriculture systems AAS in remote locations with limited water resources by use of renewable energy, rainwater harvest, aquaponic and seawater distillation.

Objective 3 – Contribute to conservation efforts and reef re-cultivation by supply from seed material.

Objective 4 – Model of franchise out of low cost multi-trophic greenhouse for development countries.

Outcomes 

Improvement of supply with fresh vegetables for 210 students of the local school and around 700 villagers and optional tourists.

Reducing of carbon footprint by avoiding sea transport.

Awareness about use of environmental resource.

Social development and improvement of human capacities, entrepreneurship job skills and experiences.

Output

Foundation of the Mantanani Greenhouse Management Enterprise as service unit of the Joint Venture.

5 job opportunities for locals from Mantanani community.

Linggisan Resort Mantanani, German Embassy Malaysia, BYG Architects Penang, Rotary Penang.

National and International Volunteers, EcoKnight Malaysia.

Duration

2013-2015

This project will serve as a solution to well water contamination from sewage soak-aways in many areas of the two villages on Mantanani Island. The water contamination is a source of potential health issues and threatens the aquifer quality on the island. There is no other freshwater source on the island except for rainwater harvesting.

The remote community on Mantanani is socially and economically disadvantages;livelihoods are based on dwindling fisheries incomes and small jobs, a significant percentage of welfare is provided the local households. The infrastructure is underdeveloped with limited electricity supply, unreliable and costly boat transport, absence of clinic and a high percentage of house without basic sanitation which includes solid waste and waste water collection and treatment.

H2O Help to Offer Safe Drinking Water

Support Needs

Donations for bottle filling installations and equipment

10 national volunteers (Sabah UMS) for Socioeconomic Assessments

2 International Volunteers (3-4 weeks)

Training course for 3 locals in water factory

Objectives

Objectives 1 – To determine the quality of groundwater aquifer by identifying possible groundwater contamination through water sampling and analyze, and link villager’s health to the current quality of drinking water on the island.

Objective 2 – To raise awareness and knowledge of the value of water on small island and issues related to water including nature and capacity of aquifer, opportunities and risks, value of clean drinking water and safe health practices.

Objectives 3 – To establish a water station, where clean drinking water will be distributed via bottled water dispenser system to the community after being filtered by slow rate gravity sand filtration system that is fed by water from aquifer (well) and rainwater.

Outcomes

Improvement of health conditions, prevention of diarrhea and other water born diseases for 250 students and 700 people

Awareness on environmental resources and uses

Social development and improvement of human capacities.

Output

Health check for 50 villagers consisting newborns, children, adults and elderly.

Water quality screening report from 50 open wells.

Establishment of slow sand filtration and storage system, filtered water supply capacity of up to 1000 villagers per day.

2 job opportunities for locals as Water Station managers.

Jebsen & Jessen Ltd, Rotary Club Luyang (Kota Kinabalu), National and International Volunteers, EcoKnight Malaysia.

Duration

2013

Proposed Marine and Bird Conservation Area, Stakeholder discussions and support of an MICA management unit , Supported by: 1 student, (Humboldt University Berlin, Germany)

Ecotourism as a livelihood diversification for communities in Mantanani Islands, Sabah, Malaysia…

This project is supported by: 1 Student in London, University College UK