CHANGES IN SMALL ISLANDS OF TOURIST DESTINATION CASE STUDY: TURTLE ISLANDS PARK, SANDAKAN, SABAH

Abstract

Tourists are fascinated with small islands trip for many purposes. In addition to their natural beauties the islands may be calm, isolated area and pollution free from mainland. Most of the small islands in Sabah, Malaysia have been promoted to tourists as diving, snorkeling, swimming and sun bathing destination. However, the main tourist attraction for Turtle Islands Park (TIP) is for turtle landings and laying their eggs. It is located 40 km north of Sandakan and are gazzeted as a park in 1977 under the jurisdiction of Sabah Parks. Beach erosion is one of the serious problems in TIP. It is a major threat to Sabah Parks’s shore-based facilities and
turtle nesting. This study aimed to identify the shoreline changes and the most dynamic part of the two islands in TIP. Aerial photos in 1970 and 1996 were collected from various departments and merged to examine the shape of the islands. Field trips in February and June 2011 were conducted to record the coordinates of the shoreline and vegetation areas by using Global Position System. The aerial photos and field data were analyzed using ArcGIS version 9.3 software. Results show that major changes of the island have occurred since 1970. Most of the original trees seen on aerial photos in 1970 were gone and the coastal vegetation identified during the field trip was new and small in size. Severe erosion occurs within the Selingaan Island while large amount of sediment loss in the southern part of the Gulisaan Island is evidenced that erosion contributes to reduce the area of nesting ground. During the field trip, there was no sign of new beach erosion in Selingaan but southern part of Gulisaan Island. The impact of the monsoons season to the beach erosion is not clear because the eroded area is not concentrated in one direction only. Actions have been taken by Sabah Parks to protect the islands by setting up the reef balls and stone revetment in Selingaan Island. However, it is only effective to one side of the island while erosion continuously occurs on other side of the island. Further actions are needed to maintain the beach that is highly important for the turtles, which is playing an important role as tourist attraction.