Deputy agriculture and food industries minister Ahmad Hamzah said the islands, just one nautical mile off the coast, would be gazetted under the Fisheries Act 1985 to ensure the sustainability of marine biodiversity in the area.

“The state fisheries department has been conducting a study since 2018 and has found 81 species of hard corals and 19 species of colourful soft corals of the Gorgonian type in the area,” he told reporters after a visit to Pulau Undan here today.

Also present were the state executive councillor for agriculture, livestock, entrepreneur development and cooperatives Norhizam Hassan Baktee, ministry secretary-general Haslina Abdul Hamid and Fisheries Malaysia director-general Ahmad Tarmidzi Ramly.

Ahmad said the move to gazette the islands as a marine park was to preserve and conserve the ecosystem in the area as coral reefs protect juvenile marine life which leads to the propagation of marine population.

He said the unique marine treasures would encourage ecotourism activities such as diving and snorkelling, which would benefit the economy of the local community involved in the tourism industry.

He added that an allocation of RM110,000 was channelled to the state fisheries department to carry out, among others, habitat monitoring activities and work related to rehabilitation and coral restoration as well as programmes to minimise threats to marine life on the three islands.