A vast marine protected area spanning more than 50 islands off the north coast of Sabah, Malaysia.
Tun Mustapha Marine Park
Tun Mustapha Marine Park is a large marine protected area located off the north coast of Sabah, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. Encompassing more than fifty islands and islets spread across the Kudat, Pitas, and Kota Marudu districts, it is the second largest gazetted marine park in Malaysia after the Luconia Shoals in neighbouring Sarawak. The park is managed as a multi-zoned protected landscape, balancing conservation, community use, and commercial fishing interests across its waters, islands, and coastal settlements.
The marine park holds significant ecological value, hosting diverse coral ecosystems, marine megafauna such as dolphins, sea turtles, and mobula rays, and important turtle nesting sites along both island and mainland shores. Tens of thousands of people, drawn from a mix of local Sabah and Filipino indigenous communities, continue to rely on the marine park for their livelihoods, making it both an ecological and socio-cultural site of regional importance.
The park's establishment in 2016 marked the culmination of more than a decade of planning, assessment, and stakeholder engagement, linking Sabah's marine conservation efforts to broader regional initiatives such as the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion Programme and the Coral Triangle Initiative. Today, it stands as a key reference point in Malaysia's network of marine protected areas and in regional efforts to safeguard coral reef and coastal biodiversity in the heart of the Coral Triangle.
