Protecting coasts and oceans has multiple benefits for the environment, economy, society and culture, and in line with that, Malaysia is working hard to increase its biodiversity-rich coastal and marine protected areas (MPAs) by 2025. To date, Malaysia has protected only 5% of its ocean area, but the goal is to double that to protect at least 10% of its total land and marine areas, in line with the National Biodiversity Policy and the international Convention on Biological Diversity to which Malaysia is signatory. So how do we get there? What roles do traditional knowledge and culture play in all of this? We discuss this and more with Dr Jarina Mohd Jani, a Biocultural Conservationist at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, and Wong Siew Lyn, the co-founder of Macaranga, who has written a host of articles on these very topics, under Macaranga's #Seaworld series.

Image Credit: Department of Fisheries Malaysia