The Roles of Eco-Entrepreneurs in Conserving Common Pool Resources: Wildlife and Natural Areas in Sipadan Island

Abstract

"With the Government's decision to vacate the island, Sipadan is currently undergoing the process of being gazetted as a Marine Park and later to be listed as World Heritage Site under UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme. Public debates before the decision were incomplete. The operators were portrayed in mass media as the bad guys who exploited and destroyed Sipadan's common pool resource that is the pristine environment and its terrestrial-marine biodiversity. This oversimplified generalization underestimated one very important fact. The tour (diving) operators were also genuinely concern with what happened to the island. In fact, they had taken many drastic measures (past and present) for conservation. They have very strong incentive to do so their business survival it at stake which is very much dependence on pristine nature and unique biodiversity of Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai. Examples of such eco-entrepreneurs are Datuk Douglas Primus, Datuk Clement Lee, Robert Loh, Ken Pan, Abdillah family and others. They ventured into the business out of their passion for recreational diving as well as their deep concern for the conservation of marine marvel. But when Sipadan's fame grew, everyone tried to grab a slice of the magical islands for quick cash. So back then, operators had free rein of the island. Many firms ( some illegal operators ) operating from the neighboring islands or from Tawau, Semporna and Lahad Datu usually free ride, add to the seasonal overcrowding making enforcement of quota of visitors very difficult. No one could ask them to leave because no one had the jurisdiction to do so. The swelling visitor numbers and ensuing need for supporting facilities led to environmental strain. Sipadan was simply being loved to death or put simply, become the victim of the tragedy of a common. The government's responded by deciding to vacate the island. Six eco- entrepreneurs located on the island - Borneo Divers, Pulau Sipadan Resort, Sipadan Dive Centre, Syarikat Ramai Benar , Borneo Sea Adventures and PB Borneo Safari and Abdillah Sipadan Paradise were ordered to relocate to the neighboring islands of Mabul and Kapalai. They were not consulted, not offered any compensation and not given ample time to relocate. The reason behind the eviction was to conserve Sipadan's biodiversity. This paper is based on the benefit of hind-sight. We employed rapid appraisal techniques in examine the roles and efforts taken by the eco-entrepreneurs in the past and present towards the conservation of Sipadan (and the neighboring Mabul and Kapalai islands). Our initial findings are; (i) the divers and diving operators helped to deter illegal and destructive fish bombing; (ii) they contributed in slowing down the extinction process of endangered turtle species by pooling resources to buy turtle nests from the traditional collectors."