Nearly all of Malaysia’s Marine Protected Areas overlap with oil and gas concessions, a new report warns, highlighting risks to biodiversity hotspots.
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s most ecologically significant marine environments are facing growing pressure from offshore oil and gas development, with a new report alleging that nearly all of the country’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) overlap with active or proposed fossil fuel concessions.
The study, titled Reefs at Risk: Mapping Fossil Fuel Threats to Sensitive Marine Environments in Malaysia, was released today in conjunction with World Oceans Day and Coral Triangle Day by environmental watchdog RimbaWatch, with technical support from SkyTruth.
Described as the first analysis of its kind in Malaysia, the report maps the overlap between offshore oil and gas blocks and Sensitive Marine Environments (SMEs), highlighting potential conservation challenges in some of the world’s richest marine ecosystems.
RimbaWatch Director Adam Farhan said the findings are particularly significant given Malaysia’s location within globally recognised biodiversity hotspots.
“Malaysia sits within the Coral Triangle and the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion, areas recognised for extraordinary marine biodiversity.
“These ecosystems support fisheries, coastal protection, food security and tourism, but are increasingly being fragmented by fossil fuel exploration and extraction,” he said.
According to the report, approximately 38.5% of Malaysia’s maritime territory, covering nearly 20 million hectares, falls within sensitive marine environments.
These include Marine Protected Areas, Important Marine and Coastal Areas (IMCAs), Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs), Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs), and coral reef ecosystems.
However, only 5.3% of Malaysia’s waters currently receive formal protection.
The study found that 87% of all identified sensitive marine environments overlap with oil and gas concessions. The overlap includes 97% of Marine Protected Areas, 88% of IMCAs, 96% of ISRAs and 97% of Malaysia’s portion of the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion.
Researchers also identified extensive existing oil and gas infrastructure within or near these areas, including 305 wells, 64 offshore platforms and 822 kilometres of pipelines.
The report estimates that oil and gas concessions overlap with around 40% of Malaysia’s mapped shallow coral reefs, potentially exposing them to risks associated with seismic surveys, drilling activities, oil spills, sedimentation and increased vessel traffic.
Among the areas highlighted are the reefs surrounding Sipadan Island, Mabul Island and Kapalai in Teluk Darvel Bay, as well as Tun Mustapha Park, Luconia Shoals National Park, Sugud Islands Marine Conservation Area and Turtle Islands Heritage Protected Area.
Satellite monitoring data from SkyTruth’s Cerulean oil slick detection platform recorded 161 oil slick incidents within sensitive marine environments between January 2023 and December 2025, affecting an estimated 40,505 hectares of marine areas.
Adam argued that Malaysia’s current regulatory framework does not sufficiently restrict fossil fuel development within environmentally sensitive zones.
“It is deeply concerning that Malaysia’s marine governance and environmental laws do not bar or discourage oil and gas production in Sensitive Marine Environments, including Marine Protected Areas,” he said.
He cited Luconia Shoals National Park in Sarawak, which was gazetted as a totally protected area in 2018, as an example of conservation and industrial activities existing within the same landscape.
The report recommends several measures, including expanding marine protected areas, establishing exclusion zones for oil and gas activities within and around protected waters, strengthening financial restrictions on fossil fuel projects in biodiversity-rich regions, and enhancing international conservation standards to exclude extractive industries from certified protected sites.
RimbaWatch said stronger legal protections and enforcement mechanisms are needed if marine conservation objectives are to be effectively balanced against ongoing industrial development in Malaysia’s waters.
