Abstract—This paper discusses sources of marine pollution in Malaysia and examines existing provisions under the law relevant to the control of such pollution. Being a maritime nation as well as one of the top biodiversity-rich countries in the world, it is important for Malaysia to give its full commitment in conserving her mega-diverse ecosystems, including that of the richly endowed seas. At present, the well being of Malaysia’s marine biodiversity is facing increasing threat from various sources, notably that of land-based and vessel-based pollution. Malaysia takes pollution issue seriously, and joins other key maritime nations in enhancing her legal regime in dealing with marine pollution. This paper seeks to highlight Malaysia’s continuous effort towards marine pollution control through the application of both domestic and international law. Significantly, such effort can be used as a reference by other maritime nations for the purpose of collective marine environmental protection and biodiversity conservation. Index Terms—Environmental law, Marine biodiversity, Marine pollution, Marine pollution law, Pollution control. I. INTRODUCTION Malaysia is geographically divided into two parts, Peninsula Malaysia or West Malaysia, and East Malaysia, with a total coastline of 4800 km. Peninsula Malaysia is bounded by seas on all sides except in the north where it is connected to the Asian mainland via Thailand. Both West and East Malaysia are separated by the South China Sea, while the west coast of West Malaysia is bordered by the Straits of Malacca with Andaman Sea to the north and Java Sea to the south. From the perspective of biodiversity, Malaysia has one of the largest continental shelf areas and is considered to contain the greatest species diversity of marine life in the world. These rich marine resources are important to Malaysia’s socio-economic development. Apart from that, the marine environment contains living systems that support a multitude of life and perform important ecological functions [1]. Therefore it is pertinent that the marine biological diversity be conserved and protected. Thus, the quality of the marine water of Malaysia plays an important role in the conservation of marine resources. Inevitably, any sources of pollution would cause a big threat to these resources. Over the years, Malaysia’s marine environment continues to face serious pressure particularly due to pollution. Manuscript received November 18, 2011; revised November 30, 2011. Maizatun Mustafa is with the Legal Practice Department, Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws, International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Gombak 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia(e-mail: maizatun@iium.edu.my). Mariani Ariffin is with the Department of Environmental Management, Faculty of Environmental Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang Selangor Malaysia (e-mail: mariani@env.upm.edu.my). Pollution from land-based sources, mainly as consequences of urbanization and industrialization along the coastal areas of Malaysia, has been identified as the major contributors towards marine pollution [2]. Another source of marine pollution is that of vessel-based. By virtue of its geographical location, Malaysia is strategically located at the conjunction of the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea, which serve as a major commercial shipping route between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The Straits of Malacca is most susceptible to vessel-based marine pollution such as oil and grease especially in recent years due to the heavy volume of shipping that uses it [2]. In the year 2010 alone, more than 75000 vessels have passed through the Straits [3]. Thus, vessels discharges such as tank cleaning, deballasting, bilging and bunkering are the most significant activities contributing to the oil and grease in the marine water. With the expansion of world trade, the traffic volume was expected to increase rapidly which would significantly increase the risk of vessels accidents and marine pollution. By nature, oil is toxic to marine life. If oil spill reaches the shoreline, it interacts with sediments, vegetation, and habitats of wildlife and humans, causing erosion and contamination. Oil spill could remain for years in the sediment and marine environment, causing long-term effects to the marine biodiversity. It is important for Malaysia to address the threats posed by the land-based and vessel-based pollution to ensure the sustainability of marine biodiversity [4]. For Malaysia and other maritime countries, issues relating to the conservation of marine biodiversity are very wide and complex. They include, among others, preservation of biological productivity, clean surface of the ocean, and preservation of food resources. Since pollution has been identified to be one of the major threats to marine environment, the control of marine pollution is therefore a prerequisite in the conservation of marine ecosystem. According to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, pollution of the marine means “the introduction by man, directly or indirectly, substances or energy into the marine environment (including estuaries) which results or is likely to result in such deleterious effects as harm to living resources and marine life, hazard to human health, hindrance to marine activities including fishing and other legitimate uses of the sea, impairment of quality for use of sea water and reduction of amenities”. The discharge of pollutants into the marine environment must therefore be controlled effectively as they are hazardous to marine life, the marine ecosystem and human health. In this regard, law can be considered as an important means of controlling pollution, and have been relied on by Malaysia in dealing with marine pollution. Protection of Marine Biodiversity from Pollution: Legal Strategies in Malaysia Maizatun Mustafa and Mariani Ariffin International Journal of Bioscience, Biochemistry and Bioinformatics, Vol. 1, No. 4, November 2011 276