Proceedings of International Conference on Tourism Development, February 2013 121 Malaysia Island Development At The Marine Park: Impact To The Coral Reef Muhamad Ferdhaus Sazali , Mohd Rezza Petra Azlan and Badaruddin Mohamed Sustainable Tourism Research Cluster, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, MALAYSIA Island tourism is one of the fastest growth sectors in Malaysia. Islands in Malaysia are famous around the globe with its beautiful nature, culture and sparkling blue seawater. Malaysia boasts some of the most beautiful islands. An amazing number of these natural treasures lay nestled in tranquil bays and coves. Beneath the aquamarine waters lies a fascinating world of coral and marine life waiting to be discovered. Island development in Malaysia started to be developing tremendously due to the high number of tourist arrival to the island. Many hotel, resort and chalet had been built by the investor and the government agencies. Natural areas were explored when tourism development had been carried out. These physical developments come with tourism activities which led to the some impacts and challenges to the coral reef. The main objective of this paper is to examine the environmental impact of island development in Malaysia focus on the coral reef and to find which activities of development affecting coral communities. This preliminary study had been conducted by collecting all the possible secondary data from various sources like Department of Marine Park, Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia (JUPEM) and Ministry of Tourism Malaysia. This pilot study is crucial for first step of conservation action and can benefits all parties in tourism sector, from hosts to tourists, authority body, researchers and many more. Key words: island tourism, development, impact, environment, Malaysia Introduction According to the Department of Survey and Mapping, Malaysia, there are a total of 878 islands and 510 offshore geographical features in Malaysia (JUPEM, 2011). Tourism developments on the island are influenced by various factors. It depends on the size of the island, resources, physical character, land uses, policies and strategies by the authorities. The increased number of visitors has lead to the tremendous island tourism development and human/ tourists activities. The uncontrolled activity of tourism development and increasing number of tourists’ arrival to the island are the main reasons of negative impacts on the coral reefs. Some of the islands in Malaysia Email: muhamad.ferdhaus@gmail.com CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Repository@USM