{"id":4211,"date":"2014-03-31T19:43:51","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T11:43:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mysabah.com\/wordpress\/?p=4211"},"modified":"2017-07-10T10:10:16","modified_gmt":"2017-07-10T02:10:16","slug":"tagal-taman-tinopikon-moyog-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mysabah.com\/wordpress\/tagal-taman-tinopikon-moyog-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiss of Fishes from Tinopikon Park of Moyog River"},"content":{"rendered":"

Water is the source of life. However, keeping a river clean and thriving with lives is one of the most challenging tasks. Nowadays, most rivers are polluted and their ecosystem is unsustainable, as most people is only interested in being a taker. You will see how nature rewards “givers”<\/strong> when you visit Tinopikon Park (Tagal Taman Tinopikon<\/em>) next to Moyog River, located in Kampung Notoruss, a village 12 Kilometers away from Donggongon town (see location map<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"dog
\nPic: a friendly village dog welcoming me at the hanging bridge<\/p>\n

Tinopikon Park is less than 50 Meters away from the road and highly accessible. Last week I drove about 30 minutes from Kota Kinabalu city, parked my car at the roadside, walked 5 minutes, crossed a suspension bridge and the park was right in front of me.<\/p>\n

\"Tagal
\nPic: Tagal Taman Tinopikon at Moyog River<\/p>\n

Most of the population in Kampung Notoruss are Kadazandusun<\/em> (largest indigenous group of Sabah) and Murut<\/em> (headhunter tribe in the past).<\/p>\n

Tagal = No Fishing Zone<\/h3>\n

On the bridge, I noticed something astounding in the river. There were dozens of big fishes swimming near the shore. Due to over-fishing, river teeming with fishes is really rare in Malaysia. <\/p>\n

\"fishes
\nThe secret word for this success is Tagal<\/em>, which means “prohibition” in Kadazandusun<\/em> language.<\/strong> The river is managed by local community \/ village and fishing is prohibited. You will be fined if you are caught fishing in Tagal area.<\/p>\n

\"fish
\nPic: Besides me, there were other visitors who were also impressed by such view and came by the river for a closer look. <\/p>\n

Tagal system is a simple concept initiated by a few riparian communities of Babagon in 1997, fishing and littering are prohibited in protected section of river so it allows the fishery to flourish. Villagers are also not permitted to cut the tree and extract stones around the river. As a result, the fishes came back after 2 years and the river was restored to near-pristine condition. <\/p>\n

\"kids
\nPic: fishes went frenzy when children fed them with fish pellets<\/p>\n

Tinopikon Park covers an area of 15,000 Sq. Meters, all the fishes here know that they are safe and not afraid of human. Instead, they all swam to us wanting us to feed them. To be practical, Tagal area is divided into three 1-KM-long zones<\/strong>, namely, Green Zone (fishing is allowed for own consumption), Orange Zone (fishing is permitted at an interval set by Tagal committee) and Red Zone (as generator of fish stock, fishing is totally prohibited).<\/p>\n

\"playing
\nTagal is such a successful conservation and rehabilitation project that Sabah Fisheries Department also implements 511 Tagal zones in nearly 200 rivers in 17 districts of Sabah<\/strong> since 2000! This is a perfect example of how local people can manage and protect the natural environment. Sadly, Tagal never takes off in Peninsular Malaysia.<\/p>\n

\"big
\nThe fishes are so tame that you can touch and even catch them by hand. When seeing swarm of fishes coming to them like piranha, some visitors were scared at first. Then they found that those fishes are toothless Pelian<\/em> (official name of Kelah<\/em> fish in Sabah, a type of Mahseer. Species: Tor duoronensis<\/em>). The fishes suck our skin with soft mouth, so it is like kissing us. Soon everyone walked into the water to enjoy the “fish massage”. Pelian fish only lives in clean river and it tastes really good, so it is also known as the Gem of the River<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Below is a video showing us having fun with the fishes:
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