Saving the Turtles Saves Ourselves
By Chan Eng Heng and Liew Hock Chark

The existence of sea turtles on earth pre-dates that of man by more than 150 million years. In the past, they roamed freely by the millions in the world’s oceans and hauled themselves ashore its sandy beaches to nest in no less spectacular numbers.

But today sea turtle populations around the world have become severely depleted. Mankind has taken over their nesting beaches, stolen their eggs, polluted and destroyed their habitats, and relentlessly hunted them for their meat and beautiful shells. They also suffer needless death by the hundreds of thousands in fishing nets and long lines that are deployed throughout the world’s oceans.

Against such a scenario, do the turtles have a chance to survive into the next millennium? The answer is a big, conditional “yes”. Just as man has brought the sea turtles to the brink of extinction, it will be man who can save and return them to their rightful place on earth.

Saving the turtles is no easy task. Their habitat requirements range from undisturbed nesting beaches to seagrass beds, coral reefs, intact soft-bottom habitats and open ocean environments, where Leatherback turtles follow oceanic currents in search of jellyfish.

The biological demands of sea turtles cannot be compromised, and conservation programmes targeted at any population must cut across national boundaries. This is because the sea turtles undertake long-distance transboundary migrations between their resident feeding grounds and nesting beaches.

As an illustration, we have discovered that Green turtles, which nest in Malaysia, travel to near shore seagrass beds located in the neighbouring countries of Indonesia and the Philippines. Our colleagues from the region have similarly reported that their turtles migrate into Malaysian waters. Such information immediately lends support to the recently concluded Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of Marine Turtles and their Habitats of the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia, an initiative of the Convention on Migratory Species.

While conservationists from advanced and rich nations can argue for the protection of sea turtle eggs, many nesting beaches occur in third world countries, where the chronically poor are still dependent on turtle eggs to either earn a living or provide them with a much-needed protein source. This is the dilemma faced by turtle conservationists from third world countries: protect the sea turtles and deprive the poor.

We seem to have struck an accord in our sea turtle conservation programme in Redang Island, Malaysia. More than 80 per cent of the eggs deposited on our project site are protected, while traditional licensed egg collectors are paid for every nest being incubated. The process of conservation is carried out without affecting the livelihood of the local poor. This has been achieved through a Sea Turtle Outreach Programme (S.T.O.P.), where ordinary members of the public become intimately and directly involved in saving sea turtles. Nest and turtle adoption schemes, a volunteer programme, and turtle camps for village kids are part and parcel of S.T.O.P.

The public, who are usually from the more privileged urban areas, help to pay for the protected nests and in turn receive biological information about the nests they have adopted. Sponsors also learn about the reproductive characteristics of their adopted turtles. The volunteer programme has attracted people from all walks of life, who then become messengers and advocates for turtle conservation.

Multiple turtle camps conducted every year are targeted at eleven-year-olds, the children of fishermen and egg collectors on the island. While we cannot quantify the effectiveness of these camps, we have been told that some of the children have stopped eating turtle eggs upon returning to their village homes.

We soon learnt that the challenge to save sea turtles goes beyond the nesting beaches. Out in the sea, turtles drown in active and discarded fishing nets; they mistake plastic bags for jellyfish; speedboats strike them; and insensitive tourists harass and try to ride them in the water. We received news that turtle hunters from a neighbouring country are targeting the feeding grounds of our turtles.

It is all too consuming, but we cannot stop. The answers to some of the problems are quite clear-cut, but not so in others. By becoming involved and taking the necessary action, we are learning more and more about what the turtles need. In responding to these needs, we have learnt to be better human beings. We need to build bridges between people from different lands and different walks of life. We need support from the youngest children to the most diehard politicians. And we need the turtles. They are teaching us to save our beaches, our coastal areas, seagrass beds, coral reefs and the open oceans. The needs of mankind are hinged upon the health of the oceans. Ultimately, it is the turtles that are teaching us humans how to save ourselves on earth.

Links:
Convention on Migratory Species (CMS)
Turtles of Terengganu

Dr. Chan Eng Heng and Mr. Liew Hock Chark of the Sea Turtle Research Unit, University College of Science and Technology, Malaysia, were recipients in 2001 of the Global 500 Award, presented annually by the United Nations Environment Programme to individuals and organizations who have made outstanding contributions to the protection of the environment. The husband and wife team have rescued over a quarter of a million turtle eggs.