Guest guest Posted July 1, 2003 Report Share Posted July 1, 2003 ***************************Advertisement*************************** TechCentral http://star-techcentral.com ***************************************************************** This message was forwarded to you by yitzeling. Comment from sender: This article is from The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my) URL: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2003/7/1/features/hrfuture & sec=f\ eatures ________________________ Tuesday, July 01, 2003 No more compromises DEBATE abounds among policy-makers and conservationists at a recent roundtable dialogue on the conservation of turtles in Malaysia, on whether it is worth spending the limited funds accorded to turtle conservation to protect a species that is already on the brink of extinction. Proponents are hoping that the leatherback could be revived with intensified protection efforts, while the more realistic opponents reasoned that the Rantau Abang population is beyond recovery. World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia (WWFM) feels that money spent on viable populations would be money well spent. “Forget about the leatherback. It is almost impossible (to recover the species). We will be better off if we concentrate on the greens and hawksbills. Time and money are not on our side,” opines WWFM & #8217;s Government and Aid Agency Partnership director Kevin Hiew. Under the Eighth Malaysia Plan, RM3bil has been allocated for turtle protection. With an average of RM600,000 a year, the Fisheries Department is finding it tough to manage its existing hatcheries and in situ conservation programmes in the peninsula. Several state governments provide limited funds. The most important turtle state, Terengganu, has slashed funding to a mere 10% of what it used to provide. The state offered RM23,000 this year. The desperate measures implemented by the Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre (Tumec) may just turn out to be a futile attempt that is unnecessarily burdening the cash-strapped turtle conservation programme. And the bulk of the money goes towards purchasing the eggs for incubation. “Why do we have to purchase the eggs? Conservation efforts should not be burdened with paying for the eggs,” argues Liew Hock Chark, joint-coordinator of the Sea Turtle Research Unit (Seatru) of University College of Science and Technology Malaysia (Kustem). Seatru manages an in situ programme for the green turtle population of Pulau Redang in which the nesting beach is tendered to villagers. It pays an average of RM50,000 per year to secure the eggs deposited on the premier nesting site of the green turtle, probably the only species that still has a fighting chance against extinction, based on its nesting figures. By now, it is quite clear that decades of egg consumption had contributed to the population crash of the leatherbacks at Rantau Abang. While other factors such as high sea mortality call for regional cooperation, the problem of egg consumption needs to be addressed by the local community. Liew has long suggested that important nesting habitats be gazetted as a sanctuary where no egg exploitation is allowed. Turtle scientist Dr Chan Eng Heng Chan cites the success story of the dramatic recovery of the green turtle population of Sabah Turtle Islands as a result of total protection, thanks to the foresight of the manager, Sabah Parks. “If it can be done in Sabah, why can & #8217;t we do it in Peninsular Malaysia?” asks Chan. “Only half of the green turtle eggs in Terengganu are protected. Are we going to wait until the green turtle population crashes before we offer total protection?” Unrelenting threat Despite the near-extinction of the leatherback which nests exclusively at the Rantau Abang turtle sanctuary in Terengganu, it would seem that we have not got our act together to protect its less majestic cousins & #8211; the green turtle, hawksbill and Olive Ridley. Their eggs continue to be sold in the market, while their nesting beaches are desecrated by a flurry of development activities. The smallest of all the four sea turtles that nest on Malaysian shores, the Olive Ridley is the least researched and nesting data indicates that it is suffering the same fate as the leatherback. The efforts of the Fisheries Department to protect the green turtle population of Pulau Perhentian off Terengganu is hampered by the proposed development of a private resort at Tanjung Tukas, one of the three main nesting sites on the two islands of Perhentian. “We closed down the hatchery at Pasir Panjang on Perhentian Kecil as it was unsuitable with all the tourism activities going on, and initiated an in situ programme at Pantai Tiga Ruang on Perhentian Besar this season,” says Tumec director Kamarruddin Ibrahim. “Eggs from the other two nesting beaches of Tanjung Tukas and Pinang Seribu & #8211; both on Perhentian Besar & #8211; are transferred to Pantai Tiga Ruang to be incubated. “We are worried that if development on Tanjung Tukas is allowed to continue, it will deter turtles from landing on the shore.” In fact, the conduciveness of Pantai Tiga Ruang is also compromised by the din and lights created by beach parties which drag into the wee hours at Pasir Panjang on the opposite shore. Meanwhile, another main nesting habitat of the green turtle is being threatened. The brightly-lit Paka-Kerteh petrochemical industrial enclave is believed to be attracting hatchlings released from the hatchery at Ma Daerah on the mainland of Terengganu. The Fisheries Department is also trying to find out Tenaga Nasional & #8217;s development plans after the latter acquired Pulau Upeh, one of the 17 nesting sites of the hawksbill in Malacca. “Pulau Upeh has the highest nesting records of all the sites. If we lose this island, it will affect our hatchery programme at Pengkalan Balak and this will be detrimental to the hawksbill population,” warns Kamarruddin. Integrated move At a recent dialogue, Roundtable on the Conservation of Turtles in Malaysia, it was agreed that an integrated management approach was needed to identify viable populations, protect nesting beaches, enforce the ban on egg consumption, and develop conservation strategies to halt further decline of remaining populations. The Terengganu state government has in principle agreed to gazette the 1.7km Ma Daerah as a turtle sanctuary last month, making it the second turtle sanctuary after Rantau Abang. The santuary would cover 60ha of the hinterland and coastal waters up to three nautical miles. Last year, 174 turtle nests were recorded on the beach. On the West Coast, the green turtles and the Olive Ridley can hopefully nest in peace with the creation of the Pantai Kerachut state park in Penang in March. WWFM & #8217;s Hiew has proposed that the nesting beaches on Pulau Perhentian, Pulau Redang, Cherating in Pahang, Segari in Perak, Pulau Upeh, Tanjung Tuan and Pengkalan Balak in Malacca be accorded sanctuary status too. “The creation of these sanctuaries should be accompanied by a comprehensive species-specific recovery plan,” says Chan. “It is essential to prevent further development on nesting habitats. If these are on private land, the state government should buy over the land or mandate the owners to sell them for conservation.” Citing the example of the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, the United States, Chan says the 33km stretch of beach was designated by the US Congress as a wildlife refuge in 1989. Land was acquired from private owners and conservation work received funding from both the public and private sectors. Chan says coordination of conservation efforts between Tumec and Seatru can be further enhanced. Originally set up as a research arm of Kustem, Seatru established a conservation programme at Chagar Hutang on Pulau Redang due to its importance to the nesting green turtle population there. “The idea of creating two centres of excellence on turtle management will enable Seatru to concentrate on scientific research while Tumec, being an agency under the Fisheries Department, could play the conservation role. All involved in turtle conservation should work together and not in isolation,” adds Chan. & #8211; By Hilary Chiew<p> ________________________ Your one-stop information portal: The Star Online http://thestar.com.my http://biz.thestar.com.my http://classifieds.thestar.com.my http://cards.thestar.com.my http://search.thestar.com.my http://star-motoring.com http://star-space.com http://star-jobs.com http://star-ecentral.com http://star-techcentral.com 1995-2003 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd. All rights reserved. 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