2nd ASEAN Symposium and Workshop on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation. Click here

World’s first Trans-Boundary Marine Park between Sabah, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Introduction to the Turtle Island Heritage Protected Area (TIHPA)

History in the Development Of The Sabah - Philippines TIHPA

Management Objectives of the TIHPA

Institutional arrangements

Key Initiatives

Educational Goals Initiative Marked For Critical Funding

Research Objectives and Strategies

Economic Opportunities

Expected Deliverables

News Around the Region

Sharp decline in Turtle population

Turning to a Turtle Haven

2nd ASEAN Symposium and Workshop on 
Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation

SESSION 2: Nesting and Foraging Populations

ABSTRACTS

 

The marine turtle research project on Aru is among the first of its kind in Indonesia. Intensifying turtle harvests and increasing pressure on nesting grounds seriously threaten the Indonesian sea turtle population. Conservation activities have been focussed on awareness programmes (e.g. Bali), head starting programmes (e.g. Pulau Seribu) and beach monitoring (e.g Meru Betiri). Comprehensive, longterm population studies are scarce if not absent and yet essenstial in conservation and management planning.

The Aru Tenggara Marine Reserve (ATMR) was established in 1991 based primarily on the presence of a relatively large stock of both nesting and foraging green turtles (Chelonia mydas). Since its establishment fishing, gathering and unimpeded hunting activities have continued with the reserves bounderies. Some scattered, short term conservation and research activities have been carried out (Sahertian, 1993 and Schulz, 1994) but with no clear guidelines; a conservation plan is lacking. An interdisciplnary approach was realised in a cooperation between the University of Nijmegen (turtle biology), WWF-Ambon (Biodiversity, awareness, links to GO’s and NGO’s) and University of Leiden (antropology) with the intention to compose a conservation and management plan for the ATMR.

Preliminary data show that the green turtle rookery on Enu island is highly vulnerable. Numbers of emergences in 1997 averaged between 20 to 60 per night from July to November. However, most of these emergences were unsuccessfull nesting attempts (75 %). Nesting success had increased by march 1998 and emergences still averaged 60 per night. Survey results of the following nesting season (starting in September 1998) howed that the average number of emerging turtles was considerably lower than the previous year (< 10 emergences/night resulting on average in less than 4 nests/night). These low numbers initially reflect a natural oscilation also seen at other green turtle rookeries throughout the world. With continuing poaching activities on the island on both adult turtles and eggs it is clear that with such low emergence numbers the nesting population will cease to exist at one point in the near future.