(MY) terrapins

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Terrapins versus safer boat passage-New Straits Times

17 Mar 2007

Sean Augustin

 

SETIU: A clash between development and conservation is looming at an

important nesting ground for river terrapins here.

 

Conservationists are concerned that the building of a fish landing

complex and a proposed waterway at Kampung Mangkok, here, will

jeopardise the nesting ground for river and painted terrapins in the

area.

 

Earlier this year, fishermen in Kampung Penarik, Gong Batu and Fikri

had called for a new Sungai Setiu waterway to be created at Kampung

Mangkok to enable easier and safer passage for their boats.

 

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) Turtle Research and

Rehabilitation project leader (Institute of Oceanography) Professor

Chan Eng Heng said while they were not against projects that would

benefit the community, their main concern was the terrapins.

 

" The terrapins would not be able to nest due to the disturbance

created by river traffic when the fish landing complex is completed.

 

" The lights from the complex would cause the terrapins, which are

extremely sensitive creatures, to get disorientated.

 

" A flick of a cigarette is enough to scare them away, " she told the

New Straits Times.

 

The river terrapins are listed as critically endangered under the

International Union for Conservation of Nature Red Data Book and are

also Southeast Asia's most threatened turtle species.

 

" They are extremely rare and nowhere else can you find a viable wild

population as in the Terengganu rivers, " Chan said, adding that the

river terrapin conservation project had attracted international

attention.

 

Professor Tom Herman, who is collaborating with Chan on the project,

said on the whole, the Terengganu, Dungun and Setiu rivers were

important nesting grounds for river terrapins.

 

" But the Setiu river is the most important one in the whole of

Peninsular Malaysia as it supports both the river and painted

terrapins, " said Herman, who is co-director of the Centre for Wildlife

and Conservation Biology at Acadia University in Canada.

 

UMT coastal processor Professor Mohd Lokman Husain, 47, said the

proposed channel would mean that the area would have a higher intake

of sea water, which in turn would lead to brackish water penetrating

further into the wetlands.

 

Brackish water is created when sea water mixes with fresh water,

reducing its salinity.

 

The channel would affect the conservation project site, forcing the

terrapins to search for new nesting grounds.