WWF attempts to save Hawksbill Turtles in Malaysia

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http://ecoworldly.com/2009/08/03/prime-hawksbill-turtle-nesting-site-may-be-doom\

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Prime

Hawksbill Turtle Nesting Site May Be Doomed by Development

Project<http://ecoworldly.com/2009/08/03/prime-hawksbill-turtle-nesting-site-may\

-be-doomed-by-development-project/>

Written

by *Rhishja Larson* <http://greenoptions.com/author/rhishja>

Published on August 3rd, 2009

<http://ecoworldly.com/2009/08/03/prime-hawksbill-turtle-nesting-site-may-be-doo\

med-by-development-project/#comments>

Melaka’s Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam has shocked WWF-Malaysia

by announcing that Pulau Upeh - the hawksbill turtle’s primary nesting beach

in Peninsular Malaysia - is to be developed. Will this be another Rantau

Abang disaster?

 

A

WWF-Malaysia<http://www.wwf.org.my/?9060/Press-Statement--Development-Spells-Doo\

m-For-Pulau-Upehs-Turtles>release

has stated that despite Pulau Upeh’s role as the primary nesting

beach for endangered hawksbill turtles (*Eretmochelys imbricata*), Melaka’s

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam has decided to develop the beach.

This significant area provides 20% of Peninsular Malaysia’s nesting sites.

 

It is a slap in the face to conservationists, especially since it was just

last month WWF-Malaysia met with the Chief Minister regarding the “crucial

importance of Pulau Upeh and other prime nesting beaches for the hawksbill

turtles.” In addition to legal protection of all turtle nesting sites,

WWF-Malaysia emphasized that only “low-impact turtle-based ecotourism is

feasible.”

 

However, the Chief Minster’s plans are not - by any stretch of the

imagination - “low-impact turtle-based ecotourism.”

 

And the development is slated to commence in this month - without

environmental sustainability studies or research on possible impacts that

the project will have on the turtles.

 

According to

WWF-Malaysia<http://www.wwf.org.my/?9060/Press-Statement--Development-Spells-Doo\

m-For-Pulau-Upehs-Turtles>

:

 

Proceeding with development without these considerations will have a

catastrophic effect on the nesting habitat.

 

WWF-Malaysia has outlined the following regarding the development and impact

on turtle nesting grounds and habitat:

 

1. The plan to upgrade and build 200 units of chalets on the 1.8ha island

 

The island does not have 120 chalets existing, nor the capacity for more

chalets to be built without compromising the nesting beach. Accompanying

activities generated from this volume of tourists on the island will

negatively impact the nesting behaviour and ecology of the turtles.

 

Furthermore, in order to accommodate the planned development, the State

should not resort to reclaiming on or near the island. Any such reclamation

will have devastating impacts on the turtles. There is already extensive

reclamation along the coastline of Klebang, opposite Pulau Upeh.

 

2. To turn Pulau Upeh into a centre for hawksbill conservation

 

The plan to turn Pulau Upeh into a centre for hawksbill conservation while

being a positive idea, should not compromise the protection of the turtles

nor their habitats. Currently, the nesting beaches in Melaka, including

Pulau Upeh, are NOT legally protected. The viability of Pulau Upeh for

hawksbill conservation is dependent on legal protection of the whole island.

In addition, the viability of turtle based ecotourism hinges on turtles

returning to Pulau Upeh to nest annually. Rantau Abang is a classic example

of turtle based tourism gone wrong.

 

3. Development works to commence in August

 

In view of the fact that the works are commencing in a mere two weeks, it is

unlikely that any long-term planning for the proper management of turtles

and their habitats have been taken into consideration. WWF-Malaysia is of

the strong opinion that such studies and planning must be carried out with

extensive consultation with all stakeholders, scientific community as well

as technical agencies.

 

WWF-Malaysia is calling for:

 

… complete halt to the works due to commence in August until an extensive

consultation with all stakeholders, the scientific community as well as

technical agencies is undertaken … complete transparency by the State

Government in all its plans with regard to all forms of development on and

near the island.

 

WWF-Malaysia has been monitoring the turtle population and the nesting beach

of Pulau Upeh since 2006.

 

*Private company to take on the development*

 

The

Star<http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/17/nation/4328032 & sec=nat\

ion>recently

reported that the development project has been taken on by a

‘private company’:

 

The latest threat to the nests comes from the approval by the state

government to a private company to revive and expand the island’s abandoned

resort. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said the Government had

made up its mind to develop the island as a tourist spot.

 

“I believe it can succeed this time as tourism development in Malacca is

extraordinary,” he said on Wednesday.

 

In the late 1980s, the state developed a resort and 120 chalets on the

island through the State Economic Development Corporation. However, it was

abandoned in the mid-1990s and the state subsequently sold it to Tenaga

Nasional Bhd as a training centre for RM10.4mil in 2003.

 

A private company applied to carry out the latest revival project and the

state approved it last week.

 

*Another Rantau Abang?*

 

Without responsible management and conservation-based guidelines,

“turtle-based ecotourism” can actually have negative consequences for the

turtles.

 

In their report, *Does Ecotourism Contribute to Sea Turtle

Conservation?<http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/48971/2/WP90.pdf>

*by Clem Tisdell and Clevo Wilsom, December 2003, the authors point to the

example of Rantau Abang as turtle-based ecotourism gone horribly wrong:

 

The growth of inadequately controlled tourism to take advantage of the

nesting

habits of sea turtles can, as outlined above, both directly and indirectly

result in the

decimation or demise of local turtle populations, as occurred for example in

the past in parts

of Malaysia

 

The authors cite the example of Rantau Abang, Malaysia and the effect

uncontrolled tourism had on the leatherback turtle. From the period of 1980

to 1989, the number of yearly tourists increased from approximately 9,600 to

an astonishing 50,000. They note that around 300 tourists per night were

watching the leatherback turtles.

 

Subsequent negative effects on the nesting turtles resulted “mainly due to

ignorance and lack of guidelines and supervision.” These included:

 

- Tourists waiting to watch turtles on the beach can be noisy, build

campfires and shine torches which frighten away turtles that come to nest

- Tourists have been known to disturb the turtles by getting too close to

them, touching them or even climbing on them for photographs

- Some tourists are even known to prod the flippers of turtles and

obstruct turtles from returning to the sea

 

Handling of the hatchlings, and disorienting them with light from bonfires

and torches, can spell doom for the tiny turtles. They must be allowed to

enter the sea as quickly as possible, due to their vulnerability to

predation.

 

Disturbing the adults can prevent nesting sea turtles from returning to

their preferred sites. This can have disastrous consequences - such as

female turtles releasing eggs into the sea or nesting on unsuitable beaches.

 

You can download the paper here:

http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/48971/2/WP90.pdf

 

*Greed disguised as “turtle-based ecotoursim”*

 

The Chief Minister’s current development idea appears to be nothing more

than an attempt to mask greed as “turtle-based ecotourism.”

 

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam is not interested in taking time

to conduct any studies about the impact of the development on the turtles.

He seems to think that calling his plan a “turtle research center” somehow

makes it so.

 

When one considers the rapid rate that the CM wants his development plan to

move forward, it becomes clear that this “plan” is most likely nothing more

than a front for using the nesting hawksbill turtles as a marketing tool to

attract as many dollars as possible (regardless of the consequences). This

decision will likely result in the permanent loss of 20% of Peninsular

Malaysia’s prime nesting habitat for the hawksbills.

 

Protecting the endangered hawskbill turtles appears to be the last thing on

the Chief Minister’s mind - and dubbing this devlopment as “turtle-based

ecotourism” certainly seems absurd.