Saving Sea Turtles in Malaysia

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Saving sea turtles in Malaysia: Girls saving the

wild<http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com/2009/09/saving-sea-turtles-in-malaysi\

a-girls.html>

 

Jolee Lunjew, The

Star<http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2009/9/12/lifetravel/461253\

5 & sec=lifetravel>12

Sep 09;

 

It was an eye-opener of sorts for three young ladies campaigning for turtle

conservation when they traversed the East Coast where turtle eggs are still

sold openly for consumption.

 

Two weeks on the road travelling in a cramped car may seem quite

uncomfortable but biologist Grace Duraisingham, 26, and agency executives

Chong Huey Meim, 29 and Nelleisa Omar, 26, found their road trip exciting

because they wanted to spread the word that consuming turtle eggs was bad

for the future of marine turtles.

 

And their ride was a cool one indeed, courtesy of AMC Motors which provided

them a bright green classic Volkswagen Beetle decked up to look like a

turtle.

 

The trio flagged off from Tropicana City in Petaling Jaya on July 27, and

headed north to Ipoh, Penang, Kedah and Perlis; then east to Kelantan and

Terengganu; south to Johor Baru via Kuantan and back to Kuala Lumpur on Aug

8 via Malacca.

 

When asked how the project came about, Chong said that the idea started when

her fellow Leo Burnett colleague Nelleisa pledged her support for WWF’s

Egg=Life campaign and started convincing everyone to do the same.

 

“We came up with this road trip idea to collect signatures to help the

cause. WWF pledged 40,000 signatures but we thought, why not make it

100,000?

 

“We approached WWF and they loved the idea. Grace, who is a WWF-Malaysia

Field Biologist with the Malacca Hawksbill Turtle Conservation Project,

pushed for the project and Voila! here we are.

 

“We named ourselves Telur Rangers for obvious reasons. We want to be little

heroes and chip in to save our turtle friends from ending up as someone’s

snack,” says Chong.

 

Their main objectives were to raise awareness of the turtles’ plight of

possible extinction and to open up a new chapter in turtle conservation. Not

many Malaysians are aware of the depth and implication of the turtle egg

trade.

 

Although their goal was to collect as many signatures as possible, the girls

also spent time talking to the public and visiting local markets and turtle

hatcheries.

 

“We spoke with people who were interested and willing to help so I would

think the time spent educating them would have made quite an impact in their

understanding of conservation issues in Malaysia. It was also very

motivating to have come across young Malaysians who wanted to help us

collect signatures. It shows that the younger generation is aware of

environmental issues and concerned about preserving our local unique

biodiversity,” says Grace.

 

Nelleisa agreed that meeting enthusiastic young Malaysians was very

touching.

 

“When we went to the Pekan Batu Pahat Scouts Centre, we were greeted by 70

excited scouts. We were so touched when we saw the welcome banner with a

picture of our Telur Mobile that they had prepared just for us!

 

“We also enjoyed the talk we gave to the students at Olympia College in

Kuantan and speaking to the kids in Kampung Mangkuk, Setiu. We were happy to

see that they understood the issue and supported the cause.

 

Then there was Adam, a three-year-old boy in Malacca who managed to collect

12 signatures for us in less than 20 minutes! And in Kuala Perlis, Ila, a

young teenager from a food stall, came after us to ask if she could have

some forms so that she could help. She said it was her birthday the next day

and she wanted to be part of something special.

 

“These are the Malaysians that we need in our country,” says Nelleisa.

 

But there were also some sad moments in their journey when they went to the

Kota Baru market and found turtle eggs being sold openly at RM10 for three.

 

“The sellers I spoke to said that they knew it was illegal to sell the eggs

openly but the authorities had never stopped them so they continue to do so.

They are aware that the eggs are hard to get. They said they received the

eggs from Sabah, transported illegally by air or sea,” says Nelleisa.

 

The girls said the response was better in the northern states of Kedah and

Perlis but it was difficult to change the mindset of the village folks.

 

“During my work in Malacca, I questioned some people as to why they wouldn’t

stop eating turtle eggs. The response I got was: ‘Ala, dulu nenek moyang

saya makan telur penyu. Sekarang masih ada lagi. Penyu ni tak akan pupus lah

(My ancestors used to eat the eggs. Turtles are still here. They won’t go

extinct)’,” says Grace.

 

“Some said they loved the taste and argued that ‘Saya makan sekali-sekala

sahaja, bukannya makan hari-hari (I only eat it once in a while, not every

day)’.

 

“And this was from a guy living in Kuala Lumpur! There are also those who

say: ‘It’s not illegal so why not try. After all, it’s just once’. But they

don’t realise that if every Malaysian wanted to try one egg, then we would

have killed 26 million baby turtles!

 

“Others say that pregnant women crave the eggs and there are many false

beliefs that turtle eggs are good for your health, have more nutrients

compared to chicken eggs, have aphrodisiac properties and are lower in

cholesterol. One restaurant owner even said that the eggs would give babies

smoother skin if taken by pregnant women.

 

“These myths are pure nonsense and have all been scientifically debunked.

The hardcore egg consumers just don’t care. In fact, turtle eggs are found

to be less nutritious than chicken eggs,” explains Grace.

 

“This quote definitely takes the cake! Someone said: ‘Dah nak pupus? Lebih

baik makan lebih sekarang. Nanti masa depan tak boleh rasa lagi (Going

extinct? Better eat more now or we won’t be able to taste them in future)’,”

Chong reveals.

 

“From what we have learned, many people eat turtle eggs out of curiosity,

because the eggs were presented as gifts or their parents used to eat them,

so they continue to eat it.

 

“Many do not know that unlike commercial chicken eggs, turtle eggs are all

fertilised and if not consumed, will eventually hatch into turtles. People

are just too selfish to think or care that they are driving a species

towards extinction,” says Chong.

 

“If we keep eating turtle eggs, the poor turtles will have no offspring and

eventually go extinct. Turtle hatchlings already have many natural obstacles

and predators to face out there in the wild. The last thing they need is

someone eating their babies just for the heck of it.”

 

During their stop in Kerteh, the girls met up with Imam Zulkiflee Salleh who

has been highlighting the plight of the turtles during his sermons at

several mosques around Kerteh.

 

According to the girls, the imam said that different mazhab (Islamic schools

of thought) had different views, some allowing and others disallowing turtle

egg consumption. The mazhab that Malaysians follow does not disallow it.

However, he said that Islam taught its followers to protect God’s creations.

 

“My personal view is that it is still wrong to consume turtle eggs because

turtles are considered haiwan dua alam (animals that can live on land and in

water). But eating anything into extinction is definitely wrong anyway,”

says Nelleisa.

 

Besides their signature drive and raising awareness, the girls managed to

visit a Government-run turtle education centre and hatchery, released some

hatchlings and went turtle-spotting around Pulau Perhentian.

 

“Alu Alu Divers in Perhentian took us on a complimentary trip and made sure

we saw turtles, so that was just amazing. I am directly involved with turtle

conservation but it’s not every day I get to see these amazing creatures

swimming in the wild,” says Grace.

 

The girls managed to collect 3,366 signatures from their two-week road trip,

a far cry from their targeted 100,000 signatures, but they plan to fulfil

their goal through various post activities.

 

“We will be uploading more of our pictures and videos on our blog as well as

our Facebook page so that the public can share our journey. Many caring

Malaysians have come forward to help us collect signatures from their

universities, schools and organisations, so we are staying positive on

achieving our targeted 100,000 goal.

 

“More importantly, we hope the Government will see that Malaysians at large

want more protection of marine turtles, and hopefully the Government will

step up their efforts in this area,” says Chong.

 

“As the Egg=Life campaign ends on Sept 30, we will try to have weekend

activities to spice things up and get more signatures. We’ll probably

approach more corporations and schools to pledge for this cause as well,”

adds Nelleisa.

 

o Help the Telur Rangers and WWF-Malaysia to achieve their 100,000

signatures. Follow the Telur Rangers’ journey at telurrangers.blogspot.com,

join their Facebook fan page or pledge your online signature at

www.wwf.org.my or www.saveturtles.my. Currently, the signatures roughly

number 14,000.

 

The ‘Egg=Life’ crusade

The

Star<http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2009/9/12/lifetravel/459726\

8 & sec=lifetravel>12

Sep 09;

 

WWF-Malaysia launched the “Egg=Life” campaign on Earth Day (April 22) this

year with the aim of improving the protection of marine turtles in Malaysia.

 

The campaign, which runs till September 30, aims to get pledges from 40,000

people to never consume or trade in turtle eggs or their parts, support laws

banning the sale and consumption of turtle eggs and support the call for

comprehensive legislation to conserve marine turtles.

 

Pledges are obtained through signatures collected from the public,

postage-paid hardcopy sign-up forms and online pledges through

www.wwf.org.my or www.saveturtles.my. Many organisations and colleges are

supporting the campaign as well by undertaking signature drive initiatives

of their own.

 

When WWF-Malaysia executive director and CEO Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma first

heard about the Telur Rangers proposal, he was very excited because it would

promote turtle conservation awareness in a fun and unique way.

 

“We hope to raise public awareness of the importance of turtle conservation

and related issues, so the Telur Rangers are an important part of our

Egg=Life campaign. We do not have the resources to undertake a

peninsula-wide Egg=Life road show, so this was also a good way of getting

our message out to the public in many states.

 

“We are pleased to support the efforts of such enthusiastic people who are

passionate about protecting turtles that they took time off work to

undertake the project,” says Dionysius.

 

WWF-Malaysia’s involvement in the project includes helping them secure

accommodation, venue and car sponsorships, as well as promoting the project

to the media and WWF supporters and networks. Each signature in support of

WWF-Malaysia’s “Egg=Life” campaign will lend weight to efforts aimed at

improving turtle protection legislation in Malaysia.

 

“WWF-Malaysia will be working with our partners to call for laws banning the

sale and consumption of all turtle eggs throughout Malaysia. I hope everyone

will help save the turtles with just one signature — either when the Telur

Rangers visit or through the many colleges and corporations that are helping

us to obtain signatures in support of the campaign.

 

“This process will take time, but by the end of the year, we are optimistic

that these signatures will help lend weight to the call,” says Dionysius.

 

Dionysius points out that leatherback turtles have already been declared

functionally extinct in Malaysia.

 

“In the 1950s, there were 10,000 leatherback nests in Rantau Abang each

year; now there are less than 10. Moreover, turtle protection laws are

inadequate. Current federal laws on turtles are limited. Under the Federal

Constitution, it is the state that has the authority to make laws on

turtles. State laws vary from state to state and are simply inadequate.”

 

Marine turtles are threatened with extinction due to various factors such as

the consumption of turtle eggs, turtles being accidentally caught in fishing

gear, poorly planned coastal development, marine and nesting beach pollution

as well as illegal trade in turtles and their parts.

 

In Peninsular Malaysia, WWF-Malaysia works with partners, including the

Department of Fisheries Malaysia, to conserve turtles at key nesting

rookeries including Kem Terendak, Pulau Upeh and Padang Kemunting beaches in

Malacca as well as Ma’Daerah and Setiu beaches in Terengganu.

 

Malacca’s beaches are home to the peninsula’s largest population of

hawksbill turtles — with 20% to 30% of the state’s total nesting occurring

on the 120m strip of beach in Pulau Upeh, the densest nesting beach in

Malacca, while a significant population of green turtles nest on

Terengganu’s beaches.