Park works hard to safeguard turtle population

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya, East Java, Tue, 09/02/2008 10:24 AM, Environment

"A turtle is laying eggs! A turtle is laying eggs," a national park officer shouted, breaking the silence of the night.

Visitors staying at the guard post of the Meru Betiri National Park in Banyuwangi, East Java, rushed to Sukamande beach, about a kilometer away. Some of them carried torches, while others relied on the moonlight to guide the way. "Please, don't get too close to the turtle, this will disturb the egg-laying process," said Slamet, one of the national park officers.

When a turtle is about to lay eggs, he explained, she becomes very sensitive. A little light can make her stressed and give up. The turtle that laid eggs that night was quite big, about one meter long with 60-centimeter fins on its sides. The head, measuring the size of an adult's two fists, continually moved to the left and right, as if scanning its surroundings.

After laying the eggs, the turtle moved to the left and made another hole to fool predators and then moved slowly towards the sea to disappear into the rolling waves. Sukamande beach remains a site where sea turtles lay their eggs. Four species of turtle -- the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), olive ridley turtle (Lephidochelys olivacea), hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys Imbricata) and leatherback turtle (Dhermochelys coriacea) -- lay their eggs along the three-kilometer-long coast, which covers about 250 hectares.

But only green turtles and olive ridley turtles regularly lay their eggs in the area. The presence of turtles on Sukamande beach is important not only for the national park, but also for the people of East Java. "Their presence is proof that the beach is still natural and should be conserved," Heri Subagiyadi, head of the national park, told The Jakarta Post recently.

He said the park's management team was working hard to conserve the beach. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Sukamade beach is the biggest's nesting place for turtles in Java. Every month, around 20 turtles land on the beach to lay their eggs, with one turtle laying between 100 and 150 eggs on average. The turtle seen that night on the beach laid 118 eggs.

At least 2,500 eggs can be seen on the beach every month -- but only one in 1,000 eggs will mature to become an adult turtle. Heri said predators like dogs, eagles, snakes and even leopards are the biggest threat to the turtle population. "But people are the cruelest predators. It is people who often take the eggs to sell them," Heri said.

Turtle eggs fetch a good price -- about Rp.1,500 to 2,000 (16 US cents to 22 cents) each; a higher price than chicken eggs. In many places, he added, people also hunt adult turtles. This especially happens in Bali, as turtles are a part of local religious ceremonies.

"But that is only an excuse. Our investigation shows that turtles are hunted all the time, not only prior to religious ceremonies. Some sell turtle fat to be used in cosmetics," Heri said. The Meru Betiri National Park management, therefore, has deemed it necessary to monitor turtles and their egg-hatching activities.

The process is quite simple: The eggs planted by the turtle mothers are brought to the park post area where they are reburied. In their new location, the turtle eggs are registered and within a week the eggs begin to hatch. The baby turtles are then released into their natural habitat; the sea.

Until July, the park had released 13,510 baby turtles. In a year, an average of 20,000 eggs hatched under the park's monitoring system are released. Yet, despite tight monitoring of the eggs, many are still stolen. The park's management has estimated that 30 percent of the eggs are stolen every year.

"In 2008 alone, we have reported four theft cases to the police, but until today there has not been any follow up," Heri said. Heri said he and his team were determined to make Sukamande beach a turtle conservation area through a turtle conservation management unit, which will concentrate on research, habitat development and turtle egg-hatching activities, as well as public empowerment.

"I have presented this matter before the Directorate of Environmental Service and Ecotourism. I don't know what the results are yet," he said. The park's management is hoping to receive funding to finance the purchase of a turtle-tagging tool. Carrying a price tag of Rp 24 million, the tool will allow tags to be attached to the turtles, which will then be tracked through signals sent via satellite.

The national park currently spends Rp 15 million per month to pay its six employees -- three forest guards, one forest ecosystem controller and two non-structural officers -- and cover the cost of fuel for a a power generator and a motorcycle. The six employees are tasked with monitoring the 11-hectare park, which consists of a beach and a forest. "Under such conditions, we do our best," said Heri.