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| Strategic Planning for Long-Term Financing of Pacific Leatherback Conservation and Recovery | |
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Kijal, Terengganu (Malaysia): Experts at the
Bellagio Sea Turtle Conservation Initiative have just concluded a
conference to save the imperiled Pacific leatherback from extinction. The
International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
(IUCN) has classified Pacific leatherbacks as critically endangered –
which means they face an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
Some 95 per cent of these charismatic animals have vanished in the last 20
years due to human activities such as egg poaching, loss of nesting
beaches, hunting of adults and accidental captures in fisheries.
The meeting this week in Terengganu, is the second in a series which was initially convened in Bellagio, Italy in November 2003, which identified in The Bellagio Blueprint, the steps to conserve the species from extinction which incorporated ideas, proposals and information from participants from a range of disciplines and backgrounds. The Blueprint was organized around four central themes: (1) the protection of all nesting beaches; (2) reducing turtle take in at-sea and coastal fisheries; (3) stimulating Pan-Pacific policy actions; and (4) encouraging the sustainability of traditional use of sea turtles. This second meeting brought together an internationally diverse group of scientists, conservationists, economists, fund-raisers and policy makers. One focus was the development of immediate actions for the Western Pacific nesting populations. This involves boosting hatchling production by protecting nests from predation, beach erosion, and human consumption on the beaches identified in at least six countries in the Western Pacific –Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Vietnam and Malaysia. The Western Pacific harbors some of the last remaining leatherback nesting aggregations of significant size. Although there are still hundreds of turtles nesting, with 75% in one area on the north coast of Papua (Indonesia), researchers are concerned by new information indicating that the majority of nests laid are not producing hatchlings. Some simple procedures have been developed to improve hatch success, and there is hope that applying these techniques now will ensure the populations are sustained in the future. The meeting also recognized that it was imperative to secure long-term funding to ensure effective conservation on nesting beaches and to fund important ancillary activities such as studies on coastal fisheries impacts on leatherbacks. A working group was formed to consider the issue of developing long term foundations and sourcing both private and government funds to support Pacific leatherback conservation. The meeting participants indicated that the planned region-wide conservation measures could be relatively inexpensive. "We all realize that we have to act now before the last remaining populations disappear," said Dr. Peter Dutton, leader of the Marine Turtle Research Program at the NOAA Fisheries Service Southwest Fisheries Science Center. "We need to boost hatchling production now on the nesting beaches, and ensure that the juveniles and adults survive in the ocean." Protecting nesting habitats and nests is a simple and necessary condition as well as the most cost-effective way to ensure the long-term survivability of leatherbacks. Many examples in the Atlantic Ocean (including South Africa, Brazil, Ascension Island and Costa Rica) show that sea turtles do recover through simple beach protection. However, despite conservation efforts, populations in Terengganu, Malaysia have collapsed with just two nesters sighted during the April-September nesting season in 2006, and none so far this year. Terengganu was once the site of one of the largest leatherback nesting populations in the world. A similar scenario is also evident at key leatherback Central American nesting beaches in the Eastern Pacific. Accordingly, other actions are required to minimize other threats such as the accidental capture of nesting leatherbacks in coastal fisheries adjacent to nesting beaches. Research is also showing that the nesting populations and feeding areas are interconnected throughout the Pacific. Leatherbacks that nest in Papua, Indonesia migrate to far-flung feeding areas on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, as well as coastal waters around Indonesia, the Philippines, and near Terengganu, Malaysia. This highlights the international partnerships that are necessary to have an effective conservation strategy. "These migratory animals are bringing together governments, scientists, and communities together in a common cause" said Paul Lokani, of The Nature Conservancy's Melanesian Program office in Papua New Guinea. Among other things, the Action Plan emerging from this process will foster and strengthen exchange programs involving researchers and others, community-based initiatives, sharing of educational materials, convening annual working group meetings to review performances and coordinate conservation strategies. It will also support existing regional conservation schemes such as the Bismarck Solomon Sea Eco-region (BSSE) Tri-National Partnership between Papua New Guinea, the Solomons and Indonesia; the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea Marine Eco-region Action Plan (SSME) involving Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia; and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP). Kitty Simonds, executive director of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, co-host and sponsor of the meeting, expressed satisfaction at the meeting outcomes and said: "This is the first opportunity to focus on the Western Pacific population which is not yet on the brink of extinction but could be in the next decade. Pacific leatherbacks can’t wait too much longer." |
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