Why we need to protect our endangered species

Asterio Takesy
Marine turtles have been part of our ocean life for more than 100 million years and have played an important role in the lives of Pacific people.

The question that may well be asked now is, how much longer can they remain with us?
Current research suggests that despite some legislative and traditional controls on turtle harvesting, the past 50 years have seen a marked decrease in the turtle population in the region.

Member countries and territories of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) have recognised the importance of conserving these reptiles.

They have declared 2006 as the Pacific Year of the Sea Turtle. In doing so, we aim to highlight community conservation of turtle nesting sites, strengthening legislation and policies to encourage sustainable management, and build partnerships for long-term turtle conservation.

Of the seven species of sea turtles in the world, six are found in our Pacific waters. Three species-the green, hawksbill, and giant leatherback turtles-commonly breed and forage in most of the 21 Pacific islands member countries.

According to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), all sea turtles are now considered endangered by international trade. Marine turtle experts predict that if commercial trade continues, these species will soon become extinct.

In some parts of Vanuatu, turtles are killed for traditional reasons around the time of the first Yam Harvest.

Most laws concerning harvesting of turtles in SPREP countries and territories apply a minimum size limit rather than an outright ban. Some prohibit the harvesting of eggs or declare a season during which turtle harvesting is not allowed. This coincides with the nesting season. Others ban the sale of turtles or any by-products. Even so communities continue to kill turtles, primarily to consume and sell the meat or eggs.

Local fishermen know that October through February are the main nesting months. Too often entire beaches of eggs and turtles are harvested, with scant regard to the threat of extinction to which those actions may lead.

In part, this is why we need community support to protect the foraging and breeding “grounds” and migratory corridors for turtles and marine mammals; and why we need to look at ways of reducing any threats such as harvesting eggs on traditionally owned land.

Over time, much of the data collected for turtles in the region has been inconsistent or of variable quality.

There would be a data run of three or four years and then they would simply dry up. What marine environmentalists need is high-quality information to build a concise overall picture.

Studies made elsewhere have already placed long odds on the iconic giant Pacific leatherback's chances of survival during this century.

SPREP is currently operating tagging and monitoring programmes for turtle preservation and conservation in New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu where the majority of the Pacific turtle beach nesting grounds lie. Surveys in PNG and Samoa are also being carried out. But still more needs to be done.

An article in the Nature journal by scientists from Drexel University (USA) Centre for Marine Conservation stated that giant Pacific leatherback sea turtles are much closer to extinction than at first thought.

This is due to commercial fishing and man-made destruction of their beach nesting areas. Typically scores are strangled or drowned in the gill nets of longliners.

The report underlines again that over-harvesting has seen the devastation of breeding grounds, compounding the destruction caused by plastics and other pollutants.

Turtle tagging remains the most widely used and least expensive type of data collection, but the emphasis on who collects the information has changed somewhat.

In parts of Vanuatu, monitoring has become a community effort: everyone from government officials to village children is helping to protect and track tagged turtles.

Along the Huon Coast of Papua New Guinea, eight communities with significant leatherback nesting beaches have come together to form a network to help reduce the almost 100 percent egg harvest of nesting turtles issue.

During the year other communities from the western provinces in the Solomon Islands will be introduced to this approach.

While not a SPREP member, Indonesia recently pledged to help the leatherback turtles by creating a marine protected area in a Papua nesting beach.

The Papua site is one of 10 identified by WWF as key to the 3000 or so female leatherbacks that remain in the Pacific. Pacific leatherbacks, which are genetically distinct from those in the Atlantic Ocean, are particularly in peril because their numbers have dwindled so alarmingly.

I invite you all to join our efforts to rejuvenate the status, and improve the life chances of these noble creatures, that need human compassion and understanding to survive.


The author is Director, Pacific Regional Environment Programme.