Balinese culinary tastes threaten endangered turtles

Balinese culinary tastes threaten endangered turtles

By I Wayan Juniarta

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): It was midnight. Putu Liza Kusuma
Mustika, a turtle conservationist, was startled by a phone call
from her colleague urging her to rush to the nearby Kuta beach.

On the phone was Nyoman Gede Sugiharta, another
conservationist, telling her that a rare olive ridley's
(Lepidochelys olivacea), was spotted landing on the beach and had
laid about 100 eggs.

"Come quickly, the turtle is in danger as there are dozens of
people trying to steal her eggs. Some have even considered
killing the poor creature," Sugiharta said frantically.

Although Liza ran as fast as she could, it was too late. Just
an hour earlier, the crowd had taken all the eggs with them.

Luckily some conservationists quickly pushed the mother turtle
back into the sea to save her from the greedy slaughterers.

"I had no choice but force her back into the water, knowing
that some might try to catch this poor animal," complained
Supriyadi.

But Liza was still hopeful. She ran after the crowd and tried
to persuade one of them to return those valuable eggs of one of
the most endangered turtle species for breeding and scientific
purposes. She was quite happy to be given eight of the 100 eggs.
These "rescued" eggs were then buried in a hidden spot somewhere
along Kuta Beach.

The above story shows how threatened the turtles in Bali are
and the local people's ignorance in protecting these endangered
species.

"It is a pity since the island of Bali has been a very special
place for the turtles," Liza said.

The five different species of turtles found in Bali, namely
the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), the hawksbill (Eretmochelys
imbricata), and olive ridley's (Lepidochelys olivacea) annually
lay their eggs in the warm sandy beaches here. Other turtle
species such as the loggerhead (Caretta caretta) swim in the
waters off Bali to feed on marine life.

Clearly, Bali is not a safe place for these turtles or penyu,
as they are preyed upon by humans, in addition to facing natural
environmental hazards.

For many Balinese, particularly those living in the southern
part of the island, turtles make delicious and healthy meals.
Their turtle-eating habit have been around for hundreds of years.
They eat turtle's meat and drink its fresh blood to enhance their
physical and mental condition.

Traditional dishes like lawar (raw vegetables mixed with meat
and fresh chicken, pig or turtle blood) and sate penyu (roasted
turtle meat) are popular delicacies served to respected guests
during various ceremonies.

The Balinese turtle eating-habit has seriously threatened the
survival of the turtles here, especially the green turtles.

The green turtle population in the tiny island of Serangan,
about 12 kilometers east of Denpasar, has vanished because they
had been poached and consumed by the locals.

Despite the decreasing number in the turtle population, demand
for their meat is still very high. To meet the increasing demand,
local turtle dealers and poachers are hunting these animals from
neighboring islands of Lombok and West Nusa Tenggara to the most
remote places in Sulawesi, Maluku and West Papua.

The poaching of turtles has caused tensions between Bali and
its surrounding islands.

In l991, Bali got 24,157 turtles from the other islands. The
numbers dropped significantly from 14,260 in l997 to only 6,987
in l998.

"We are not happy with the falling number of turtles traded in
Bali ," said World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Wallacea Bioregion
deputy director Ketut Sarjana Putra.

The decrease in turtle trade does not indicate that the
Balinese have stopped eating turtles but rather that the number
of turtles in the wild have dramatically dropped due to illegal
poaching.

Yet, according to a report prepared by the Animal Conservation
for Life (KSBK) last year, in the period between May and August
1999 about 9,418 turtles were slaughtered and traded.

The report also estimated that about 27,000 turtles were
slaughtered in 1999.

The organization also discovered that there were 11 pens for
captured turtles and 15 boats for poaching in the Tanjung Benoa
and South Denpasar area. There were also 32 restaurants and food
stalls that sold food made of turtle's meat here.

The most shocking part of the report was that most of the
turtles traded in Tanjung Benoa had about 80 cm to 90 cm long
shells, which signifies that they were about 30 years old. It was
reported that between May and August 1999, at least 3,398 turtles
of that size were traded.

Trading or slaughtering turtles during that period breaks
their reproductive cycle.

One way of protecting the turtles is by a behavioral change.

A notable Hindu high priest Ida Pedanda Gde Ngurah Kaleran of
Sanur explained that there is no obligation for the Balinese to
consume or use turtle meat as part of their offering.

"Hindu rituals only require about 500 turtles each year, not
thousands of them," he reminded.

The priest also referred to a text in the Hindu holy book
which allows people to substitute the offerings of the endangered
animals with their symbols or pictures.

One of the most active organizations in turtle conservation,
WWF Wallacea Bioregion, realized that their objective could only
be reached through increasing the awareness of the Balinese,
providing new jobs for hundreds of turtle poachers and committed
law enforcement.

WWF was encouraged when a group of former turtle poachers
founded a turtle conservation group called Kurma Asih at
Perancak, a coastal area some 100 kilometers west of Denpasar, in
l997. With WWF's technical assistance, the group constructed a
turtle conservation facility comprising several hatcheries and
growing tanks.

The group is now working to protect the olive ridley's,
leatherback and hawksbill egg-laying grounds along the Perancak
beach.

Under the group's constant supervision 2,159 hatchlings have
been released to the ocean, while 40 olive ridley's and 10
leatherback hatchlings are being bred for scientific studies.

For their work, the group was awarded the 2000 National Award
for Coastal Conservation.

"Another good news is that the traditional village community
Desa Adat of Tanjung Benoa has expressed its willingness to stop
the turtle trade," Liza said.

With such conservation efforts, the future of the turtle in
Bali may seem brighter.