Berau struggling to save green turtles

Pariama Hutasoit, Contributor, Berau, East Kalimantan

Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and scaled turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) have a long history on Derawan island, one of the districts in Berau regency, East Kalimantan. Sea turtles, particularly the green turtle, are an important commodity thanks to their nutritious eggs.

The local government has made the turtles an important source of locally generated income, with the government involving the business sector on a profit-sharing basis.

This concessionaire arrangement contributes an average of Rp 175 million per month to the local coffers.

But the turtle business has become a sensitive issue in East Kalimantan because green turtles have been placed on the international list of endangered species.

The species is included in the Red Data Book of the International Union of Conservation of Nature, and in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), of which Indonesia is a signatory.

Species included in the Appendix are banned from being exploited and traded, except for scientific and breeding purposes. Thus, turtle exploitation in Berau has been put under the national and international spotlight.

With increasing pressure for the conservation of turtles and their habitat, the local administration decided to halt the exploitation of turtles as of July 2002.

"Berau is committed to giving up the annual revenues of Rp 1 billion from turtle eggs and stop exploiting the reptiles," Berau Regent H. Masdjuni told participants of a recent workshop on sea turtle-based tourism in Derawan last month.

The workshop, co-organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)- Indonesia and the Berau regional administration, was attended by State Minister of Tourism and Culture I Gde Ardika and leading local businesspeople. It sought ideas on how to preserve the endangered turtles in the regency.

The workshop recommended that any preservation programs be tied to the regency's tourism agenda, and that local communities be involved in the programs in such a way that all parties benefit.

State Minister Ardika said that if turtles were made a centerpiece of the regency's tourist industry, it would be a pioneering eco-tourism project in Indonesia.

But the chief of Berau's Regional Environmental Management Board (Bapelda), Suparno Kasim, cast doubts over whether stopping the exploitation of the turtles would have a positive impact on the preservation of the endangered species.

He argued that the demand for turtle meat came from other provinces, such as Bali, and turtle eggs had long been a traditional delicacy and would continue to be so. Besides, he said, the trade in turtle eggs and meat had spread as far as Sabah, Malaysia.

In fact, despite their consumption of turtle eggs, the coastal people of Berau have long been familiar with conservation.

The appointment of investors as concession holders to manage the turtle egg business began in the Dutch colonial period between the 1930s and the 1940s.

"At that time it was determined when to harvest the eggs and when the animals should be left to lay their eggs. In other words, not all the eggs were for consumption," said Suparno.

This Dutch concession system was retained when Indonesia gained independence in 1945. Only in 1950 was the system restructured under special regional rules, which among other things authorizing the regency to exploit turtle eggs only, with no turtle meat allowed.

However, with minimum knowledge of turtles' biological characteristics and habitat, turtle conservation was not effective although it was covered by a bylaw passed in 1969. The bylaw required that baby turtles be released into the seas.

Based on data collected by the Kalbu Foundation, an environmental and cultural conservation foundation in Tanjung Redep, Berau, 67,440 five-month-old baby turtles were released into the sea between 1969/70 and 1999/2000. From the period of 1995 to 1999, Berau produced 11,623,605 turtle eggs.

Research has shown that the mortality rate of this rare animal is very high. "Only one in every 1,000 baby turtles can survive until old age," said Windia Adnyana of WWF-Indonesia.

Turtle meat and shells are valuable commodities in certain areas, especially Bali, where turtle meat is needed for some religious rituals. Souvenirs made of turtle shells are also in high demand in Bali. This keeps demand for turtles from Derawan island high.

"This rising demand is speeding up the animals' extinction," Windia said.

The conservation efforts, based on Ministry of Agriculture Decree No.604/KPTS/UM/8/1982, which earmarks Semama island, one of the islands in Berau regency, as a wildlife reserve, are considered to be insufficient.

The reality is that the turtle habitat in Berau is quite vast, consisting of eight islands, known as "egg islands", namely Sangalaki, Balambangan, Sambit, Mataha, Semama, Bilang-Bilangan, Balikkukup and Derawan.

In 1998, concessionaire holders were required to set aside 10 percent of their turtle eggs for hatching. In 1999, 315,520 baby turtles were released into the sea.

Turtle conservation in Berau is under the control of the Natural Resources Conservation Institution (KSDA) and the fishery service. The number of young turtles released into the sea has continued increasing thanks to pressure from non-governmental organizations and the international community.

The number of young turtles released into the sea increased by 20 percent in 2001. And in January 2002, Derawan and Sangalaki islands accounted for 45 percent of the total turtle eggs earmarked for hatching.

Four other small islands -- Mataha, Bilang-Bilangan, Belambangan/Sambit and Balikukup -- which together account for 50 percent of the eggs for hatching, are still in the transitional period and will continue to be exploited by CV Derawan Penyu Lestari until June 2002.

The six turtle islands will be fully protected as of July 2002. And as an alternative, Derawan island will be developed into an environmentally friendly tourist resort with turtle as the main attraction.