Malaysia's turtle rescue team

Dr Chan  Eng  Heng  and her husband Liew Hock Chark began their crusade to save  turtle eggs  from being sold for food in 1993 after becoming alarmed that turtles on Malaysia's Redang Island were facing extinction as a result of the government-licensed, egg collection trade.

The team, based at the Sea Turtle Research Unit (SEATRU) in University College, Terengganu,  decided  to  raise  funds  and buy the eggs from the collectors,  allowing  them  to  incubate  and hatch naturally on the beach where they were laid.

The team says:  "When  a  female turtle comes up to lay eggs, the nest is marked  with a wooden stake.  In the morning, when the egg collector comes, we pay  him  for that nest so that the eggs are not taken away and sold in the market. The nests are guarded 24 hours a day to protect them from
predators and the hatchlings are allowed to emerge naturally".

The only direct, human, intervention occurs if some of the hatchlings fail to  emerge  and  make their way to the sea. Dr Heng and Mr Chark's project, which since 1998 has been known as the Sea Turtle Outreach Program or STOP, moves  in  after  two to three days and digs up the nest to save those baby turtles that remain.

The team estimates that over 250,000 eggs have been saved at Redang's Chagar Hutang since they started with some 200,000 hatchlings returned to the sea. Similar egg  rescue  schemes,  based  on  their  work,  are  being piloted elsewhere  in  Malaysia  by  the  Malaysian Department of Fisheries and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

There are plans to expand the programme to other beaches on Redang Island and  elsewhere  in  Malaysia.   A public awareness scheme, involving local hotels and resort operators is also planned.

The researchers have been tracking their hatchlings using shell-mounted tags that link to the ARGOS satellite receiving system. "We have found that they do  not  all  travel  to  the same place, but end up in the waters of countries like Indonesia and the Philippines. Here they remain, feeding and growing  until  their next reproductive cycle, which can be between two and seven years later," they explain.

Dr Heng and Mr Chark were recently named a Global 500 laureate <link to turtle rescue team story in coastal alert> by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP):  "We  are  most  gratified by the unexpected recognition. We hope that with this award, the local politicians will pay more attention to and consider our appeals for a legal ban on the commerical sale of turtle eggs in  the  markets  of  Terengganu.  We also hope that local agencies will recognize local  Malaysians,  who  struggle  just as hard as international organizations to save endangered species in our country"

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