WWF Eggs On To Save The Turtle Egg

Bernama 21 Apr 09;

PETALING JAYA, April 21 (Bernama) -- The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Malaysia) has embarked on an 'eggs-traordinary' campaign to bag 40,000 signatures in support of preserving the beleaguered turtle eggs.

Its executive director, Datuk Dr Dionysius S. K. Sharma, said the campaign sought support to regulate laws to ban the sale and consumption of turtle eggs nationwide and establish comprehensive and holistic federal legislations to conserve marine turtles.

"Through this campaign, we aim to improve the protection of our marine turtles.

"So, when they sign on to the campaign, they pledge to themselves that they would not eat turtle eggs anymore," he told a media briefing on the campaign here today.

The public can start signing up for the campaign from between tomorrow and Sept 30, by logging in www.wwf.org.my.

Sharma said, marine turtles were now threatened with extinction due to various factors, including consumption of turtles eggs, those accidentally caught in fishing gear, poorly planned coastal development, nesting beach and illegal trade of turtles parts.

"We want to tell the public that we need your support, and with just one signature, maybe they can support us to save the turtles," he added.

-- BERNAMA

WWF wants turtle eggs off Malaysian menus
AFP 22 Apr 09;

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Environmental group WWF Wednesday launched a campaign to stop Malaysians eating turtle eggs, in a bid to help save the marine creatures from extinction.

Turtle eggs are openly sold in markets in parts of Malaysia. Turtles once arrived in their thousands to lay eggs on Malaysian beaches, but are now increasingly rare thanks to poaching and coastal development.

The five-month online campaign aims to collect 40,000 signatures from Malaysians pledging to stop consuming the eggs and halt the trade in turtles and their parts.

"Turtles play a critical role in keeping marine ecosystems healthy," WWF-Malaysia executive director Dionysius S.K. Sharma said in a statement.

"Marine turtles are threatened with extinction due to various factors, including the practice of consuming turtle eggs, becoming accidentally caught in fishing gear, poorly planned coastal development, marine and nesting beach pollution as well as illegal trade of turtles and their parts," he said.

Sharma said that some 10,000 leatherback turtles nested in northeastern Terengganu state every year in the 1950s but that this had been reduced to just 10 a year at present.

Malaysian authorities said last year that they are carrying out night patrols near endangered hawksbill turtle nesting sites in southern Malacca state after 4,000 eggs were stolen.

Under Malaysian law, it is illegal to collect turtle eggs without a permit from the fisheries department, but steady demand for turtle products and eggs in Southeast Asia continues to drive the illegal trade.

The turtles' cause needs to be egged on
New Straits Times 23 Apr 09;

KUALA LUMPUR: Despite years of campaigning, environmentalists are struggling to keep turtle eggs off the dinner table.
An unpublished report by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia said 90 per cent of those who buy and eat turtle eggs were Malaysians.

WWF (Coral Triangle) senior adviser Kevin Hiew said consumers bought turtle eggs in Terengganu, Pahang and Malacca.

The consumption of turtle eggs, together with poorly planned coastal development, pollution, the illegal trade in the animal and its parts, and getting caught in fishing nets threatened the existence of all four species that nest in Malaysia -- the leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), green turtle (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), and Olive Ridely (Lepidochelys olivacea).

WWF executive director Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma said this issue could not be ignored any longer.
"The threats are all bearing down on the turtles, driving them to extinction."

He said action must be taken now to save the green turtle, hawksbill and Olive Ridely from the fate of the leatherbacks.

"There were more than 10,000 leatherback nests at Rantau Abang, Terengganu in the 1950s. Now there are fewer than 10," he said at the launch of WWF's "Egg > Life" campaign, which runs from today till Sept 30. The goal is to get 40,000 pledges not to eat turtle eggs.

"We're also calling on the government to look into comprehensive and consistent federal legislation to conserve marine turtles," he said.

The laws against the trade and consumption of turtle eggs varied from state to state.

Since WWF began campaigning to save turtles in the 1970s, only Sabah and Sarawak have banned the sale and consumption of turtle eggs.

In Terengganu, only the sale and consumption of leatherback eggs is banned. Trade in green, hawksbill and Olive Ridely eggs are allowed.

Other states, such as Malacca, grant licences to turtle egg collectors who are allowed to sell them only to the state Fisheries Department.