Telur Rangers call for Malaysians to help save turtles

WWF Malaysia 29 Jul 09;

Turtle car to round Peninsular for two weeks
27th July 2009, Petaling Jaya – If you see a car that looks like a turtle in your state, spare a moment to lend some support to the “Telur Rangers” – three young ladies on a mission to save turtles. From 26th July to 8th August, they will be stopping at venues all over Peninsular Malaysia, collecting signatures from the public in support of WWF-Malaysia’s “Egg=Life” turtle conservation petition. Their aim is to achieve 100,000 signatures calling for stricter laws on the protection of this endangered species.

“After pledging our support for the “Egg=Life” campaign, we came up with this idea of a road trip to help collect signatures to help the cause. Other colleagues chipped in some marvellous ideas, we approached WWF-Malaysia with it, they loved it, said they'd give us support and contacts and voila – here we are“, said Telur Ranger Nelleisa Omar at the launch hosted by Carrefour, Tropicana City Mall today.

“When we heard of the campaign, we immediately knew we have a role to play. One culprit in endangering turtle’s lives is the entanglement, suffocation and ingestion of plastic bags. So, Carrefour is taking a bold step – will declare Monday as “No Plastic Bags Day”. Our awareness program will begin today and to allow enough getting used to, we will still set aside plastic bags but only on loan. 10 sen each bag and if the bag is returned we will refund and reward. Money not refunded will be directed to turtles – saving efforts. This will already reduce a good number of plastic bags and hopefully in the few months to come, customers will be accustomed to bringing their own bags to shop”, said Carrefour Marketing Director, Low Ngai Yuen.

“We've named ourselves the “Telur Rangers” for obvious reasons. We want to be little heroes and chip in to save our turtle friends from ending up somebody's snack,” added Telur Ranger Huey Meim.

The girls were elated when WWF-Malaysia staffer Grace Duraisingham – who is directly involved in turtle conservation activities, bought into their wild idea and decided to be part of the team. With the support of Leo Burnett and Arc Worldwide Managing Director Tan Kien Eng, Creative Director Iska Hashim and the help of wonderful colleagues, they managed to put their wild and bizarre idea on the road.

Stay updated on their journey at:
Blog: telurrangers.blogspot.com
Facebook fan page: Telur Rangers
Twitter: twitter.com/telurrangers

About the “Egg=Life” Campaign
WWF-Malaysia’s “Egg=Life” campaign, launched on Earth Day 22nd April 2009 and to run until 30th September 2009, targets to gain pledges from 40,000 members of the public. People who sign up in support of the campaign either at ground events or at wwf.org.my will pledge to:

• support laws that will ban the sale and consumption of all turtle eggs throughout Malaysia
• support the call for comprehensive and holistic Federal legislation to conserve marine turtles
• never consume turtle eggs, or trade in turtles or their parts

Each signature in support of WWF-Malaysia’s “Egg=Life” campaign will lend weight to efforts aimed at improving turtle protection legislation in Malaysia. We need to take action to save our endangered turtles today because turtles play a critical role in keeping marine ecosystems healthy; the same ecosystems which sustain our fisheries and tourism industries that provide food and livelihoods for millions of people.