Saving sea turtles in Malaysia: Girls saving the wild

Jolee Lunjew, The Star 12 Sep 09;

It was an eye-opener of sorts for three young ladies campaigning for turtle conservation when they traversed the East Coast where turtle eggs are still sold openly for consumption.

Two weeks on the road travelling in a cramped car may seem quite uncomfortable but biologist Grace Duraisingham, 26, and agency executives Chong Huey Meim, 29 and Nelleisa Omar, 26, found their road trip exciting because they wanted to spread the word that consuming turtle eggs was bad for the future of marine turtles.

And their ride was a cool one indeed, courtesy of AMC Motors which provided them a bright green classic Volkswagen Beetle decked up to look like a turtle.

The trio flagged off from Tropicana City in Petaling Jaya on July 27, and headed north to Ipoh, Penang, Kedah and Perlis; then east to Kelantan and Terengganu; south to Johor Baru via Kuantan and back to Kuala Lumpur on Aug 8 via Malacca.

When asked how the project came about, Chong said that the idea started when her fellow Leo Burnett colleague Nelleisa pledged her support for WWF’s Egg=Life campaign and started convincing everyone to do the same.

“We came up with this road trip idea to collect signatures to help the cause. WWF pledged 40,000 signatures but we thought, why not make it 100,000?

“We approached WWF and they loved the idea. Grace, who is a WWF-Malaysia Field Biologist with the Malacca Hawksbill Turtle Conservation Project, pushed for the project and Voila! here we are.

“We named ourselves Telur Rangers for obvious reasons. We want to be little heroes and chip in to save our turtle friends from ending up as someone’s snack,” says Chong.

Their main objectives were to raise awareness of the turtles’ plight of possible extinction and to open up a new chapter in turtle conservation. Not many Malaysians are aware of the depth and implication of the turtle egg trade.

Although their goal was to collect as many signatures as possible, the girls also spent time talking to the public and visiting local markets and turtle hatcheries.

“We spoke with people who were interested and willing to help so I would think the time spent educating them would have made quite an impact in their understanding of conservation issues in Malaysia. It was also very motivating to have come across young Malaysians who wanted to help us collect signatures. It shows that the younger generation is aware of environmental issues and concerned about preserving our local unique biodiversity,” says Grace.

Nelleisa agreed that meeting enthusiastic young Malaysians was very touching.

“When we went to the Pekan Batu Pahat Scouts Centre, we were greeted by 70 excited scouts. We were so touched when we saw the welcome banner with a picture of our Telur Mobile that they had prepared just for us!

“We also enjoyed the talk we gave to the students at Olympia College in Kuantan and speaking to the kids in Kampung Mangkuk, Setiu. We were happy to see that they understood the issue and supported the cause.

Then there was Adam, a three-year-old boy in Malacca who managed to collect 12 signatures for us in less than 20 minutes! And in Kuala Perlis, Ila, a young teenager from a food stall, came after us to ask if she could have some forms so that she could help. She said it was her birthday the next day and she wanted to be part of something special.

“These are the Malaysians that we need in our country,” says Nelleisa.

But there were also some sad moments in their journey when they went to the Kota Baru market and found turtle eggs being sold openly at RM10 for three.

“The sellers I spoke to said that they knew it was illegal to sell the eggs openly but the authorities had never stopped them so they continue to do so. They are aware that the eggs are hard to get. They said they received the eggs from Sabah, transported illegally by air or sea,” says Nelleisa.

The girls said the response was better in the northern states of Kedah and Perlis but it was difficult to change the mindset of the village folks.

“During my work in Malacca, I questioned some people as to why they wouldn’t stop eating turtle eggs. The response I got was: ‘Ala, dulu nenek moyang saya makan telur penyu. Sekarang masih ada lagi. Penyu ni tak akan pupus lah (My ancestors used to eat the eggs. Turtles are still here. They won’t go extinct)’,” says Grace.

“Some said they loved the taste and argued that ‘Saya makan sekali-sekala sahaja, bukannya makan hari-hari (I only eat it once in a while, not every day)’.

“And this was from a guy living in Kuala Lumpur! There are also those who say: ‘It’s not illegal so why not try. After all, it’s just once’. But they don’t realise that if every Malaysian wanted to try one egg, then we would have killed 26 million baby turtles!

“Others say that pregnant women crave the eggs and there are many false beliefs that turtle eggs are good for your health, have more nutrients compared to chicken eggs, have aphrodisiac properties and are lower in cholesterol. One restaurant owner even said that the eggs would give babies smoother skin if taken by pregnant women.

“These myths are pure nonsense and have all been scientifically debunked. The hardcore egg consumers just don’t care. In fact, turtle eggs are found to be less nutritious than chicken eggs,” explains Grace.

“This quote definitely takes the cake! Someone said: ‘Dah nak pupus? Lebih baik makan lebih sekarang. Nanti masa depan tak boleh rasa lagi (Going extinct? Better eat more now or we won’t be able to taste them in future)’,” Chong reveals.

“From what we have learned, many people eat turtle eggs out of curiosity, because the eggs were presented as gifts or their parents used to eat them, so they continue to eat it.

“Many do not know that unlike commercial chicken eggs, turtle eggs are all fertilised and if not consumed, will eventually hatch into turtles. People are just too selfish to think or care that they are driving a species towards extinction,” says Chong.

“If we keep eating turtle eggs, the poor turtles will have no offspring and eventually go extinct. Turtle hatchlings already have many natural obstacles and predators to face out there in the wild. The last thing they need is someone eating their babies just for the heck of it.”

During their stop in Kerteh, the girls met up with Imam Zulkiflee Salleh who has been highlighting the plight of the turtles during his sermons at several mosques around Kerteh.

According to the girls, the imam said that different mazhab (Islamic schools of thought) had different views, some allowing and others disallowing turtle egg consumption. The mazhab that Malaysians follow does not disallow it. However, he said that Islam taught its followers to protect God’s creations.

“My personal view is that it is still wrong to consume turtle eggs because turtles are considered haiwan dua alam (animals that can live on land and in water). But eating anything into extinction is definitely wrong anyway,” says Nelleisa.

Besides their signature drive and raising awareness, the girls managed to visit a Government-run turtle education centre and hatchery, released some hatchlings and went turtle-spotting around Pulau Perhentian.

“Alu Alu Divers in Perhentian took us on a complimentary trip and made sure we saw turtles, so that was just amazing. I am directly involved with turtle conservation but it’s not every day I get to see these amazing creatures swimming in the wild,” says Grace.

The girls managed to collect 3,366 signatures from their two-week road trip, a far cry from their targeted 100,000 signatures, but they plan to fulfil their goal through various post activities.

“We will be uploading more of our pictures and videos on our blog as well as our Facebook page so that the public can share our journey. Many caring Malaysians have come forward to help us collect signatures from their universities, schools and organisations, so we are staying positive on achieving our targeted 100,000 goal.

“More importantly, we hope the Government will see that Malaysians at large want more protection of marine turtles, and hopefully the Government will step up their efforts in this area,” says Chong.

“As the Egg=Life campaign ends on Sept 30, we will try to have weekend activities to spice things up and get more signatures. We’ll probably approach more corporations and schools to pledge for this cause as well,” adds Nelleisa.

o Help the Telur Rangers and WWF-Malaysia to achieve their 100,000 signatures. Follow the Telur Rangers’ journey at telurrangers.blogspot.com, join their Facebook fan page or pledge your online signature at www.wwf.org.my or www.saveturtles.my. Currently, the signatures roughly number 14,000.

The ‘Egg=Life’ crusade
The Star 12 Sep 09;

WWF-Malaysia launched the “Egg=Life” campaign on Earth Day (April 22) this year with the aim of improving the protection of marine turtles in Malaysia.

The campaign, which runs till September 30, aims to get pledges from 40,000 people to never consume or trade in turtle eggs or their parts, support laws banning the sale and consumption of turtle eggs and support the call for comprehensive legislation to conserve marine turtles.

Pledges are obtained through signatures collected from the public, postage-paid hardcopy sign-up forms and online pledges through www.wwf.org.my or www.saveturtles.my. Many organisations and colleges are supporting the campaign as well by undertaking signature drive initiatives of their own.

When WWF-Malaysia executive director and CEO Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma first heard about the Telur Rangers proposal, he was very excited because it would promote turtle conservation awareness in a fun and unique way.

“We hope to raise public awareness of the importance of turtle conservation and related issues, so the Telur Rangers are an important part of our Egg=Life campaign. We do not have the resources to undertake a peninsula-wide Egg=Life road show, so this was also a good way of getting our message out to the public in many states.

“We are pleased to support the efforts of such enthusiastic people who are passionate about protecting turtles that they took time off work to undertake the project,” says Dionysius.

WWF-Malaysia’s involvement in the project includes helping them secure accommodation, venue and car sponsorships, as well as promoting the project to the media and WWF supporters and networks. Each signature in support of WWF-Malaysia’s “Egg=Life” campaign will lend weight to efforts aimed at improving turtle protection legislation in Malaysia.

“WWF-Malaysia will be working with our partners to call for laws banning the sale and consumption of all turtle eggs throughout Malaysia. I hope everyone will help save the turtles with just one signature — either when the Telur Rangers visit or through the many colleges and corporations that are helping us to obtain signatures in support of the campaign.

“This process will take time, but by the end of the year, we are optimistic that these signatures will help lend weight to the call,” says Dionysius.

Dionysius points out that leatherback turtles have already been declared functionally extinct in Malaysia.

“In the 1950s, there were 10,000 leatherback nests in Rantau Abang each year; now there are less than 10. Moreover, turtle protection laws are inadequate. Current federal laws on turtles are limited. Under the Federal Constitution, it is the state that has the authority to make laws on turtles. State laws vary from state to state and are simply inadequate.”

Marine turtles are threatened with extinction due to various factors such as the consumption of turtle eggs, turtles being accidentally caught in fishing gear, poorly planned coastal development, marine and nesting beach pollution as well as illegal trade in turtles and their parts.

In Peninsular Malaysia, WWF-Malaysia works with partners, including the Department of Fisheries Malaysia, to conserve turtles at key nesting rookeries including Kem Terendak, Pulau Upeh and Padang Kemunting beaches in Malacca as well as Ma’Daerah and Setiu beaches in Terengganu.

Malacca’s beaches are home to the peninsula’s largest population of hawksbill turtles — with 20% to 30% of the state’s total nesting occurring on the 120m strip of beach in Pulau Upeh, the densest nesting beach in Malacca, while a significant population of green turtles nest on Terengganu’s beaches.