Malaysia: Ban turtle egg sale, state urged

Farik Zolkepli The Star 3 Aug 12;

WWF-Malaysia continues its call for the ban on the sale of turtle eggs despite the Terengganu Government’s reluctance to impose an all-out ban.

WWF-Malaysia executive director and CEO Dr Dionysius Sharma said a ban on the sale of turtle eggs would be a major step for the conservation of the endangered species.

“We firmly believe turtle conservation efforts must be carried out simultaneously on several fronts in order to be effective.

“These include the protection of nesting beaches, creating public awareness, strict enforcement of relevant laws and regulations as well as the ban on the sale of turtle eggs,” he said in a recent statement.

He was commenting on The Star’s report quoting Terengganu Environment Committee chairman Datuk Toh Chin Yaw saying that the state government did not encourage the sale of consumption of the eggs but had no plan to have an all-out ban on these practices.

Dr Dionysius explained removing turtle eggs from nesting beaches for consumption was known to be a major contributor to the declining of turtle population.

“We applaud the Terengganu Government’s effort in gazetting Rantau Abang beach as a turtle sanctuary.

“However, the gazettement of a nesting beach whilst at the same time allowing the sale of turtle eggs is inconsistent,” he said.

He added that if no action was taken to ban the sale of such eggs, then the declining turtle population would not recover.

“We have made headway through our outreach activities along with those carried out by other turtle conservation NGOs in the state.

“More individuals, especially the younger generation, are saying no to turtle egg consumption,” he said.

He explained that the Terengganu Government could only be highly commended if it chose to take the lead in banning the sale of turtle eggs.

“Such ban will be in line with the National Plan of Action for Conservation and Management of Sea Turtles, which sets the ban as its number one priority,” he said.