Jakarta, May 12 (Antara) - Turtles are one of the protected rare and endangered animal species, which is struggling to survive amid natural predators and human beings.
Although turtles are prone to natural predators, their main enemy is actually human beings. Local people usually eat turtle meat or collect turtle eggs for consumption or they sell them for money.
Predators, such as monitor lizards and pigs, eat the eggs based on their need only. On the other hand, human beings, when they find them, will take them all. Turtles usually lay eggs on the seaside. The eggs need 60 days' time to hatch and when young turtles are born, they slide into the sea where the offspring will face another threat from, for instance, sharks.
Besides being a rare and endangered species, turtles are protected because they also help maintain the health of the ecosystem of sea grass and coral reefs. They are very important for the balance of marine ecosystems of Indonesia.
However, their existence is facing threat.
The Deputy Director for Coastal and Sea Program of the Nature Conservancy (TNC) Indonesia Imran Amin said there are five major threats to turtle conservation in Indonesia, one of which is predation.
"From the several surveys conducted in the districts of Rote and South Middle East of East Nusa Tenggara Province (NTT), we see livestock in the form of pigs, pets, such as dogs and wild monkeys as a major threat to turtle eggs besides human predation," he said in Kupang, NTT's provincial capital city on Monday.
Imran further said some coastal communities in NTT still use turtle shells for accessories and meat and eggs for consumption.
Though Law No. 5 of 1990 on the Conservation of Biological Natural Resources and Ecosystems has listed six turtle species in Indonesia as protected animals, predation of this animal species continues to take place.
The six turtles are hawksbill, green turtles, grey turtles, loggerhead turtles, leatherback turtles, and flatback turtles. Since the past, these six turtles have become part of the diversity of the fauna of the archipelago.
Turtles also maintain the health of the ecosystem of sea grass and coral reefs, therefore turtles are very important for the balance of marine ecosystems in Indonesia.
Another threat, Imran said, is unregulated sand mining activities. Excessive use of sand causes coastal erosion, so only rocks and gravel are left on the beach. "This condition makes it impossible for turtles to land and lay their eggs again," remarked Imran.
Rampant development in coastal areas, the impact on the use of sea space for the development and cultivation of seaweed causes turtles to lose the place to lay eggs.
He also pointed out that the presence of waste, such as plastic waste, also contributed to the threat of turtle conservation. Deaths due to consumption and dumped plastic waste have become a global issue, including in Indonesia.
"The exact number of deaths due to plastic waste is not yet known for certain, but the growing evidence has been found to reinforce the hypothesis that plastic waste is one of the main threats to turtles," Imran explained.
Inappropriate conservation practices, such as the removal of eggs from the nest to the breeding place, will change the temperature conditions required for the egg to hatch properly.
Similarly, the length of breeding time, release time, number of hatchlings released, location and release routine also affect turtle safety.
"We see breeding practices as the latest conservation effort that can be done. Our priority in turtle conservation efforts is to keep the natural habitat as natural as possible," stated Imran.
Turtles require many habitat types during their lifetime. The survival rate for hatchlings is also low or about 0.01 percent. Turtles also take a very long time to achieve reproductive maturity, notably between 15 and 40 years.
According to Imran, it takes tens of years for turtles to increase their population size, even as turtle populations continue to be threatened. "It is time for us to act to preserve the marine and coastal ecosystems of the country," he said.
In the meantime, six hawksbill turtles landed on the unpopulated Pulau Tikus Island, located some 10 miles from Bengkulu City of Bangkulu Province, to lay eggs recently.
"We found six turtle nests with 620 turtle eggs," Feri Aurora, a guard for the Pulau Tikus Island Light Beacon, said, when contacted from Bangkulu City on Friday.
The six turtles had landed on the island on two consecutive nights to lay their eggs. After observing the laying process, Feri moved the eggs to safer spots to be hatched. "If they are left on the seaside, it is feared they will be dragged away by waves or eaten by animal predators," he said.
Hawksbill turtle is an endangered turtle species and is classified under the familia Cheloniidae species. It is the only remaining species of its family. Feri said he had encountered the egg laying turtles on the island for the first time last February. Up till now, he has secured 500 eggs to be hatched and to be released into their habitat later.
So far, he said, the turtles have failed to hatch and produce hatchlings as a result of being dragged away by high waves. Apart from that, there are a lot of predators on the island. This is because Tikus Island is also a stopover point for fishermen, who fish around the Bengkulu waters.
Earlier, there were four species of turtles, which often landed to lay eggs. Hundreds of their eggs have been safeguarded and are kept in breeding spots.
The breeding spots are made of buckets with sand and are used as a means to hatch the eggs. The buckets are kept at the official residence of the light beacon guard. "We still lack tools for hatching and are still using plastic buckets," Feri said. ***4***
(A014/INE)EDITED BY INE/H-YH(T.A014/A/BESSR/A/Yosep) 12-05-2017 23:43 |
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