Park in Sabah protects endangered turtles
SANDAKAN: Those passionate about the protection of endangered turtle species can join the Turtle Nest Adoption programme at the Turtle Islands National Park here.
The programme, introduced in June 2016, allows visitors to adopt one turtle nest at the hatchery there for RM100.
Until October last year, 456 visitors have participated in the programme at the park, which coastal areas are favoured for egglaying by the endangered Green Turtle and Hawksbill Turtle.
The Turtle Islands Park covers three islands namely Selingan, Bakkungan Kecil and Gulisaan. The entire 1,740-ha area includes 1,721.8 hectares of reefs and seas. The park, managed under Sabah Parks, was gazetted on Oct 1, 1977 by the state government.
The park’s Marine Research Assistant Officer Hasbolah Buis said that since its opening in 1979 and until October 2017, over 23 million turtle eggs have been collected at the park and incubated in nearly 290,000 nests at the hatchery.
Over 17 million turtle hatchlings were released into the sea within the period, he told Bernama when met at the Bakkungan Kecil Island.
The first turtle that came ashore to lay eggs at the park was tagged, as was the 85,869 that came after, based on the data collected from 1981 to 2016.
The turtles seemed to favour the Selingan Island with 42,862 recorded laying eggs there, 22,443 in Bakkungan Kecil Island and 20,565 in Gulisaan Island.
The gazettement of the park made way for constant improvement in the conservation and protection of turtles there. This includes improved methods and practices at the hatchery, the handling of the mother turtles that have come ashore to lay eggs and the care of the baby turtles.
Conservation efforts are divided into three parts, namely beach patrol, hatchery maintenance and turtle information records.
The beach patrol, from 8pm to 6am, included the monitoring of turtles that have come ashore to lay eggs.
Among the information recorded are the turtle egg count and size of turtles. Each turtle is tagged and eggs are promptly transferred to the hatchery.
The hatchery is an enclosed area meant to protect the eggs from predators and human disturbance.
It takes about 45 to 60 days for the incubated eggs to hatch. Hatchlings are then released on the beaches and allowed to crawl into the sea on their own.
Based on the data collected, about 447,000 hatchlings are released into the sea from the park every year.
However, Hasbolah said, not many of the hatchlings would survive for long. The death toll of hatchlings released into the sea were quite high due to the huge number of threats from multiple predators, including birds and fish.
Those that managed to dodge the threat of predators would need to survive another 20 to 50 years before reaching sexual maturity and start reproducing.
Females would generally return to the same area they were born to lay eggs, despite having migrated far away to forage.
The Green Turtle favoured the months from May to Sept to lay eggs at the park with the peak egg-laying period in June, while the Hawksbill Turtle would come between December and May with the peak period in April.
From January to October last year, 13,266 turtles came to lay eggs at the park, 411 of which were Hawksbill Turtles.
The neighbouring Philippines have also signed an agreement with Malaysia in May 1996 to form the Turtle Islands Heritage Protected Area.
The agreement was for the gazettement of the protected area for the Green Turtle and Hawksbill Turtle population, which runs into the border of both countries.
In addition to the islands under the Turtle Islands Park, six islands in the Philippine waters have also been gazetted for the purpose namely the Boaan, Langaan, Bakkungan Besar, Lihiman, Taganak and Baguan islands.
With the agreement came the cooperation in scientific studies, resource management and conservation.
In addition to that, the Turtle Islands Park have also forged cooperation with local universities such as Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu and Universiti Putra Malaysia for the purpose of education and research.
The park has turned into a tourist attraction in the district with accommodation at Selingan Island available for those wishing to engage in turtle conservation education and activities.
Hasbolah said visitors have been allowed into the island since 1982 with activities including night viewing of turtle laying eggs and the incubation of turtle eggs at the hatchery.
It is a 45-minute boat ride from Sandakan to Selingan island, but that has not stopped the park from receiving thousands of visitors every year, with 256,002 visitors from 1982 to September 2017.
As an area that is rich in marine biodiversity, the park has often become a target for poachers. Therefore, strict security measure have been enforced in the area.
Sabah Parks has placed Rangers at the Turtle Islands Park to prevent encroachment into the coastal area.
One of the Rangers at the Park, Nazir Nujum, said that the gazettement of the islands into a national park put the area in protection under the Parks Enactment 1984. As such, all activities in the area are monitored.
Fishing is strictly prohibited within the coastal area, particularly those that could pose a threat to the turtles.
Security measures are also a priority as the marine park is located close to the Philippine shores.
Security teams involving the General Operations Force have been placed on the Selingan Island and armed forces personnel on the Bakkungan Kecil Island. Bernama