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Conference Concludes with Action Plan to Save Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtle |
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KIJAL, MALAYSIA, Jul. 23 -/E-Wire/-- Experts at the Bellagio Sea Turtle Conservation Initiative have just concluded a conference to save the imperiled Pacific leatherback sea turtle from extinction. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has classified Pacific leatherbacks as critically endangered.
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The meeting convened an internationally diverse group of scientists, conservationists, economists, fund-raisers and policy makers. One focus was the development of immediate actions to boost hatchling production of the Western Pacific nesting populations by protecting nests from predation, beach erosion and human consumption on the beaches of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Vietnam and Malaysia. Although there are still hundreds of turtles nesting, with 75 percent in one area on the north coast of Papua (Indonesia), researchers are concerned by new information indicating that the majority of nests laid are not producing hatchlings. Some simple procedures have been developed to improve hatch success, and applying these techniques now may ensure the populations are sustained in the future.
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The meeting also recognized the need to secure long-term funding to ensure effective conservation on nesting beaches and important ancillary activities such as studies on coastal fisheries impacts on leatherbacks. A working group was formed to consider the issue of developing long-term foundations and sourcing both private and government funds to support Pacific leatherback conservation.
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"We all realize that we have to act now before the last remaining populations disappear," said Dr. Peter Dutton, leader of the Marine Turtle Research Program at the NOAA Fisheries Service Southwest Fisheries Science Center. "We need to boost hatchling production now on the nesting beaches, and ensure that the juveniles and adults survive in the ocean."
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Protecting nesting habitats and nests is a simple and necessary condition as well as the most cost-effective way to ensure the long-term survivability of leatherbacks. However, despite conservation efforts, populations in Terengganu have collapsed with just two nesters sighted in 2006 and none so far this year. Terengganu was once the site of one of the largest leatherback nesting populations in the world. Accordingly, other actions are required to minimize other threats such as the accidental capture of leatherbacks in coastal fisheries adjacent to nesting beaches.
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Research is also showing that the nesting populations and feeding areas are interconnected throughout the Pacific. Leatherbacks that nest in Papua, Indonesia, migrate to far-flung feeding areas on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, as well as coastal waters around Indonesia, the Philippines and near Terengganu, Malaysia. This highlights the international partnerships that are necessary to have an effective conservation strategy.
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"These migratory animals are bringing together governments, scientists, and communities together in a common cause" said Paul Lokani, of The Nature Conservancy's Melanesian Program office in Papua New Guinea.
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Among other things, the Action Plan emerging from this process will foster and strengthen exchange programs involving researchers and others, community-based initiatives, sharing of educational materials, convening annual working group meetings to review performances and coordination of conservation strategies. It will also support existing regional conservation schemes such as the Bismarck Solomon Sea Eco-region (BSSE) Tri-National Partnership between Papua New Guinea, the Solomons and Indonesia the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea Marine Eco-region Action Plan (SSME) involving Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP).
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Kitty Simonds, executive director of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, co-host and sponsor of the meeting, expressed satisfaction at the meeting outcomes and said: "This is the first opportunity to focus on the Western Pacific population, which is not yet on the brink of extinction but could be in the next decade. Pacific leatherbacks can't wait too much longer." Contact Info:
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Paul Dalzell
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Senior Scientist
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Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council
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Tel : 808 522-8220
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E-mail: Paul.dalzell@noaa.gov Website : the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council
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