Bali sea turtles set free after poacher arrests

Yahoo – AFP, 5 August 2020

Rescuers released two dozen green sea turtles on Kuta beach near Denpasar
in Bali after police arrested seven alleged poachers

Around two dozen green turtles were released back to the wild in Bali on Wednesday after the endangered creatures were rescued from poachers on the Indonesian holiday island.

Marine officials carefully guided the giant reptiles as they thrashed their flippers in the sand to propel themselves toward the water.

The turtles were among 36 seized after a raid last month that saw the arrest of several suspected traffickers -- who could face five years behind bars if convicted under Indonesia's wildlife protection laws.

The turtles are taken from a truck to Kuta beach near Denpasar in Bali for release

"Hopefully these 25 turtles will survive so that they can lay their eggs again," said Bali conservation agency chief Agus Budi Santosa, adding that 11 others rescued at the time would be freed later.

The turtles, which can grow to more than a metre (three feet) in length and weigh upwards of 300 kilograms (700 pounds), are under threat due to poaching and habitat destruction.

Their eggs are considered a delicacy and they are also slaughtered for their meat, skin and shells.

French aquarium sued over hammerhead shark deaths

Yahoo –AFP, April 29, 2019

Based in the northern French port town of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Nausicaa bills itself
as the largest public acquarium in Europe (AFP Photo/Ludovic MARIN)

Lille (France) (AFP) - An ocean conservation group said Monday it had filed suit against a French aquarium over the premature deaths of 30 endangered hammerhead sharks.

The move came after the Nausicaa aquarium in the northern French port city of Boulogne-sur-Mer said on Thursday that its last hammerhead, acquired in Australian waters eight years ago, had died from a fungus infection.

It had stopped feeding three weeks earlier and been placed under observation.

The shark died from the same fungus that caused the deaths of 29 other hammerheads at the aquarium since it acquired and began exhibiting them in 2011.

Nausicaa, which bills itself as the largest public aquarium in Europe, said it was still investigating the causes for the early deaths of a shark that scientists say can live 20 to 30 years in the wild.

But the international non-profit group Sea Shepherd on Monday called for an investigation into the techniques used to obtain the sharks and the conditions of their captivity.

"Only greed, coupled with incompetence and flagrant irresponsibility, can explain this slaughter," it said.

The distinctive shark, which can reach four metres in length, is on the Red List of endangered species at the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Nausicaa has defended its collection of the hammerheads, saying it is vital for protecting an animal at high risk of extinction.

"100 million (sharks) are killed each year for their fins," which are a prized delicacy in much of Asia, aquarium director Philippe Vallette said last week.

"If we want to increase our knowledge, we have to be able to observe them 24 hours a day. You can't do that in the ocean," he said.

The claim was dismissed by Sea Shepherd, which called on the authorities to investigate a site that gets millions of euros in public funding.

"If Nausicaa really wants to help protect the hammerhead... the three million euros of public funds spent on this project should have been invested in the fight against poaching," it said.

California coastline stripped of plants prized in Asia

Yahoo – AFP, Jocelyne ZABLIT, May 14, 2018

The Dudleya plant, such as this one shown by a California Department of Fish and
Wildlife officer, is said to be highly prized in China because of its resemblance
to the lotus flower (AFP Photo/Handout)

Los Angeles (AFP) - The tip came from a woman standing in line at a post office in a small town in northern California.

A customer was shipping dozens of boxes to China, and the caller suspected they were filled with abalone, a highly-prized shellfish listed as an endangered species.

But fish and wildlife officers who responded to the call instead uncovered an international smuggling ring that has been stripping the bluffs along the northern California coastline of Dudleya succulent plants and shipping them to countries in Asia where they are used for decoration.

"The poachers literally fly into the US just to get these plants so they can ship them to Korea, China or Japan," said Captain Patrick Foy, of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. "They are ripping them out of the ground and selling them between $40 and $50 dollars a piece."

The plant, which grows in bud-like circles and resembles an artichoke, is called Dudleya farinosa and is native to the rugged coastlines of Oregon and northern California.

Foy said several suspects from Asia have been arrested in recent months in connection with the heists, including two Koreans and one Chinese national who were nabbed on April 4.

The trio had entered the country as tourists and were detained as they were about to ship 1,334 of the plants overseas. An additional 1,000 Dudleya were later found in their hotel room.

'They favor remote locations'

The three men -- Tae Hun Kim, 52, and Tae Hyun Kim, 46, both of North Korea, and Liu Fengxia, 37, of China -- are scheduled to appear in a California court on May 16, charged with several felony and misdemeanor counts. If convicted, they face up to nine years in prison and steep fines.

At least two other similar cases are pending.

Two unidentified men stand beside a load of Dudleya succulent plants, allegedly stolen

 by international poachers from remote cliffside locations along the northern California 

coast (AFP Photo/California Department of Fish and Wildlife)

Foy said he believes poachers in the last year have quietly been slipping into the country, targeting remote areas along the coast and digging up "thousands and thousands" of Dudleya before stuffing them into boxes with crumpled up newspaper and putting them in the mail.

"They go in at night or during the day... and seem to favor locations that are not well traveled -- places where you can park your car and walk half a mile and not be seen by a lot of people," he added.

"These are people who are taking every plant that they can find and they are shipping them by the hundreds of boxes at a time."

Authorities said they fear the plant, also known as "bluff lettuce," could end up on the endangered species list if the poaching continues and are warning of the detrimental effect on the environment.

"They are ripping the plants out of their habitats and they are trampling other plants while they are doing it," said botanist Stephen McCabe, emeritus director of research at the University of California Santa Cruz Arboretum.

"It's just disgusting that they are going into the wild and stripping whole cliffs."

The Dudleya, which can continue to grow for years once potted, is said to be highly prized in China because of its resemblance to the lotus flower.

Foy said that while he understands the attraction, he was baffled as to why collectors were not simply buying similar-looking plants.

"Why these ones are so much extra special, frankly I have no idea," he said. "There are perfectly other nice succulent plants out there that can be purchased for five dollars at a nursery."

Minister Susi and Navy Team Up to Protect Indonesia’s Coral Reefs

Jakarta Globe, Aug 09, 2015

Students from Singapore snorkeling at a coral reef in the waters off Lombok, West
 Nusa Teggara. Maintaining Indonesia's coral reefs has become a priority for the
tourism sector. (AFP Photo/Sonny Tumelaka)

Jakarta. Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti has again enlisted the help of the Navy — this time to protect Indonesia’s coral reefs, 70 percent of which are in damaged or heavily damaged condition.

Susi said only 30 percent of Indonesia’s 2.5 million hectares of coral reefs were currently in a good state, threatening the archipelago’s marine ecosystem and fisheries production.

“Coral reefs are production houses for fish; they must be guarded,” Susi said at an event in Jakarta last week as quoted by CNN Indonesia.

“There are no fish laying their eggs in the ocean. They must do so near coastal areas, on the sand, on coral reefs. When they have lost a place [to store their eggs], where would they do it?” she added.

The minister lamented the widespread coral damage, given that Indonesia is part of the Coral Triangle, which has been hailed as the global center for marine biodiversity. The area also covers Malaysia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea.

She blamed the rampant practice of blast fishing among Indonesian fishermen, as well as garbage dumping in to the sea, for the damage.

“Coral reef rescue actions will hopefully help Indonesia protect its marine richness potential through the protection, preservation and sustainable use of coral reefs,” Susi said.

As part of the rescue mission, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry is set to expand Indonesia’s marine conservation areas from a total of 16.4 million hectares at present to 20 million hectares by 2020 — out of Indonesia’s 310 million hectares of water territory.

Susi said, though, that the ministry would not be able to guard the country’s remaining coral reefs alone, thus its enlisting of the Navy’s help.

Indonesian Navy spokesman Admiral Ade Supandi said the Navy was ready to support the ministry’s mission, having launched its own program called Save Our Littoral Life.

The program, he said, entails the protection of coastal ecosystem across the archipelago and is expected to support President Joko Widodo’s ambition to turn Indonesia into a “global maritime fulcrum.”

“We all know that these coral reefs, as well as mangrove forests, are living spaces and growth mediums for fish,” Ade said.

“And of course they are part of our geographical territory, which we must safeguard and whose quality we must improve,” he added.

As part of the program, and together with the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry and civil society organizations, the Navy is targeting to grow coral in 54 locations inside 100 hectares of conservation areas this year.

Since the launch of the program in May, the Navy has planted coral in a number of coastal areas in Aceh, Lampung, Banten, Central Java and East Java provinces, Ade said.

Separately, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Indroyono Soesilo said the Navy had promised to monitor the planting locations to ensure the growth of coral reefs.

“[We've recorded] the coordinates of every location where the coral have been planted, so we can keep monitoring [the growth] and see the result in a year,” Indroyono said on Saturday, extending his praise for the Navy.

“This is proof of the Navy’s support for Indonesia’s maritime ambitions.”

He added the coral planting program was not only expected to restore marine ecosystem across targeted areas, but also to develop them into new marine tourism destinations.

“[This program] will benefit our marine ecosystem. And the tourism minister will benefit from this,” Indroyono said.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya agreed, saying ecological tourism was profitable because tourists were willing to pay more for a stay at well-protected marine conservation locations.

“Conserved locations offer more profit than selling coral as ornaments,” he said. “The more closely guarded [tourism sites] are, the more expensive they are.”

Prior to the conservation program, on Joko’s direct instruction and after Susi’s calls for help, the Navy last year agreed to help the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry combat foreign-flagged vessels poaching in Indonesian waters — having since blown up and sunk dozens of such vessels and arrested fishermen, triggering reactions from countries where the foreign fishing crew came from, including China, the Philippines and Vietnam. 

Palau burns Vietnamese boats in warning to fish poachers

Yahoo – AFP, 13 June 2015

Vietnamese fishing vessels are set on fire off the coast of Palau, on 

June 13, 2015 (AFP Photo/Richard Brooks)

The small Pacific island nation of Palau has set fire to four Vietnamese fishing vessels caught illegally operating in its waters, and delivered a stern warning that it will not tolerate poaching.

The 77 crew members were transferred to two other arrested fishing boats with enough fuel and provisions to get back to Vietnam.

"This message goes to the captain and crews of these vessels. Palau guarantees you will return with nothing," President Tommy Remengesau said after the boats were burned on Friday.

Palau President Tommy Remengesau

 delivers a speech at the 45th Pacific

 Islands Forum, in Palau, in July 

2014 (AFP Photo/Richard W. Brooks)

"Captains will be prosecuted and jailed. Boats will be burned. Nothing will be gained from poaching in Palau. From one fisherman to another, respect Palau."

The Vietnamese boats were caught in a protected area with more than eight tonnes of sea cucumbers and reef fish on board.

Since last year, 15 boats from Vietnam have been seized with more than 25 tonnes of Palau's marine species destined for the black market in Asia.

"We have a simple message for those who try to steal Palau's marine resources: We will not tolerate poachers in our ocean," Remengesau added.

"Palau is working with our military, diplomacy, and NGO partners from around the world to get tough on illegal fishers and protect our food security."

Palau hosted workshops last month involving maritime surveillance authorities from the United States, Australia, Japan and the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, designed to develop a comprehensive marine enforcement plan.

"Illegal fishing is a major threat to Palau, given its location as a critical gateway to the Pacific," said Seth Horstmeyer of The Pew Charitable Trusts' Global Ocean Legacy programme.

"With a no-tolerance policy and growing enforcement capabilities, illegal fishing will be stopped in Palau."

Palau, in the western Pacific, has a fishing-reliant economy for its population of 21,000 people spread over 250 islands.

Indonesia to Partner With Interpol in Tackling Illegal Fishing

Jakarta Globe, Mar 02, 2015

Susi Pudjiastuti, the minister for maritime affairs and fisheries, visiting a dock
 where impounded illegal foreign fishing vessels are kept, in Kubu Raya
 district, West Kalimantan. (Antara Photo/Jessica Helena Wuysang)

Jakarta. The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry is eying a partnership with Interpol to better tackle illegal fishing in Indonesian waters.

“The ministry will partner with Interpol to catch poachers using fake taxpayer numbers, so the ministry will not be alone [in facing this challenge],” Minister Susi Pudjiastuti told reporters on Monday, as quoted by news portal Republika.co.id.

The initiative stems from the seizure of a ship named Kunlun by the Australian government, last week. The Kunlun, which had been operating under at least 10 different names and five flags since 2006, was one of three illegal fishing ships in the Southern Ocean that had been tracked down by Interpol, which facilitates international police cooperation.

Susi stressed that illegal fishing was an international crime. She also noted that the ministry had arrested boat crews that included underage workers and others without proper documentation.

“This kind of crime committed on the oceans can be used for human trafficking,” Susi said. “This is a subject for international investigation.”

Related Article:

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Sinking Poachers’ Boats Doesn’t Float With Environmentalists

Jakarta Globe, Basten Gokkon, Feb 17, 2015

The detonation and sinking of illegal foreign vessels, such as this Thai-flagged
 boat, has proved popular with the public despite the environmental blowback.
(Antara Photo/Joko Sulistyo)

Jakarta. Indonesia’s fisheries minister, Susi Pudjiastuti, has fast become one of the most popular ministers in President Joko Widodo’s cabinet, thanks in large part to her trigger-happy policy of sinking foreign fishing vessels caught poaching in Indonesian waters.

The sinkings began on Dec. 5 when three vessels flying the Vietnamese flag were scuttle off the Riau Islands.

Since then, the minister has been on a crusade, with the Navy behind her, to sink more boats, the most recent being on Feb. 10, when another Vietnamese vessel met a fiery fate in the pristine waters of the Raja Ampat archipelago in Papua.

But while the policy has earned Susi brownie points with the public (a survey last month identified her as the most popular minister in the cabinet), environmentalists are appalled at the gung-ho sinking of vessels, using explosives, in delicate maritime ecosystems.

“The debris of the vessels can end up becoming trash floating around in the sea,” says Arifsyah Nasution, an oceans campaigner at Greenpeace Indonesia.

“The use of explosives to sink the boat disturbs and threatens the fish near the location of the explosion — in a way, it has the same effect as using dynamite to catch fish.”

There is also no indication that the Navy properly cleans out the vessels of their highly polluting diesel and bunker oil before sinking them.

“The bigger the boat, the more oil is left over in the tanks, and that oil will contaminate the sea,” says Anton Wijonarno, the manager of the marine protected area for fisheries program at WWF Indonesia.

Both Arifsyah and Anton conceded that there has been little research on the impact to maritime ecosystems of blowing up wooden boats, but say the explosions need to stop, at least for now.

“There should be a discussion among maritime ecosystem experts on this matter as a precautionary approach before the government carries on sinking more vessels,” Arifsyah says.

Anton says the government must consider several factors to minimize damaging delicate ecosystems, such as Raja Ampat, which is an important habitat for manta rays and other rare marine species that flock to its extensive coral reefs.

“Any explosion should be conducted in an area where the water depth is at least 40 meters, not in shallow areas where coral grows,” Anton says.

He notes that while sunken wrecks can and often do serve as artificial reefs in coastal waters, the “excessive use” of explosives by the Navy can end up “destroying the vessels completely, thus rendering them useless as artificial reefs.”

President Joko claims that destroying illegal foreign fishing vessels has proven an effective deterrent against poachers. There are, however, no statistics available on the proliferation of such boats in Indonesian waters before and after the sinkings began to corroborate this.

For her part, Susi claims the government has, through the new hard-line policy, managed to slash the number of illegal vessels operating in the country’s waters by 90 percent — another figure that cannot be independently verified — and prevented them from “stealing the archipelago’s underwater natural resources.”

Greenpeace’s Arifsyah said that no matter how effective the government made the policy out to be, it should still consider sinking boats in the middle of the sea using explosives as an act of last resort.

“There are two other ways: sinking them without any burning or use of explosives, or towing them back to shore and breaking them up and selling the parts,” he says.

13 Chinese fishing boats expelled in Taiwan crackdown

Want China Times, CNA 2015-02-15

Coast guard personnel use high-pressure water cannons to expel
a Chinese fishing boat, Feb. 14. (Photo/CNA)

Taiwan's coast guard has intensified actions to crack down on poaching in the seas northeast of the island, expelling 13 Chinese fishing boats from its waters over the past two days, the Coast Guard Administration said Saturday.

The administration deployed seven vessels, including the 2,000-ton cutter Hsinbei, during the two-day mission around the islets of Pengjia, Huaping and Mianhua, together known as the "three northern islets."

Coast guard personnel used high-pressure water cannons to deter poachers in waters around the islands as it is beltfish season and fishermen are seeking to meet demand in the run-up to the Lunar New Year holiday next week, according to the administration.

Indonesian Air Force Eying Russian Jet to Combat Illegal Fishing

Jakarta Globe, Dec 22, 2014

A version of the Beriev plane the Indonesian Air Force wants to buy.
(Photo Courtesy of Beriev Aircraft Company)

Jakarta. The Indonesian Air Force says it will buy Russian-designed multipurpose amphibious aircraft to help prevent illegal fishing in the country’s waters.

“This Beriev Be-200 Altair is very reliable to monitor aquatic areas. The amphibious aircraft can land on the sea so it can help us catch illegal fishermen,” Marshall Ida Bagus Putu Dunia, the chief of the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU), told reporters in Jakarta on Monday, as quoted by state-run news agency Antara.

“President Joko Widodo has agreed with the plan to buy the aircraft,” he added.

The Beriev Be-200 is designed by the Beriev Aircraft Company and manufactured by Irkut Corporation, another Russian company. It can be used for firefighting, search and rescue, and maritime patrols. The aircraft is able to drop 12,000 liters of water or transport up to 72 passengers.

It was not immediately clear how many planes would be bought, and how much the deal was worth.

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Google joins fight against illegal fishing

Taiwanese poachers escape Indonesian authorities

Want China Times, CNA 2014-12-21

The Jin Yu Cheng fishing boat. (File photo/China Times)

Taiwan's Fisheries Agency said Saturday that two of three Taiwanese ships suspected of operating illegally in Indonesian waters have fled the area before being apprehended and the third was on its way.

Indonesia's Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries said Friday that it had detected 13 foreign vessels suspected of fishing illegally in its exclusive economic zone.

Indonesian authorities identified four Taiwanese ships among the 13 — the Goang Shing Lih No. 6, the Shin Jyi Chyuu No. 36, the Jin Yu Cheng, and the Yi Feng No. 682 — and asked the country's Navy to track and seize the ships. The Fisheries Agency said after checking, only Shin Jyi Chyuu No. 33 is on record.

The Fisheries Agency, which has monitored the whereabouts of the boats, said the Yi Feng No. 682 and Goang Shing Lih No. 6 are already out of Indonesian waters and were sailing in Palau's exclusive economic zone as of Saturday noon.

The Jin Yu Cheng, which was sailing in a northeasterly direction trying to flee Indonesian waters Friday evening, was still moving, but the agency did not know as of Saturday afternoon if it had succeeded.

The captain of the ship communicated with his family Saturday morning, however, and reported that he and the ship were safe.

The fourth ship identified by Indonesian authorities has been something of a mystery.

No ship registered in Taiwan goes by the name of Shin Jyi Chyuu No. 36, and a Taiwanese ship bearing a similar name, the Shin Jyi Chun No. 33, reported that it was sailing in international waters near Palau and was not in Indonesian waters.

Indonesia has been cracking down on foreign vessels operating illegally in its waters, sinking three Vietnamese fishing boats and seizing 22 Chinese vessels recently to stem the illegal fishing problem.

Authorities there have threatened to seize or even sink the Taiwanese ships detected Friday if they are apprehended by Indonesia's Navy.

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Fishy Business in Maritime Sector, as Ship Sinking Directive Goes Lax

In Fight Against Big-Time Poaching, Susi Nets Minnows

Jakarta Globe, Nuriy Azizah Susetyo, Nov 22, 2014

Bajau Laut child in the Philippines. (Wikimedia Commons Photo/Ronnie Pucket)

Jakarta. Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti’s crusade against poaching by foreign fishing boats in Indonesian waters has turned on a nomadic sea tribe that has practiced subsistence fishing for hundreds of years.

The minister said in Jakarta on Friday that her ministry had identified 400 fishermen from the Bajau Laut community living and fishing among remote islands off East Kalimantan – an area that they have lived in and fished from for generations.

However, Susi said that they included Bajau Laut tribespeople from the Philippines and Malaysia, and that their presence in Indonesian waters – where, again, they have a history that predates the founding of all three countries – posed an existential threat to Indonesia’s maritime sovereignty.

“Under our marine laws, they are definitely violating our territory, and if seen under the fisheries law, they are guilty because they are foreigners,” Susi said.

She added that they lived mostly on uninhabited islands off Berau district in East Kalimantan, a marine conservation area where she claimed fishing was prohibited. However, she also acknowledged that authorities were tipped off to their presence by complaints about the “foreign” competition from local fishermen who also fish in the ostensibly protected area.

Conservationists have long lamented the practice of dynamite fishing by local fishermen in the area, but Susi said no such materials were found among the Bajau Laut.

“We caught 59 boats and 73 rafts, so in total we got 132 wooden boats. However, we only found spears and nets, not potassium and dynamite,” she said.

The coordinating minister for maritime affairs, Indroyono Soesilo, said Indonesia needed to take the case seriously because of the danger that it could lose the islands in question to Malaysia or the Philippines – despite the Bajau Laut generally not subscribing to the notion of statehood.

He added that the government would inform the Malaysian and Philippine governments about the matter and deport the fishermen from the region they have lived in for generations.

Indonesia Declares War on Illegal Foreign Fishing Boats

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite, Nov 18, 2014

Susi Pudjiastuti, the minister for maritime affairs and fisheries, visits a dock
 where impounded illegal foreign fishing vessels are kept, in Kubu Raya district,
West Kalimantan, on Saturday. (Antara Photo/Jessica Helena Wuysang)

Jakarta. Sink or swim: That’s the message the Indonesian government, backed by the Navy, is sending out to foreign fishing fleets poaching inside the country’s maritime borders.

Poaching costs the world’s biggest archipelagic nation some Rp 300 trillion ($24.7 billion) a year, President Joko Widodo said at the State Palace on Tuesday.

“I said it yesterday: Stop arresting [poachers] already and sink 10 or 20 boats so that they’ll think twice,” the president said as quoted by Detik.com.

“But of course, we have to save the people first,” he added.

Fishing, and developing Indonesia’s vast maritime potential in general, is a central pillar of the new government under Joko, who has laid out a vision for Indonesia to become a “global maritime axis.”

His remarks on Tuesday echoed those on Sunday by Susi Pudjiastuti, the maritime and fisheries minister, who called on local authorities in the Derawan Islands, part of Berau district in East Kalimantan, to burn the foreign fishing vessels caught poaching in the area.

“Go to work, burn those boats so they won’t keep doing this. Don’t burn the people, though; arrest them,” Susi said, following a patrol that netted three Malaysian-flagged vessels suspected of illegal fishing.

“Mr. District Chief, Mr. Police Chief, don’t be afraid. If there are any human rights problem, I’ll take the responsibility. Conduct a joint operation with five boats and armed officers. Once you catch them, confiscate the boats. But if there are many boats, burn one or two. Never give the boats back.”

The Navy has responded in a more restrained manner, saying on Tuesday that it had previously carried out a campaign of sinking foreign vessels found poaching in Indonesian waters, but stressed that due legal process needed to be respected.

Adm. Marsetio, the Navy chief of staff, said in Jakarta that he oversaw the previous campaign when he commanded the Navy’s Eastern Fleet.

“It was effective. There were some protests from the ambassadors from the countries [in which the vessels were registered] but they saw that the boat crews were kept safe,” Marsetio said.

“We also worked together with the embassies to deport the crews. The campaign helped prevent similar acts,” he added.

The Navy chief was quick to point out that they could not do this to all vessels suspected of poaching, saying the legal process had to be respected. However, he said the Navy would sink boats caught red-handed “trying to take Indonesia’s natural resources without any proper documents.”

“There have been several instances where we’ve sunk boats illegally entering our waters. But that depends on their crime,” Marsetio said. “In the case of boats found without the proper documentation, we secure the crews first and then we sink the boats to stop them doing that again.”

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Preserving Yogyakarta’s Sea Turtle Nest Sites

Aside from beach erosion, poaching and garbage are said to be contributing to dwindling turtle populations

Jakarta Globe, Ari Susanto, Nov 16, 2014

Sea-turtle preservation has led to an ecotourism boom in the Yogyakarta area as
volunteers, keen to prevent extinction, flock to the area. (JG Photo/Ari Susanto)

Yogyakarta. Relentless erosion, tourist’s litter, and poaching continue to reduce the sea turtle population on Yogyakarta’s sandy beaches. Only the Oliver Ridley species still shows up in small numbers to lay eggs, while three others previously found nesting on the coastline — Green turtles, Leatherbacks and Hawksbills — have not appeared there in the past few years.

The Bantul Turtle Conservation Forum (FKPB), a community-based organization founded under supervision of the Natural Resource Conservation Agency to increase turtle populations, has noticed a significant decrease in the number of turtles emerging to lay eggs on Samas beach during nesting season between April and September each year. Wave erosion of beaches is the biggest cause as it limits the turtle’s nesting zones.

“Samas was once a favorite place for the turtles to lay eggs, but continuous waves eroding coastal land is reducing the sandy area every year. It is a serious problem to solve in turtle conservation,” FKPB coordinator Rujito told the Jakarta Globe.

Rampant tides have also ruined turtle conservation sites in Samas that were built to protect hatchlings from poachers and animal predators before they are released into the ocean. The forum has moved the site into a more protected sandy area covered by coastal-oak woodland and built new pools and hatching pots.

In addition to beach erosion, Rujito said poaching and garbage are contributing to dwindling turtle populations.

Some fishermen continue to hunt the turtles illegally and sell them on the black market for their carapaces and organs.

Garbage left by tourists also worsens the coastal environment for the reptiles as many turtles are found dead after swallowing plastic.

In Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta’s district with some of the most attractive beaches, the turtle population has also declined due to increased tourism. Gunungkidul’s Sea and Fishery Office conducts research on each beach with turtle nesting spots so that the government can limit access by large groups of tourists to those areas.

“We’re doing field research at around 35 beaches and also hearing from fishermen and local residents to collect data. Seven of the areas are confirmed as turtle nesting grounds,” the office’s head Agus Priyanto said.

Some beaches, such as Drini beach, are also identified as abandoned nesting spots, because turtles no longer visit due to tourist overcrowding. Agus recommends that the beaches with existing nesting grounds are open only for ecotourism aimed at turtle conservation, and that it should not be open to the general public.

In Bantul area, the Turtle Conservation Volunteers Network promotes ecotourism by asking people to participate in the release of baby turtles on some beaches, usually during July and August.

Through the Save Our Turtles program, the volunteers lead campaigns to attract people to join in protecting turtles from extinction.

“We want to help turtle conservation by preserving the population and also support ecotourism in Bantul,” volunteer coordinator Ferry Munandar said.

Costa Rica poachers 'kill turtle activist'

BBC News, 1 June 2013

Sea turtles have seen their numbers decline partly because of poaching

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An environmentalist campaigning for the protection of endangered sea turtles in Costa Rica has been found dead in a suspected killing by smugglers.

Jairo Mora was reportedly found face down with his hands tied on Moin beach, 170km (105 miles) east of the capital, San Jose.

Vanessa Lizano, the owner of the turtle sanctuary where Mr Mora worked, said he had been killed because of his work.

Sea-turtle eggs are considered a delicacy in some parts of the world.

Ms Lizano told the BBC: "Jairo went on patrol with some volunteers and they were attacked by armed men.

"It was him they wanted, because he was the one who was always looking after the nests."

Ms Lizano said that poachers in Costa Rica can make up to $300 (£200) per day smuggling turtle eggs in the black market.

She said they had received many threats over the years because of their work at the sanctuary.

Sea turtle eggs are considered a
delicacy in some parts of the world

Populations 'in decline'

Didihier Chacon, a spokesperson for the Widecast, a partner organisation which runs sea turtle conservation programmes in Central America, said he felt "very hurt" by Mr Mora's death.

"He could walk 20km each night to save nests," Mr Chacon told Efe news agency.

"It's not possible that citizens who protect nature have to suffer from this type of attacks."

The Costa Rican authorities said they were investigating the death.

According to Widecast's website, Central America once supported populations of sea turtles in their thousands, but they have been in decline, partly because of widespread poaching for their meat, eggs and shells.

In addition to national legislation in Costa Rica, sea turtles are protected under many international treaties.

International conference aims to protect endangered species

Deutsche Welle, 3 March 2013

A UN environment expert has warned that trafficking has put several species of plants and animals in danger of extinction. A conference under way in Bangkok aims to protect polar bears, rays and sharks.

Making that warning to open the 178-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), UN Environment Program Executive Director Achim Steiner cited an upsurge in poaching of Africa's endangered elephants and rhinos. He said the increase was driven by rising demand in Asia for their tusks and horns, saying that in some countries poaching has driven the pachyderm population down by about 11 percent.

"The backdrop against which this meeting takes place should be a very serious wakeup call for all of us," Steiner told delegates at a convention center in the Thai capital. Wildlife trafficking "in a terrible way has become a trade and a business of enormous proportions - a billion-dollar trade in wildlife species that is analogous to that of the trade in drugs and arms," Steiner added. "This is not a small matter. It is driven by a conglomerate of crime syndicates across borders."

"Blood ivory" will be at the top of the agenda during the global biodiversity conference, which lasts until March 14. The conference will look at about 70 proposals, most of which will decide whether member nations increase or lower the level of protection on various species. CITES has put 35,000 species of plants and animals under its protection since it formed in 1973.

‘Survival of the species'

"The UNEP year book, supported by data from CITES and its Monitoring of the Illegal Killing of Elephants which is hosted by UNEP in Nairboi, indicates that the number of elephants that were killed in 2012 ran, as in 2011, into the tens of thousands," Steiner said in his keynote speech. "Meanwhile a record 668 rhinos were poached in South Africa alone last year."

At the time CITES formed, the African rhino numbered just 2,000. That number now stands at 25,000, but poaching has become more frequent again.

The culprit is largely demand from Asia, where their horns are highly desired because they are believed to have medicinal properties.

CITES Director-General John Scanlon said the slaughter of African elephants and rhinos "could threaten the survival of the species themselves," blaming poachers, rebel militias and syndicates for trafficking animal parts internationally.

"This criminal activity poses a serious threat to the stability and economies of these countries," Scanlon said. "It also robs these countries of their natural heritage, their culture heritage, and it undermines good governance and the rule of law. These criminals must be stopped, and we need to prepare to deploy the sorts of techniques that are used to combat the trade in narcotics to do so."

Help from the hosts

Thailand's prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, said she would amend Thai law "with the goal of putting an end to the ivory trade," delighting conservationists who have long urged the kingdom to tackle the rampant smuggling of tusks through its territory. Activists say criminals exploit Thailand's legal trade in tusks from domesticated Asian elephants to sell African ivory. According to the World Wildlife Fund, Thailand is the world's second-largest illegal ivory market, behind China.

Yingluck said that the animals are very important for the national culture: "No one cares more about the elephant than the Thai people., she said. " Unfortunately, many have used Thailand as a transit country for the illegal international ivory trade."

Without giving a timeframe, Yingluck said Thailand would establish tighter controls to curb illegal flows of ivory and ensure existing ivory supply is from domestic elephants before legislating for an outright end to the trade.

mkg/msh (AFP, dpa, AP)

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"Do Animals Reincarnate?" - NOV 22, 2010 (Kuthumi channelled by Lynette Leckie-Clark)

“... Perhaps this is a timely reminder for mankind to respect all life forms. All play a part in the consciousness evolution of man and the planet. As you prepare to enter a year of Unity, of stepping forward in respect of one another, I ask you remember the many kingdoms who also share the planet- the elemental, plant, mineral and animal. I ask you develop a new awareness for these. It is not all about you - the human. No it is not. You must now begin to awaken your consciousness to sharing - with all. For all is part of God's great creation. 

Update from Ashtar via Mike Quinsey: Obama’s State of the Union Address – (Ashtar channeled by Susan Leland, February 12, 2013)

“… It is Freedom in every aspect of the lives of all humans on Planet Earth; it is Freedom for the animal and the plant kingdoms, and for the mineral kingdoms who are deemed to serve the humans. You know, it’s the humans who think all of the other kingdoms are here to serve. If you ask members of the other kingdoms what they have to say about that, they would take a different perspective and voice a different point of view which is true and appropriate, and as you like to say, it is high time because we are in High Times and we are continuing on this Path! ..."