Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Marine Turtles in the Wild by Elizabeth Kemf, Brian Groombridge, Alberto Abreu, and Alison Wilson 2000 – A WWF SPECIES STATUS REPORT 2 Executive Summary 4 Turtles through Time 6 Natural History of Turtles 14 Threats and Issues 20 What WWF has done for Marine Turtles 28 What WWF is doing for Marine Turtles 38 What Needs to be Done The material and the geographical designations in this report do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of WWF concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. About the authors: Elizabeth Kemf is Species Conservation Information Manager for WWF International and co-author and editor of WWF's species status reports. Brian Groombridge is Compiler and Co-editor of the 1996/IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals, Species Survival Commission. Alberto Abreu is Chairman of the IUCN/SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group. Alison Wilson is a biologist and independent science writer and a frequent contributor to and co-author of WWF's species status reports. Conservation Editor: Marydele Donnelly, Programme Officer of the IUCN/SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group. Designed and produced by: Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising. Published April 2000 by WWF – World Wide Fund For Nature (formerly World Wildlife Fund), Gland, Switzerland. Any reproduction in full or in part of this publication must mention the title and credit the above-mentioned publisher as the copyright owner. © text 2000 WWF. All rights reserved. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY xecutive summary 2 Marine turtles are fascinating creatures that have lived on the earth for over 100 million years. Some early fossil records date back 230 million years. This remarkable reptile, of which there are seven species, is revered in culture and custom around the globe. It symbolises longevity, fertility, strength and protection from harm. From the Aboriginal people of Australia and their neighbours in Asia and the Pacific to coastal communities of Africa, Central, South America and Europe, the turtle has held a place of special importance. In some creation myths it is believed to be the animal on whose back the world was created. The largest ever turtle, Archelon ischyros, lived during the Cretaceous Period, over 65 million years ago, and reached around 3.5m in length. Evidence from archaeological excavations shows that turtles were hunted by humans long before written records were kept. Today, the largest turtle is the leatherback and one of the largest living reptiles. Leatherbacks grow to impressive sizes, up to 180 cm long and weigh about 500 kg. The largest leatherback ever recorded, an enormous male that stranded on a beach in Wales, UK in 1988, was 256 cm in length and weighed nearly a ton. Turtles have always attracted attention, whether laying their eggs on beaches or hatching from shells and making a mad dash to the surf in the first minutes of life. Scuba divers, snorkellers and lucky swimmers who glimpse them by chance underwater thrill to the sight. No matter how idolized the turtle may have been, or still is, it has been exploited for centuries as a source of food, decoration and commerce. Because of overuse and other threats – including pollution, accidental drowning in fishing nets or hooking by longline fishing and habitat loss – six of the world’s seven marine turtles are in danger of extinction. The hawksbill and Kemp’s ridley have been classified by the IUCN/SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group as “Critically Endangered”. All seven species are listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), thus prohibiting international trade in them by more than 140 CITES member nations. Decorative tortoiseshell, from the carapace of the hawksbill turtle, has been traded over long distances since at least the time of the pharaohs, and certain Red Sea ports flourished on the basis of this trade. Some say that Cleopatra’s bathtub was fabricated from tortoiseshell. (Parsons 1972) They were also a prominent feature of the earliest known coins, referred to as “turtles” in the slang of the day, minted in the Greek state of Aegina from 700 BC onwards. Demand for tortoiseshell remains high, especially in Japan and other parts of East and South and Southeast Asia, and two countries, Cuba and Dominica, have proposed that the international trade in the hawksbill turtle be reopened. WWF opposes the resumption of trafficking in this and the other six species of marine turtles. Many populations EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2000 WWF Species Status Report ing beaches. Erosion, accretion, sand mining, and foot and vehicular traffic also need to be addressed on nesting beaches to ensure that nesting females, eggs and hatchlings are protected. Long-term monitoring programmes are also critical to assessing the impact on these habitats. For many populations of marine turtles around the world, the day-to-day support of local coastal communities is crucial to their survival. In some areas the turtle is a valuable source of nourishment and ecotourism income. If the marine or sea turtle vanishes, the world will lose not only a long-treasured symbol, it will also witness the disappearance of a species that has roamed the earth for hundreds of millions of years. Green turtle hatchling. Upon leaving the nest, green, hawksbill and loggerhead turtles rush to the surf and then to the open ocean where they spend several years before returning to their “home” beach. WWF/ANDREAS DEMETIOPOLOS that were abundant 100 to 200 years ago are now depleted, declining or remnants of their former size. Local extinctions have occurred in all ocean basins, and no population, not even those that are stable as a result of long-term conservation and management, is completely safe. Numbers of nesting marine turtles (of four species) in Malaysia have fallen drastically in recent decades, with leatherback nests declining by 98 per cent since the 1950s. After the shrimp trawl fishery was identified as a major source of mortality in the early 1980s, net inserts or Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) were developed to allow entrapped turtles (and other bycatch) to escape. Although TEDs are used widely in the western hemisphere, they are not employed extensively in shrimp and other trawl fisheries around the world. Mortality in longline fisheries for pelagic species such as swordfish and tuna is also a grave and increasing threat. These fisheries, which set billions of hooks each year, continue to expand. Marine turtles swallow longline hooks or become entangled in lines and drown. Many animals that are released alive, but with hooks embedded in their bodies, usually die. Marine turtles are also captured and drowned in various gill net fisheries and in the lines of fish traps. Programmes to reduce mortality through modified gear and fishing techniques, or closing particular areas at particular times, are needed; fishermen should be encouraged to assist in these efforts. In recent years powerful new tools, such as genetic analysis and satellite telemetry, have been developed to answer the riddles surrounding marine turtles, but much remains to be discovered, and much needs to be done. Marine turtle conservation requirements should be included in coastal zone management plans as well as ecosystem conservation programmes. Regulations for maintaining water quality and contingency plans for oil and chemical spills are critical to maintain the health and productivity of the ecosystems on which marine turtle depend. The threats posed by dynamite fishing, marine debris, and oil pollution should be eliminated. Where necessary, legislation must be encouraged, such as lighting restrictions on nest- 3 TURTLES THROUGH TIME History and Culture urtles through time Ancient Greek coins like this replica were used as money and known then as “turtles”. Now it is the symbol of the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece. 4 The symbol of the turtle is universally revered in culture and custom around the world. It represents longevity, fertility, strength and protection from harm. From the aboriginal people of Australia to the coastal communities of Africa, such as the Bajuni people of Kenya, the turtle holds an important place in their lives. In some creation myths it is believed to be the animal on whose back the world was created. For example, among the Hurons and the Iroquois of North America, the “Legend of the Woman Who Fell From the Sky” describes how the earth was formed. A woman lived in the upper world before the earth was formed. “There was nothing but water, nothing but a wide, wide sea. The only people in the world were the animals that lived in and on water. Then down from the sky a woman fell, a divine person.”(Clark 1979) The legend varies as to which birds, ducks or loons, flew beneath her, catching her as she plunged into the darkness and saved her from drowning. But all variations of this myth say that it was the Great Turtle who asked that she be placed on his back. Around his back earth was placed, where plants and trees could grow, “and it is yet today that the Great Turtle still bears the earth on his back”. (Ibid) Among Hindus, the second incarnation of the god Vishnu was as a turtle. After a great flood, various gods tried to raise the earth. Vishnu transformed himself into a turtle and upon his back he lifted up the earth and saved it from the powerful waters. (Pritchard 1990) In Hindu belief, the tortoise or turtle supports the elephant, which in turn supports the earth. Temples and shrines all over the world honour all kinds of turtles, those that live in the sea and in fresh water, as well as tortoises that live on land. The turtle in India has long been considered as holy, while in neighbouring Bangladesh there is a Muslim temple where the custom of caring for the turtles has survived for centuries. In the city of Chittagong, people worship and look after the black three-clawed softshell turtle, a species of freshwater turtle found nowhere else in the world (Pritchard 1990). A stone tablet recently discovered in Taiwan, dated 1883, tells a story of how 18 wealthy philanthropists worked together in the Chin Dynasty to protect baby girls, old cattle and sea turtles. The first known turtles are represented by fossil material from the Late Triassic Epoch, some 230 million years old. These ancient forms already show most of the distinctive features of shell and skeleton characteristic of turtles, and so the evolutionary affinities of the group are quite obscure. Marine turtles, possibly descendants of species that inhabited swamps and marshes during the Late Triassic Epoch, evolved into their present familiar form WWF/ELIZABETH KEMF TURTLES THROUGH TIME Marine turtle in Bali being prepared for ceremonial sacrifice. WWF is working with spiritual and community leaders to find alternatives. approximately 110 million years ago and have wandered the planet’s oceans ever since. The largest ever turtle, Archelon ischyros, lived during the Cretaceous Period, over 65 million years ago, and reached around 3.5 m in length. Evidence from archaeological excavations shows that turtles were hunted by humans long before written records were kept. In the tropical Pacific Islands the hawksbill is still considered sacred and in the Gilbert Islands turtles are used as family totems. (Witzel 1983) According to the Mayas of Central America, the God of the Moon is protected by a breastplate of tortoiseshell. The nearby Tolteca people call the celestial Shield of Orion, Thoh, which also means turtle in their language. (Devaux 1991) Further north in the United States, a more recent type of turtle reverence and respect has sprung up. Thousands of people have joined turtle and tortoise clubs, whose members can follow the fate of these much loved ancient creatures not only in the oceans but also in newsletters and websites on the Internet. However worshipped the turtle may have been or still is, it was also exploited as a source of food, decoration and commerce. Decorative tortoiseshell, from the carapace of the hawksbill turtle, has been traded over long distances since at least the time of the Pharaohs, and certain Red Sea 2000 WWF Species Status Report ports flourished on the basis of this trade. In Nubia and Egypt, many ancient graves have been found containing ornaments fashioned from the carapace of turtles, known as tortoiseshell. The English language term originates because of the sea turtle shell’s similarity to the carapace of land tortoises. Spanish (carey) and French (caret, écaille) words are believed to originate from the language of the Arawak peoples of the West Indies. (Parsons 1972) Some say that Cleopatra’s bathtub was fabricated from tortoiseshell. (Parsons 1972) Rome and India presented gifts made from tortoiseshell to the Chinese Emperor. In Palau, tortoiseshell from the hawksbill turtle was used for ceremonial “women’s money” (Witzell 1983). Turtles were also a prominent feature of the earliest known coins, referred to as “turtles” in the slang of the day, minted in the Greek state of Aegina from 700 BC onwards. By the 19th century international displays of tortoiseshell products were held in the UK, France, and the US. In 1852, manufacturing of combs for women’s hair was most significant in Scotland and the State of Massachusetts in the US. “Tortoiseshell, a 19th century British periodical observed, was imported from more countries than any similar material.” (Parsons 1972) Today, all seven species of marine or sea turtles are listed on Appendix I of CITES, thus prohibiting trade in them by those countries who are CITES member nations. However, demand for tortoiseshell remains high, especially in Japan and other parts of East, South and Southeast Asia. Accidental killing in longline fishing and nets, continued trade, combined with overconsumption of turtle meat and eggs for subsistence, commercial, and even ceremonial purposes, are threatening this living legend with extinction. 5 NATURAL HISTORY OF TURTLES atural history of turtles WWF-CANNON/URS WOY Loggerhead turtle. 6 There are relatively few marine reptiles of which sea turtles are by far the most familiar. Others include sea snakes (the largest group, containing about 50 species), a marine iguana and one or two crocodilians that range into brackish or coastal marine waters. There are seven living species of marine turtle although the actual status of the east Pacific green or black turtle remains uncertain. Arguments for and against its designation as an eighth species are the subject of ongoing debate. The family Dermochelyidae includes the single species Dermochelys coriacea, the leatherback turtle. The other six are placed in the family Cheloniidae: (1) Caretta caretta, the loggerhead turtle, (2) Chelonia mydas, the green turtle, (3) Eretmochelys imbricata, the hawksbill turtle, (4) Lepidochelys kempii, Kemp’s ridley turtle, (5) Lepidochelys olivacea, the olive ridley turtle, and (6) Natator depressus, the flatback turtle. Although some taxonomists have named and described marine turtle subspecies, largely on the basis of colour and body proportion, these names are not in common use. There is now less interest in morphological characteristics than in patterns of genetic differentiation. Five of the seven species are found around the globe (mainly in tropical and subtropical waters) while two species have relatively restricted ranges: Kemp’s ridley occurs mainly in the Gulf of Mexico and the flatback turtle around northern Australia and southern New Guinea. Most species spend much of their lives in continental shelf waters, although leatherback and olive ridley turtles tend to lead more of their lives on the high seas. Males do not leave the sea and females only come ashore to lay their eggs on sandy beaches during the appropriate season. The first several years of life are spent drifting in the open ocean, with most time thereafter in coastal feeding grounds. During the nesting season, mature males and females migrate from feeding grounds and mate near the nesting beach. Females mate with several males and store the sperm for repeated fertilisation of eggs without the need for further mating. A female turtle typically crawls out of the water and up the beach at night to lay many eggs, often more than 100, in a single nest, returning to the water before dawn. On undisturbed beaches, she may repeat this process several more times in a single nesting season, but will then spend the next two years or so on the feeding grounds preparing for another NATURAL HISTORY OF TURTLES WWF/ELIZABETH KEMF implication of this new information is that nesting colonies require conservation management on an individual basis. A depleted nesting population will not be replenished by females from another population. Genetic evidence has also demonstrated that feeding areas contain turtles from more than one nesting population and not necessarily just from the nearest nesting beach. This means that people in one country might easily be harvesting turtles hatched in one or more other countries, which serves to highlight the need for international cooperation on turtle management. Turtle researchers monitoring a nesting beach near Karachi, Pakistan. 2000 WWF Species Status Report Turtle hunter with olive ridley. PETER CH PRITCHARD nesting migration. In the case of Lepidochelys species (the two ridley turtles), huge numbers of turtles (sometimes many thousands) may clamber ashore together over a period of several days, a phenomenon known as an arribada (arrival). During a given season, an individual nesting female may lay all her clutches within the same few square metres, showing high nest-site fidelity. Even more remarkably, females have a strong tendency to return to nest on the same beach on which they were hatched (high philopatry) as evidenced by the fact that individual nesting aggregations tend to show distinctive types of mitochondrial DNA, which is passed on from mother to daughter in cell cytoplasm. This differentiation suggests that there is relatively low female gene flow between nesting colonies. The fact that another type of DNA (contained in cell nuclei) does not vary in the same way suggests that there is some exchange of genetic material between colonies. This could be explained if males tend to mate with females from different populations. An assumption that males are the principal source of genetic exchange between colonies could be explained if newly mature males are more interested in finding a female with which to mate, than in the location of the beach to which the pair eventually migrates. Feeding areas are used by turtles from different populations, so such a mechanism is feasible. Although there is a rapidly growing body of genetic evidence, its interpretation is not always straightforward, as not all marine turtles in all oceans share this basic pattern. Leatherbacks, for example, colonise new beaches as they appear in some areas of the tropics and researchers have documented the use of adjacent beaches by individual green turtles in the waters of Australia. However, the key practical 7 NATURAL HISTORY OF TURTLES Hatchings The eggs are completely unprotected once the mother returns to the sea. Eggs incubate for 55 to 75 days, depending on the temperature. The size and weight of hatchlings correlate with egg size. Like many reptiles, the sex of the hatchling turtles is dependent on the temperature in the nests, with cooler temperatures favouring the development of males, and warmth favouring females. Although successful hatching rates may reach 80 per cent, there may be high predation, for example by mongooses, ghost crabs, rats, racoons, jackals, feral pigs and dogs, to mention just a few. In many parts of the world turtle eggs are prized by humans as a rich source of protein, and are often reputed to have aphrodisiac properties. Consequently all accessible nests may be stripped of their eggs. In other cases, nests may be located below the high tide mark, resulting in the destruction of many clutches by seawater. The hatchlings tunnel out of the nests usually, but not always, at night. Aligning themselves with the main source of light, which in undisturbed situations will be the marine horizon, they rush to the surf. At beaches altered by human development, artificial light often attracts hatchlings inland, where they are vulnerable to predators and road traffic, and in any case soon desiccate. Where people and turtles co-exist along developed beaches, shaded low-intensity yellow lighting can much reduce this problem. During the frenzied dash to the water, hatchlings may suffer intense predation, especially if emerging during the day. At this size they are of limited interest to humans, but birds, mammals and crabs feast on this bonanza, with few hatchlings reaching the surf. Once in the water, the hatchlings head towards the incoming waves and out to sea, where they still face a high risk of predation from birds and large fish such as groupers, snappers and barracudas. The survivors disperse into pelagic waters and spend several years at sea. Some species do not return to coastal waters until full sexual maturity, others do so as large juveniles. This period at sea, which can last up to a decade, is commonly referred to as the “lost years” and is the least well understood part of any turtle species’ life history. Recently, however, some hatchlings have been tracked for considerable periods of time. Presumably turtles are less vulnerable to predation by birds and some fish while in deeper waters. Once they have grown sufficiently large to avoid such attacks, the turtles are really only consumed by sharks, killer whales (occasionally) and, of course, humans. The broad reproductive strategy of marine turtles is to spend a very long time developing to sexual maturity – perhaps 20 to 30 years on average, longer in cold nutrient-poor areas – and then devote enormous resources to producing large numbers of eggs several times during a nesting season. The worth of any individual egg or hatchling, in terms of its likelihood of contributing to population persistence, is very 8 Leatherback hatchlings rushing to the surf in French Guyana. low indeed, while the worth of an adult or large subadult is extremely high. In this situation, the loss of a small proportion of egg output from a beach is unlikely to have severe consequences. At the other extreme, the practice of directly harvesting nesting females from a beach is likely to have enormous impact on the population. Humans take turtles principally for their meat, shells (carapace), and fat. Turtles are particularly vulnerable to predation by humans because of the ease with which they can be captured. Collecting the eggs from a nest is as easy as digging a hole and filling a bucket. Females are incredibly vulnerable when they come ashore to nest and adults are readily tracked by fishermen because they swim slowly, have to come to the surface to breathe, and are highly visible from boats as they swim through clear tropical waters. They are harpooned, netted or simply seized by divers. Turtles have frequently been sighted far out to sea, sometimes travelling in large aggregations, and are capable of covering considerable distances. Studies in which turtles have been tracked using satellite positioning technology NATURAL HISTORY OF TURTLES WWF-CANON/ROGER LEGUEN in areas of open sea, and there are relatively frequent observations in temperate waters, and sometimes in brackish lagoons and estuaries. Mating occurs in open water, and – unlike in other species – often takes place some way from the shore. The major Atlantic nesting grounds are off the Coast of Florida and South Carolina. Loggerheads are also the most common turtle in the Mediterranean, with nesting reported from Greece and Turkey to Israel, Tunisia, and Libya. Northern Natal and Masirah Island, Oman, are the main nesting sites in the Indian Ocean, and nesting occurs throughout Southeast Asia to Australia, but rarely in the central and western Pacific islands. Females lay between 40 and 190 eggs per clutch (average is about 100) and larger females tend to lay larger eggs. The loggerhead is classified by the SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group as “Endangered” have confirmed that they undertake enormous huge migrations, many thousands of kilometres, during their lives. Recently, a female turtle tracked by satellite across the Pacific had travelled 7,000km before contact was lost. Many females forage over large geographical areas yet return to the same beach to nest, navigating by a series of cues. FAMILY CHELONIIDAE Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) Loggerheads are among the biggest cheloniid turtles, sometimes measuring well over a metre in shell length, weighing up to 180 kg, and having characteristically large heads and strong jaws. They are carnivorous throughout their lives, eating bottom-dwelling molluscs (conch, clams), crabs, urchins and sponges, as well as free-swimming jellyfish. Loggerheads are widely distributed in coastal tropical and subtropical waters, and travel large distances following major warm currents such as the Gulf Stream and California Current. Solitary adults and groups of juveniles may be encountered 2000 WWF Species Status Report Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) So called because of the colour of the cartilage and fat deposits around its internal organs, green turtles are dark black-brown or greenish yellow. At up to 1.5m in length, the green turtle is the largest cheloniid turtle. Scientists note that individuals from Hawaii and the eastern Pacific are particularly dark in colour, and sometimes call it the black turtle. The largest female green turtles are found in the Atlantic and western Pacific Ocean, less in the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean. The smallest is found in Guyana (80cm); weight ranges between 90 and 200 kg. The carapace is oval when viewed from above, and the head is relatively small and blunt. Green turtles are widely distributed in the tropics, particularly near continental coasts and around islands, and have been recorded in temperate waters. The only herbivorous marine turtle, the species feeds mainly on seagrasses, flowering plants which grow in shallow coastal waters, mainly in the tropics and subtropics. Females migrate huge distances between the feeding grounds and nesting beaches. Nesting occurs widely throughout the range, even on the central Pacific islands, where few other turtles now occur. Female green turtles sometimes show strong nest site fixity. An individual nests about once every three years, and lays between two to five clutches of 40 to 200 eggs, which develop for 50 to 70 days before hatching. An estimated 100,000 green turtles are killed around the Indo-Australian archipelago each year. There is a near total egg harvest in several countries, e.g. Thailand and Malaysia (although egg production in Sarawak dropped from 2,200,000 eggs in the mid-1930s to 175,000 in 1995) and disease threatens populations elsewhere. As a result, populations are declining worldwide, with numbers in Indonesia decreasing by tenfold since the 1940s, and by more than half in French Polynesia. The SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group has assessed this species as “Endangered”. Recovery has occurred under strong conservation management 9 NATURAL HISTORY OF TURTLES regimes, but only in a very few cases (e.g. Sabah Turtle Islands National Park in Malaysia and Florida USA). TABLE 1. CONSERVATION STATUS OF MARINE TURTLES Species/Common Name Status Caretta caretta (loggerhead turtle) Chelonia mydas (green turtle) Eretmochelys imbricata (hawksbill turtle) Lepidochelys kempii (Kemp’s ridley turtle) Lepidochelys olivacea (olive ridley turtle) Demachelys coriacea (leatherback turtle) Natator depressus (flatback turtle) EN EN CR CR EN EN V EN - Endangered CR - Critically Endangered V - Vulnerable Source: IUCN/SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) A medium-sized cheloniid that grows to about 90 cm in length and weighs 60 kg on average, the hawksbill, as its name suggests, has a narrow pointed beak reminiscent of a bird of prey. The shell is highly coloured with elaborate patterns. The overlapping carapace scales are often streaked and marbled with amber, yellow or brown, most evident when the shell material is worked and polished. The hawksbill has a pan-tropical distribution and has only rarely been recorded away from the tropics. It is the sole source of commercial tortoiseshell. Nesting occurs widely throughout the range, but tends to be more dispersed than in other species. There are few major nesting colonies and only five sites have populations with more than 1,000 females nesting annually. The hawksbill often nests on beaches close to coral reefs, and it is one of the turtles most frequently encountered by scuba divers over coral reefs. Female hawksbills nest every two or three years, laying 60 to 200 eggs at a time. Sponges normally 10 constitute a major proportion of the diet. Hawksbill turtles are carnivorous and use their narrow beaks to extract invertebrate prey from reef crevices. Both sessile and mobile animals are consumed. Hawksbills have been hunted for centuries as a source of tortoiseshell (“carey”) for jewellery and ornaments. In recent decades eastern Asia, and Japan in particular, has provided an eager market for tortoiseshell. Through international conventions and national legislation some countries have sought with considerable success to restrict trade. Japan was a major market for tortoiseshell until 1994. Cuba has, in 2000, put forward a proposal to CITES, together with Dominica, to reopen international trade, with Cuba selling hawksbill shell to Japan. Harvest for domestic trade still occurs in many countries, including Cuba, Dominica, Indonesia, the Solomon Islands and Fiji. Because of the strong evidence of significant worldwide decline and ongoing projected declines the hawksbill has been assessed by the SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group as “Critically Endangered”. WWF rejects reopening the international trade in hawksbill shell or “tortoiseshell”. Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) The two species in the genus Lepidochelys are the smallest of all marine turtles, reaching around 0.7m. Kemp’s ridley has an almost completely round carapace and four pores on either side of the lower surface. These are openings to glands, which release pheromones important in the timing of mass nesting. Kemp’s ridley turtle has been classified as “Critically Endangered”. NATURAL HISTORY OF TURTLES There was massive exploitation of eggs until this species received protection in 1965. The nesting population crashed from more than 40,000 turtles coming ashore in a single day in the late 1940s to a few hundred females nesting in an entire season in the late 1980s. As a result of an enormous conservation effort to protect all nests produced at Rancho Nuevo and required use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) to reduce capture in fishing nets, the species is undergoing a remarkable recovery. Because of documented decline, Kemp’s ridley has been assessed by the SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group as “Critically Endangered”. WWF-CANNON/URS WOY The Kemp’s ridley turtle, is restricted to the Gulf of Mexico and coastal waters of the western Atlantic Ocean of the United States. This species prefers shallow sandy and muddy habitats, such as the coastal lagoons of Louisiana, Texas and Alabama; as a result, these turtles are usually observed near to shore. However it is neither size nor distribution that qualifies Kemp’s ridley as something of an oddity amongst turtles; it is its breeding behaviour. Nesting occurs conspicuously in broad daylight, and apart from sporadic nesting elsewhere, takes place only on one 20 km beach at Rancho Nuevo in Mexico on the Gulf of Mexico. In the past, tens of thousands of females nested simultaneously at the beach, a true arribada. Nowadays arrivals are numbered in the hundreds. Females lay an average of 1.5 clutches of 100 eggs per season. Kemp’s ridley turtles are carnivorous throughout their lives, although the feeding behaviour of the hatchlings and juveniles is very poorly understood. The adults consume crabs, shrimps, clams and sea urchins and grow to 72 cm and weigh 35 to 50kg. 2000 WWF Species Status Report 11 WWF-CANON/REY-MILLET NATURAL HISTORY OF TURTLES Freshly-laid turtle eggs in danger of collection are sometimes but not always protected. Olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) The olive ridley turtle looks very similar to Kemp’s ridley, but has a deeper body, with slightly upturned edges to the carapace. It grows to about 72 cm, and weigh 35 to 50 kg. However, the two Lepidochelys species have very different distributions, with olive ridley absent from the Gulf of Mexico and Florida, but present throughout the Antilles, the north coast of South America, west Africa, the Indian Ocean, Australia and Southeast Asia. Despite this wide distribution, the species has only been observed around continents and large islands, where large flotillas are sometimes observed moving between feeding and nesting grounds. The main nesting beaches are on the eastern Pacific coasts of Central America, from Mexico to Costa Rica, in northeastern India, and Suriname. Sometimes the beaches are separated from the mainland by coastal lagoons. In these areas, thousands of females emerge from the sea and nest simultaneously, over a period of two to three days. The arribada is believed to be an adaptation against predation, the predators being overwhelmed by numbers, and one reason for the past success of this species. However, many of the beaches are relatively small, less than 10 km long, and nesting may be so dense that successive waves of females often dig up previously laid nests in efforts to lay their own eggs. Mass arrivals can be repeated (two to seven times a season) and each female lays an average of 1.5 clutches each year of nesting, of approximately 110 eggs, although this can vary considerably. The species is typified by its wide diet, consuming an enormous range of sessile and mobile marine organisms. 12 With its documented decline and the continuing pressure of incidental catch, beach development, and other factors, the olive ridley has been assessed by the SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group as “Endangered”. Flatback turtle (Natator depressus) The flatback is a distinctive species, having a flat body and smooth carapace with upturned edges. It has the most limited range of any turtle species, being found only around the northern half of Australia, and in the seas between northern Australia and southern parts of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Flatbacks only very rarely leave the shallow waters of the continental shelf, and nest only in northern Australia, where beaches on small offshore islands are the most important sites. Nesting females coming ashore are sometimes taken by crocodiles, possibly their major natural predator. Very little is known about diet during the early stages of development, but the species is believed to be predominantly carnivorous, with squid, sea cucumbers, soft corals, and molluscs all being recorded in stomachs. Females grow to about 100cm and weigh about 90kg. The restricted range means that the flatback is extremely vulnerable to habitat loss, especially of breeding sites, but the major threat appears to be incidental catch by the numerous fishing vessels operating in waters favoured by these turtles. The species is not particularly valued by indigenous peoples and so is rarely subject to direct hunting; its carnivorous diet is believed to be responsible for an unpleasant taste. Annual nesting populations range up to 10,000, but long-term changes in this species are impossible to measure, NATURAL HISTORY OF TURTLES FAMILY DERMOCHELYIDAE Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) The leatherback is the largest turtle and one of the largest living reptiles. Leatherbacks grow to impressive sizes, up to 180 cm and weigh about 500 kg. However, the largest leatherback ever recorded, an enormous male which was found stranded on a beach in Wales in 1988, was 256cm long and weighed 916kg! Aside from their bulk, leatherbacks are easily distinguished by their leathery-ridged carapace, lacking the horny plates (scutes) of other turtles. Leatherbacks also have disproportionately long front flippers compared to other turtles – they are at least half the length of the carapace in adults. This species has an unusually wide latitudinal range as adults are able to withstand cold (10 °C) water. The leatherback has been recorded north to Alaska and south to the Cape of Good Hope and occurs regularly in waters off New England, in the Bay of Biscay and off southeast Australia. It is a highly pelagic species, venturing close to shore mainly during the nesting season, and is capable of diving to several hundred metres. Adults feed mainly on pelagic softbodied creatures such as jellyfish and tunicates, which occur in greatest concentrations at the surface in areas of upwelling or convergence (see p.15 sections on Pollution and Bycatch). 2000 WWF Species Status Report The regular appearance of leatherbacks in cool temperate waters, e.g. in the northeast Atlantic, is probably due to the seasonal occurrence there of large numbers of jellyfish. The most important nesting areas are on the western coasts of Mexico, Suriname and French Guyana, Malaysia, Irian Jaya (Indonesia), and western Sumatra (Indonesia). Female leatherbacks lay four to five times per season, each time depositing 60 to 120 eggs. Strangely, a relatively large proportion of eggs in each clutch are small and without yolk and may serve as spacers for the nest. The meat of this species is very oily and not particularly favoured for human consumption. Worldwide population declines, coupled with continuing pressures of egg harvest, incidental catch and beach development have caused the leatherback to be assessed by the SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group as “Endangered”. PETER CH PRITCHARD as most populations have never been monitored. This species may be the least-threatened marine turtle, and has been assessed as “Vulnerable” by the SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group. Olive ridley shells outside a former slaughterhouse in Mexico. 13 THREATS AND ISSUES The Kemp’s ridley turtle was once the most common turtle in the Gulf of Mexico, yet now it is critically endangered. The extent and dramatic nature of this decline is evident in old film footage of the 1947 arribada in which an estimated 40,000 females came ashore to nest in a single night. Given that there may well have been two to three times this number of females which did not lay that evening, and perhaps an equal number of males far offshore, then the population 50 years ago numbered a few hundred thousand. In 1985, just 200 females nested on Rancho Nuevo. In recent years, Kemp’s ridley has been undergoing exponential recovery on the nesting beach after more than two decades of protection and nearly ten years of Turtle Excluder Devices. What pressures could have produced such a collapse in population numbers? The following is a summary of the principal human impacts on turtle populations worldwide, though different species are more or less vulnerable to different pressures, in different locations. hreats and issues PETER CH PRITCHARD Direct consumption Over collection of turtle eggs is threatening some marine turtle populations with extinction. 14 Turtles generally make good eating. Although the leatherback is less frequently consumed, and in some areas the flesh of other species is considered unpalatable (e.g. Kemp’s ridley turtles in Mexico) or even poisonous (e.g. hawksbill turtles in parts of the Indo-Pacific), there is a long history of human consumption. The high yield of good quality meat, combined with the ease with which turtles can be caught, has made them particularly desirable food items in coastal communities around the world. The green turtle quickly became a dietary staple of colonial mariners and plantation owners in the Caribbean from the late 16th century onwards; estimates suggest that tens of thousands were consumed annually in Grand Cayman, Jamaica and other parts of the West Indies. As air-breathing animals, turtles can survive transportation by boat and overland, and they can also be kept in holding enclosures for some time. As a result, from the mid-18th century onwards turtle soup was produced in London from animals shipped from the Caribbean, and this international trade continued (albeit at a much reduced scale) well into the 20th century. Green turtles in the Mediterranean were almost extirpated by exploitation of nesting females in the 1940s. Many other nesting populations around the world were heavily depleted as consumption pressures increased in parallel with coastal development, human population increase, and breakdown of cultural restraint on harvesting. Turtle eggs are also easy to collect and highly nutritious. As a result, the arrival of nesting females is traditionally regarded as a predictable bounty, providing a welcome change of diet. This allure is further enhanced by the aphrodisiac properties, which are frequently attributed to turtle eggs, so much so that they are traded illegally. D. ALLEN THREATS AND ISSUES Loggerhead turtle drowned in fishing net. Turtles have also been hunted for their shells, which are used in jewellery, and their hides, which are cured for leather. There are recent reports of turtle-leather cowboy boots being freely available in Tijuana, Mexico, and of rooms full of confiscated boots on the US border. Though trade in marine turtles is illegal under CITES, they are still stuffed, varnished, mounted and sold openly as tourist curios in Vietnam, Cambodia, Mexico and parts of the Caribbean. Bycatch and longline fishing An unknown quantity (some estimates are as high as 200,000 to 300,000 annually) of turtles are killed as “bycatch” (i.e. incidentally), particularly in trawling nets. Decline was set in motion by decades of egg collecting and the killing of females; then it was continued by trawler mortality. This is probably one of the major causes of decline in the Kemp’s ridley turtle which is particularly vulnerable because it feeds in the rich shrimping grounds of the Gulf of Mexico (see p.17 section on Turtle and shrimp fishing). Longlines for tuna and swordfish are responsible for killing leatherback and loggerhead turtles, which are attracted to the baited hooks. The turtles either become snared or tangled in the line and are then unable to reach the surface and drown (or in some cases lose a limb). Turtles that have swallowed hooks most certainly die as well, although they may be released alive. 2000 WWF Species Status Report This problem is particularly acute because these two species feed on planktonic organisms that are found in highest concentrations along oceanic fronts, areas that also support the highest densities of pelagic fish. Habitat destruction and alteration The construction of seawalls, hotels, marinas and the entire infrastructure associated with coastal tourism and commerce have destroyed large areas of turtle nesting beaches around the world. Turtle reproductive behaviour evolved in an environment of deserted, intact beaches. Nowadays, light and noise pollution frequently deter or interrupt many females from successful laying. Hatchlings locate the water’s edge by orientating themselves towards the horizon, but house and street lights can disorient newly hatched turtles so that they actually crawl away from the sea. Adult turtles are reported as displaying symptoms of acute physiological stress in some areas of very heavy coastal traffic, such as the Adriatic. It is possible that these adults may be deterred from coming ashore at all. Pollution Heavy metals including aluminium, arsenic, cadmium, copper, iron, mercury, selenium and zinc, have been recorded in the tissues of stranded turtles, especially the kidneys and 15 THREATS AND ISSUES liver. These metals were measured in concentrations sufficiently elevated to cause metal toxicity. Similarly, phthalate esters, molecules used in the manufacture of plastics which are known to be toxic and have mutagenic and carcinogenic properties, have been identified in turtle eggs. The exact effects of these and other substances on the reproductive biology and health of turtles, and the implications for their conservation, are unknown but surely negative. There is no uncertainty as to the effects on turtles of another type of marine pollutant, solid debris. Items as varied as tar balls, condoms, fishing line, plastic bags and bottles have been found in the stomachs of all species in quantities so great that normal nutrition must be impaired. Occasionally turtles make meals of spectacular objects such as the 3 x 4 m heavy plastic sheet (found in a loggerhead), or the 180 m monofilament line consumed by a leatherback – off New York, United States. Such nondegradable items persist in the ocean for years and if not eaten directly still pose a danger to turtles through entanglement, which at best impedes swimming and at worst leads to the loss of limbs, choking or drowning (as is the case with drift nets used in commercial fishing). The problem of ingestion of marine debris and entanglement is particularly acute for new hatchlings during the first few years after birth (the “lost years”). During this period they are pelagic, drifting with strong oceanic currents and inevitably they are concentrated along fronts where there is an abundant supply of both shelter (sargassum weed) and pelagic prey. Scraps of plastic also accumulate here and soon become encrusted with edible bryozoans, barnacles and algae. This, and the fact that tar balls and styrofoam pellets are the same size and shape as sargassum floats, probably account for the misguided feeding on these items by young turtles. Disease Debilitating and disfiguring tumours have been identified in numerous populations of turtles in the late 1970s, although these abnormalities were first described in green turtles in the 1930s. The prevalence of these tumours, called fibropapillomas, which develop in a manner similar to warts in humans, increased dramatically in the 1980s in Florida and Hawaii where more than 50 per cent of some populations were found to be affected. Widespread problems with fibropapillomas are a new phenomenon. Reports involving the capture, handling, and sighting of thousands of turtles by former turtle fishermen in Hawaii indicate that tumours were virtually non-existent prior to the 1950s. Although most commonly seen in Chelonia mydas (green turtle), tumours have been found in loggerhead, olive ridley, flatback and leatherback turtles as well. Up to 92 per cent of individuals can be infected in some areas, with highest prevalence in shallow near-shore waters with relatively restricted water turnover. Many (but not all) of these 16 Green turtle with life-threatening tumours. marine habitats are near areas of heavy human use and terrestrial runoff. Tumours can blind the turtles or inhibit their ability to feed. Tumours may also develop internally in the lungs, liver, kidney and gastrointestinal tract, resulting in flotation problems, bowel obstruction, kidney failure and pressure necrosis (death) of affected tissues. Affected turtles are generally extremely emaciated, weak and anaemic, with severely restricted eyesight, and are likely to die prematurely. Since 1983, 31 to 54 per cent of stranded green turtles in Hawaii have been found to bear fibropapillomas. Although regressions of tumours have been reported recently, the prognosis for most turtles with tumours is poor. Although circumstantial evidence may suggest that pollutants could be a factor, studies have so far been unable to find any unusual concentrations of pollutants in the afflicted populations. It is possible that the disease is the result of a combination of factors. Turtles under stress from pollution could be more vulnerable to a virus that would otherwise be relatively harmless. DR SCHRICHTE THREATS AND ISSUES Turtles and shrimp fishing Instead of swimming away from an approaching net, turtles try to outswim the trawl but get caught once they tire. After years of studying this problem, the US National Marine Fisheries Services developed Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) for use by commercial fishermen. TEDs are panels of large mesh webbing or metal grids inserted as barriers into the funnel–shaped shrimp nets. As the trawls are dragged along the bottom, shrimps and other small animals pass through the TED and into the narrow bag at the end of the funnel where the catch is collected. Sea turtles, sharks, and fish too large to get through the panel are deflected out an escape hatch (the TED), reducing bycatch by up to 97 per cent. Without TEDs sea turtles become trapped in a net for as long as it is towed underwater and sometimes drown or undergo physiological changes that result in death. Prior to the required use of TEDs in the US, tens of thousands of sea turtles drowned in shrimp nets each year. 2000 WWF Species Status Report Although shrimp fishermen feared TEDs would cost the shrimping industry millions of dollars in equipment and lost catch, TEDs have proved successful in the United States and elsewhere. They also reduce fuel costs by excluding non-shrimp species that often outweigh shrimps by ten to one and provide a better quality catch (the shrimps are not crushed by other species). However, the US government’s requirement for the use of TEDs became one of the most bitterly fought regulations in the history of fisheries management. Mexico and 13 other Central and South American nations followed this lead, mainly because under a 1989 law the US Department of State banned the import of shrimps from any country not taking adequate measures to conserve sea turtles in commercial shrimp fisheries. In 1988, 150,500 tonnes of shrimps worth US$ 506 million were caught in US waters. The rest of the 365,500 tonnes consumed that year were imported, mainly from India, Indonesia, Thailand, Mexico, Malaysia, Korea and Japan, all nations where turtles are under serious threat. Despite the benefits of using TEDs, some international opposition remains. In 1997 four Asian countries – Thailand, India, Malaysia and Pakistan – challenged the US decision to ban shrimp imports from countries with inadequate marine turtle conservation measures. The nations took the case to a WTO dispute panel, which interprets WTO rules. While the WTO has the power to suspend free trade rules for conservation reasons, the panel ignored the relevant international conservation agreements including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and ruled that the US ban was illegal. After an appeal by the US, the WTO finally acknowledged the potential of such a trade restriction to protect the environment. However, it still judged the US action to be illegal, ruling in favour of free trade. WWF believes that the WTO is failing to fulfil the mandate contained in the preamble to its own charter: to promote trade that is environmentally responsible and that encourages sustainable development. Over-exploitation of eggs and adults Under natural conditions, turtles suffer high hatchling, posthatchling and juvenile mortality, but those that survive the early days grow into long-lived animals with delayed sexual maturity and very low adult mortality. Unfortunately, conditions nowadays are far from “natural” and turtles suffer mortality at all stages of their life cycle, leading to increasingly regular population crashes. In the days of Columbus, the Caribbean Sea was described as being “thick with them [green turtles], and they were of the very largest, so numerous that it seemed that the ships would run aground”. This is a rare sight today. The number of female leatherbacks nesting on the Pacific beaches of Mexico has declined tenfold in less than a decade; the number of nesting loggerheads in eastern Australia 17 THREATS AND ISSUES has declined by 50 to 80 per cent since the mid-1970s; Kemp’s ridley nearly went extinct. The list goes on, and makes depressing reading. The causes are many and varied, but have their roots in two basic characteristics of turtle biology which render populations particularly vulnerable to the pressures described above. Turtle populations can be destroyed from the “bottom up” by over-exploitation of the eggs, and destruction of nesting sites. For example, as far as we know, green turtles take 30 to 50 years to reach sexual maturity and remain reproductive for about 20 years. Adults are the visible component of a turtle population; their numbers are maintained by the gradual maturation of juvenile and sub-adult turtles. This will continue to happen, even if no eggs are laid or if all the eggs are collected. It will be many decades before the number of adults begins to decline, but over time the reservoir of juveniles and subadults will become progressively depleted until there are no more recruits. These “last adults” will, in theory, survive for another 20 years during which time the situation may not seem too serious. In reality, however, the population is on the verge of extinction because once these adults die there will be no hatchlings, juveniles or sub-adults to replace them. If juvenile and adults are being killed, e.g. as bycatch, then this will simply happen more quickly. International Agreements for Turtle Conservation International trade in turtle products was formerly a major cause of population depletion. Since all species of marine turtles were listed on Appendix I of CITES, trade between Party states has decreased. However, illegal trade and hunting for international markets outside the CITES framework remains of concern, and local consumption continues. Turtle and products for sale in Vietnam. 18 THREATS AND ISSUES ELIZABETH KEMF This group of species is ideally matched to the aims expressed by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (also known as the Bonn Convention or CMS). The text of the CMS includes many of the concepts fundamental to regional conservation of migratory marine animals and their habitats. With the exception of the flatback (Natator depressus), all species of sea turtles are listed in both Appendix I and Appendix II of the Bonn Convention. The Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles (IAC) is the only major international treaty dedicated exclusively to sea turtles and their habitats, formally setting standards for their conservation. The IAC recognizes that sea turtles migrate and that they are resources shared by the peoples of many nations. Hence, the IAC has been vigorously supported by many members of the international community of sea turtle biologists and conservationists, particularly specialists from Latin America. In order to enter into force, eight countries must ratify the agreement. Currently, 12 States have signed and six have ratified. The treaty is expected to go into force in 2000. The measures proposed in the IAC promote regional management plans and accords. Its stated objective is “to promote the protection, conservation and Turtles and turtle products for sale in a hotel lobby in Ho Chi Minh City. WWF/CATHERINE CHEUNG recovery of sea turtle populations and of the habitats on which they depend, based on the best available scientific evidence, taking into account the environmental, socioeconomic and cultural characteristics of the Parties”. In the same vein, the Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (known also as the Cartagena Convention) is complementary to the IAC. All six species of Caribbean sea turtle are listed in Annex II of the SPAW Protocol. 2000 WWF Species Status Report 19 WHAT WWF HAS DONE FOR MARINE TURTLES WWF-CANON/MICHEL GUNTHER hat WWF has done for marine turtles Since it was founded in 1961, WWF has supported numerous sea turtle conservation efforts worldwide. Much of the early work involved mapping the distribution of nesting beaches, with surveys in more than 40 countries. Other projects focused on survival of eggs and hatchlings, establishment of protected areas, research into sea turtle biology, ecology and behaviour, monitoring the trade in turtle products, investigating the threats from fisheries, and sponsoring international conferences and workshops on sea turtle conservation. WWF assisted in the creation of what was to become the IUCN/SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group (MTSG). “The present world situation for the great marine turtles is tragic,” said a Statement issued after the First Working Meeting of Marine Turtle Specialists organized by IUCN in 1969. Describing 20th-century population declines as “catastrophic”, biologists called for a variety of conservation measures, more public awareness campaigns, and international cooperation for turtle protection. WWF swung into action immediately, funding surveys throughout the 1970s along Loggerhead turtles have been a focus of WWF’s conservation work in the Mediterranean, especially in Greece and Turkey. the coasts of southern Africa, Australia and Latin America. In 1979, WWF supported the first World Conference on the Conservation of Sea Turtles, and helped set in motion an Action Plan of 137 urgent projects. For WWF 1980 was the “Year of the Turtle”. In the past 30 years, biologists have started to explore the mysteries of turtle migrations by tagging adult and immature turtles and more recently by using satellite technology. From these studies, it has become apparent that 20 WHAT WWF HAS DONE FOR MARINE TURTLES WWF-CANON/MICHEL GUNTHER regional approaches to turtle conservation are needed. Because of the great mobility of these animals, vast numbers of turtles are vulnerable throughout their ranges to a myriad of threats, including intentional hunting/trapping and incidental capture in fishing nets. While WWF continues to support national efforts to conserve sea turtles, it is increasingly focusing on regional approaches to conservation in the Mediterranean, Indo-Pacific, eastern Pacific and Caribbean. In 1999, WWF co-funded production of a state-of-the-art publication, Research and Management Techniques for the Conservation of Sea Turtles, prepared by the IUCN/SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group. MEDITERRANEAN Protecting nesting beaches The major nesting areas for the Mediterranean’s green and loggerhead turtles lie in the eastern part of the region, with Greece, Turkey and Cyprus hosting the highest numbers. The Mediterranean is thought to support the third largest loggerhead nesting population in the world, after those of Oman and the United States. WWF and IUCN initiated nesting beach surveys in Turkey in 1978 along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts, and started public awareness campaigns and a tagging programme. In 1987 the Turkish Society for the Protection of Nature (DHKD), a WWF affiliate, launched a successful campaign to stop a huge tourism development project for the Dalyan/Koycegiz region, considered the Mediterranean’s most important loggerhead nesting area. Plans for hotels were scrapped and Dalyan was declared a protected area. In 1988, a survey of the entire Turkish Mediterranean coast identified 17 important turtle beaches. These beaches faced a number of threats: of the 606 km of beaches, 40 per cent were severely impacted by tourism. Moreover, about half of the beach areas used by nesting turtles had been destroyed by sand extraction. DHKD initiated a number of conservation actions at these sites and lobbied the government to reinforce existing conservation regulations and establish new protected areas. Thanks to these efforts, marine turtles have become a symbol of the conservation movement in Turkey. The nesting density of loggerheads on Zakynthos Island, Greece, is among the highest in the world, partly because red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) do not occur, so predation pressure is low. The core area for turtles on Zakynthos is Sekania beach, on the southern coast of the island, where nesting turtles reach a density of 3,000/km2. In 1981, WWF assisted Greek conservationists to map the beaches and start long-term monitoring of the Zakynthos turtles. Initially, turtle conservation met with hostility, because it was seen to be against development interests. However, thanks to a public awareness project started in 1986 by the Sea 2000 WWF Species Status Report Tourists on a turtle nesting beach in Zakynthos, Greece. In December 1999 the area was declared a national park by the Greek government. Turtle Protection Society of Greece (STPS), the turtles of Zakynthos are now major tourist attractions. STPS is continuing to implement turtle monitoring, tourist awareness and school education activities with WWF support. Until the late 1980s, little research had been carried out on marine turtles along the North African coast, although it was known that the extensive sea-grass beds in the Gulf of Cabes constituted a major foraging area for green turtles. Around 3,000 were being killed annually in the Gulf of Cabes, with up to 6,000 killed in Tunisia as a whole. From 1989 to 1993, WWF supported a study to identify major breeding, feeding and overwintering areas for turtles along the North African coast and to discover the extent of turtle mortality. The study concentrated on the Tunisian coast, although areas in Morocco and Algeria were also surveyed. Further survey teams along Libya’s coastline between 1995 and 1998 discovered unknown and significant loggerhead nesting beaches, especially along the northeastern coast. These “extra” turtles could explain the fact that Egyptian fisheries, which have been responsible for killing large numbers of adults for many years, have not exhausted stocks of Mediterranean turtles long before now. Threats from fisheries In 1977, WWF started to identify threats to adult and young turtles in the western and central Mediterranean and devise strategies to protect them. A survey of fishermen at Spanish ports found that the most pressing danger from coastal fisheries was accidental bycatch. A later study estimated that perhaps 16,000 turtles, mainly loggerheads, were killed each year by commercial swordfish longline fisheries. Although turtles are released after capture, many drown. If released alive, most have hooks in their mouths. Between 1987 and 1990, WWF funded a major study to determine the impact of longline fishing, and the survival rates of hooked turtles. 21 WHAT WWF HAS DONE FOR MARINE TURTLES In 1994, WWF initiated a strategy to conserve turtles, especially loggerheads, throughout the Mediterranean. A main objective of this strategy is to prevent mortality of adult turtles at sea. Research undertaken by biologist Dr Luc Laurent combined field observations with studies of turtle genetics and population dynamics. His final report, Conservation and Management of Mediterranean Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta) Populations, was published in 1997. Laurent’s surveys identified a number of significant threats to the loggerhead: thousands being killed each year by Egyptian fisheries, followed to a lesser extent by fleets from Turkey, Tunisia, Libya and Italy. He estimated that more than 20,000 turtles were being captured as bycatch by Spanish longline fisheries, with about 4,000 of these dying as a result. Significant numbers were also being killed by bottom trawls operated by Turkish, Greek and Egyptian fleets. In Egypt, sea turtle meat is still traded for human consumption, and turtle blood is occasionally drunk as a traditional medicine for anaemia. Green turtles, highly endangered in the Mediterranean, comprise one in every three turtles slaughtered in Egypt. INDO-PACIFIC Australia -Malaysia -Indonesia -Oceania In the 1960s and 1970s, WWF funded turtle surveys in Australia, Thailand, Malaysia and western Indonesia. Dr Robert Bustard of the Australian National University undertook surveys of the Queensland coastline and offshore islands. He discovered several flatback “rookeries” (nesting beaches) situated safely in uninhabited Aboriginal reserves. He also confirmed the first recorded breeding of hawksbills in Australia, in Long Islands in the Torres Strait. As a result of these surveys, new national parks to protect key nesting beaches were approved by the Queensland government. By the 1970s, the situation in Thailand was also very worrying. Turtle eggs were being collected on a commercial basis, the harvest was in steep decline, and regulations to limit the harvest were largely being ignored. Even more threatening was the increase in the number of drift-net vessels that were killing large numbers of adults. In 1980, WWF provided boats to the Thai National Park Division to combat nest poachers and undertake a status survey of turtles in the Tarutao National Park, composed of some 50 islands off the southwest coast of Thailand. In 1987 WWF funded protection of nesting turtles in southern Thailand. From 1990 to 1996 WWF assisted villagers in Phuket and Phang Nga Province to become “model self-sufficient sea turtle conservation villages”. However, tourism or egg collection and accidental drownings of sea turtles in nets continue to challenge the survival of marine turtles in Thailand’s coastal waters. 22 WWF/CNRS Leatherback nesting camp in French Guyana. In Malaysia, WWF assisted the Fisheries Department to protect leatherbacks on the Terengganu coast in Peninsular Malaysia. Terengganu is the only place in western Malaysia where leatherbacks nest, and was in the 1970s probably the second largest leatherback rookery in the world after the one in French Guyana. Back then concerns were growing, however, over adult mortality as Terengganu leatherbacks had been caught by fishermen as far away as the Philippines and Japan. In 1977, recommendations were made to the Malaysian government for a marine national park and reserve which would protect important nesting beaches on Pulau Redang, an island off the Terengganu coast, and surrounding islets. Consumption and sale of leatherback eggs were banned in 1988. In 1989, WWF provided funds for an advisor to assist the Malaysian Federal Department of Fisheries to coordinate marine turtle conservation. The advisor, Dr Jeanne Mortimer, conducted surveys of habitats critical for marine turtles in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak; ran training courses for the establishment and management of a leatherback sanctuary at Terengganu and a number of hatcheries; and investigated causes of sea turtle mortality. Despite government and WWF efforts, the nesting leatherbacks of Terengganu have practically disappeared. The olive ridley population has suffered serious declines in WHAT WWF HAS DONE FOR MARINE TURTLES to establish a network of protected areas in Irian Jaya. WWF has also been involved in turtle protection activities in the Teluk Cenderawasiih National Park. WWF/HERVÉ LETHIER/RAMSAR Solomon Islands the past 10 years in Terengganu, while the remaining nesting population of hawksbill is also very low, according to the Sea Turtle Research Unit of the University of Putra Malaysia, Terengganu. In the 1960s, the turtle egg harvest had declined in Indonesia (at least in Java). The MTSG voiced grave concern over the extent of hawksbill carapace exports to Japan. Some 76,636kg were exported from Indonesia in the period 1966 to 1972. This is the equivalent of 150,000 adults. There was also significant trade in stuffed turtles, turtle oil, meat and leather. The increasing pressure from fisheries undoubtedly constituted the greatest threat to marine turtles in the whole Indo-Pacific region, except in Australian waters where they were protected by law. In 1979, WWF funded a survey of the remote Aru Islands, south of Irian Jaya, Indonesia, where leatherbacks are hunted by some communities for subsistence, and green turtle meat and eggs are also eaten. However, there was also commercial exploitation of hawksbills for their shells and populations had declined. A 100,000 ha marine reserve in the southeastern part of the islands was proposed. In 1984, a turtle trade study was conducted on Bali, Ujung Pandang, Surabaya and Jepara. WWF identified a number of important sea turtle nesting beaches at Jamursba-Medi as part of a larger programme 2000 WWF Species Status Report Many years ago, clashes between hunting parties seeking turtles around the remote Arnavon archipelago were so fierce, and loss of life so high, that legends developed of beaches haunted by ghosts. By the 1970s, Arnavon still had the greatest aggregations of hawksbills in the South Pacific, but they were under threat because of the increased accessibility offered by outboard motors. From 1979 to 1981, WWF undertook a turtle status survey in order to plan for the sustainable utilization of this traditional resource. The first priorities were to strengthen protection of the Arnavon turtle sanctuary (which was set up in the 1930s), to train local wardens, and to achieve a higher hatching success. The project report recommended that, on the one hand, traditional subsistence use should be continued, with permits for leatherbacks and curbs on trade in meat from other species. Commercial exploitation on the other hand, should be controlled, with a total ban on tortoiseshell exports. Philippines In 1993, WWF funded the ASEAN Regional Symposium on Marine Turtle Conservation, bringing together experts from throughout the Asia Pacific region to develop a Regional Sea Turtle Conservation Programme. Among the recommendations was the establishment of transboundary protected areas to protect turtle populations. Areas proposed included the Philippine-Sabah Turtle Islands, Sipadan Islands, and the Berau Islands which support the largest breeding aggregation of green turtles in the region. WWF participated in a meeting between representatives from the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, and collaborated on a conservation strategy for the island groups mentioned above. The Turtle Islands Heritage Protected Areas was declared in 1996. (See p. 30) INDIAN OCEAN Between 1969 and 1974, WWF supported extensive surveys in the southwest Indian Ocean. As a result of these surveys, five new Marine Reserves were created: Paradise Islands, Mozambique, and four islands belonging to Reunion. Observations were also used to propose four additional protected areas. WWF has also supported conservation of turtles along the Tongaland coast (now Kwa Zulu Natal) for some 30 years. (See p. 32) Elsewhere in the Indian Ocean, WWF has funded surveys of nesting beaches on mainland India and its offshore islands in the Andamans and the Nicobars. WWF has also 23 WHAT WWF HAS DONE FOR MARINE TURTLES helped protect nesting beaches in Pakistan and has been active on Cousin Island and the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles. In the 1980s, WWF funded a field study of hawksbill and green turtles in the Seychelles, leading to the government of Seychelles introducing a number of conservation measures. A survey of Oman’s turtle beaches, started in 1977, revealed that Masirah Island, off the southern coast, held more than 30,000 loggerheads (the largest loggerhead rookery in the world). The principal threats to loggerheads on Masirah were flooding of nests, and lights near the beach that distracted and disoriented the hatchlings. The shallow waters of the Masirah Channel and Sawqirah Bay were major green turtle feeding grounds, and large green turtle rookeries were sited at Ras al Hadd and Masirah. Masirah’s green turtles, which had provided eggs and meat for generations of the island’s people, were in severe decline and the government of Oman was concerned that they be adequately protected. Data collected by local people helped define turtle nesting seasons, local harvest rates and turtle populations. India – Home of World’s Largest Olive Ridley Rookery For years, the occurrence of the olive ridley turtle along India’s Gahirmatha coast was known to the local inhabitants of the Kanika Raj area, who paid andakar (egg tax) on the boatloads of eggs they collected during the nesting season. News of the existence of the Bhitarkanika rookery was first brought to the scientific world and made public by Dr HR Bustard, then an FAO consultant, who visited the area in the early 1970s. He estimated that a large breeding population of olive ridleys migrate to the northern Orissa coast to nest, and urged the government to protect the sea turtles and their nesting grounds. According to Dr Bustard about one million (male and female in equal ratio) olive ridleys visited the Gahirmatha to lay about 50,000,000 eggs every year. In 1975 the government declared the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary (BWS), thus giving protection to the important turtle rookery and the mangrove forests. But over the years, the Orissa mangroves, the second largest mangrove ecosystem in India, has become increasingly imperilled by prawn aquaculture. More than 30 km2 of the total 115.5 km2 of Bhitarkanika mangrove forests have already been razed and the rest is threatened with ending up as one of the 6,500, or more, prawn ponds already covering over 20,000ha of coastal Orissa. In 1994, concerned over the threats to the marine turtles and the mangrove forests, WWF-India filed a petition in the Orissa High Court. The Bhitarkanika Sanctuary Case contended: 1. to restrain the State of Orissa from constructing jetties, fishing com- WWF-CANON/MAURI RAUTKARI plex, roads and bridges etc. within and around the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary, 2. to direct the State to provide infrastructure, personnel etc. and to protect and conserve the mangrove forest and the endangered species of wildlife of the Sanctuary and its surrounding areas, 3. to appoint a committee to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment in and around the Sanctuary. Green turtle rescue operation in Pakistan near Karachi. The Orissa High Court gave its judgement on 14 May 1998 and the Court directed, inter alia, that: In 1995, WWF drafted a Western Indian Ocean Marine Turtle Conservation Strategy so that national and international organizations working in the region could link their activities to the IUCN/SSC Global Action Plan for Marine Turtles. 1. no trawlers should enter the Gahirmatha area, 2. immediate steps should be taken to evict the unauthorised occupants of forest land within the boundary of the BWS, 3. all forest land including rivers and creeks within the boundary of the BWS should be declared as reserve forest and treated as a property of the Forest Department, CENTRAL AMERICAN REGION Caribbean and Western Atlantic WWF’s work in Suriname started in 1967 and continues today. Surveys of beaches in Suriname and French Guyana in the 1970s by turtle biologist Peter Pritchard, Director of the Chelonian Research Institute, confirmed the region to be the world’s most important breeding area for leatherbacks. 24 Suriname’s Foundation for Nature Preservation (STINASU) approached WWF to support research into the distinct green turtle population feeding in waters off Brazil and breeding in Suriname. In 1980, “Operation Headstart” was launched. Brazil’s Projeto Tartaruga Marinha (TAMAR) was started by the Institute for Forestry Development (IBDF) in 1980 and executed by local conservation S. BHASKAR WHAT WWF HAS DONE FOR MARINE TURTLES Researcher observes nesting turtle’s return to sea. 4. no new lease of forest land or water bodies should be granted within the Sanctuary, 5. aquaculture farms should not be allowed within the Sanctuary boundary, 6. appropriate use of natural resources should be made for improving the quality of life of the people living in and around the Sanctuary, 7. all trawlers operating in the area shall be required to use Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs). The High Court has specifically asked the state government to set up a High Level Committee for protection, conservation and research on sea turtles. In 1997, the Orissa Government declared the relevant area as the Gahirmatha (Marine) Wildlife Sanctuary. This notification declared certain activities to be unlawful under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. In sum, the judgment of the Orissa declared as protected areas. The project became a model for a well-rounded conservation effort protecting all stages of the turtles’ life-cycles, and incorporating local involvement, public outreach and education. Elsewhere in the Caribbean, WWF funded surveys of Kemp’s ridley turtles in Mexico, and the only known major green turtle rookery in the eastern Caribbean on Aves Island, Venezuela, which is now a sanctuary. WWF continues to be involved in turtle conservation efforts in this region. WWF also provided funds to strengthen protection of nesting green turtles in the Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica, the largest green turtle rookery in the western Caribbean. By the early 1980s hawksbill turtles, clearly in trouble worldwide, were almost extinct in the Caribbean. Little was known of their ecology or movements in the wild. WWF funded veteran turtle biologist Dr Archie Carr and his colleague Anne Meylan to undertake research into hawskbill ecology in Panama and the Leeward and Windward Islands where major coral reef feeding areas are found. Dr Carr also set out to solve “the riddle of the missing turtles” (the mystery of where hatchlings disappear to from the time they enter the sea until they turn up as adolescents a year or so later). He wanted to test a theory that hatchlings spend the first year of life floating and feeding in the rafts of sargassum weed drifting in the currents in the western Caribbean. He tagged more than 2,000 hatchlings at Tortuguero in Costa Rica, examined stomach contents of young loggerheads washed ashore after storms, and conducted interviews with fishermen. All evidence suggested that loggerheads from breeding colonies in eastern Florida, and green turtles hatched on Caribbean beaches, indeed spent much of their first year in the sargassum mats. High Court has, except for permitting part of the proposed road in the BWS, not allowed any other developmental activity in the Sanctuary. This road is also to be diverted to minimise any adverse impact. In 1999, the West Bengal Forest Department reported 13,000 olive ridleys were killed in Orissa by fishing trawlers. By Dr S M Satheesan, WWF-India NGOs and government agencies. In 1986, WWF began assisting these bodies to implement measures for curbing poaching and increasing public awareness about the plight of turtles. An innovative approach was to hire former turtle egg poachers to become beach wardens. By 1992, about 1,000km of nesting beaches were policed by project personnel and four of the ten most important beaches had been 2000 WWF Species Status Report Eastern Pacific In 1970, with WWF support, Peter Pritchard visited the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) to determine the status of the East Pacific green turtle (sometimes called black turtles, Chelonia mydas agassizi) and their rookeries. He found that while they were generally undisturbed by humans, their nests at the important rookery in James Bay, Santiago Islands, were threatened by predatory feral pigs. To ensure the continued survival of both black turtles and the famous giant land tortoises, WWF subsequently assisted with control of feral pigs on Santiago and with a long-term green turtle monitoring programme implemented by scientists from the Charles Darwin Research Station. In the early 1970s there were worrying reports of large catches of turtles by foreign fishing fleets operating in Galapagos waters. This problem would assume much larger proportions in the coming years and threaten not only sea turtles but also a number of other species including sharks 25 WHAT WWF HAS DONE FOR MARINE TURTLES and seals. In 1971, a Japanese refrigerator ship purchased a capacity load of fish and turtles from local fishermen, an activity subsequently banned by the Ecuadorian government. The mass slaughter of olive ridleys for their leather started in the 1960s. During the 1970s, an estimated 450,000 turtles, mainly Pacific olive ridleys, were slaughtered in Ecuadorian waters to supply the international trade. Most exports (clearly in contravention of CITES) were to the United States, but some were to European countries, mainly France and Italy. Although Ecuador officially closed the turtle fishery in 1981, it subsequently came to light that clandestine turtle fisheries and processing plants were operating. In 1989, WWF assisted Ecuador’s Fundación Natura to make an undercover investigation of these operations. Despite setbacks, the conservation effort on the Michoacan beaches started to bear fruit by the early 1980s. Poaching was reduced, children were recruited to protect nests, and a number of Mexican biologists joined the team. By 1990, WWF’s efforts to protect Mexico’s turtles had become a multifaceted conservation endeavour which included public The battle for Mexico’s sea turtles In 1967, WWF supported work in the Pacific coast of Honduras and Mexico to assess the status of marine turtles. Although still fairly abundant (on one “protected” beach in San Luis de la Loma, Guerrero, an estimated 30,000 olive ridleys were observed in a single arribada), commercial exploitation of nests and adults was rife, and even prominent local officials were flouting the law. Monitoring in Mexico continued through the 1970s. By 1977, olive ridleys were in serious decline, but the harvest was still in full swing. WWF reported “70,000 ridleys, 98 per cent of them gravid (pregnant) females were harvested this year from a population estimated at 150,000 animals”. Poaching and disturbance of nesting beaches of all turtle species left “little doubt that we will soon be without Mexican populations of Pacific, green, olive ridley and leatherback turtles. The hawksbill is already depleted… The Mexican people have been taking 500,000 to a million sea turtles per year since the early 1960s. This represents 70 per cent of the world harvest”. The East Pacific green (or black) turtle was also in serious trouble. In the early 20th century more than 10,000 females per night had nested in Michoacan state, but a mass slaughter in the early 1970s by leather hunters resulted in their almost total disappearance by 1977. Despite this, the Mexican government had granted a licence to a private turtle fishery to expand its operations in waters off two of the only three known nesting beaches of this species. In 1978, in the face of official Mexican government policy to increase exploitation of its marine turtles, WWF biologist Richard Felger and his colleagues developed a comprehensive plan for the protection and management of all sea turtle species in Mexico. This was also the start of a long-term WWF project to save the turtles of Michoacan with the cooperation of the Mexican Fisheries Department, the Mexican Navy, and students and faculty of the University of Michoacan. 26 Patrolling the beach as part of the TAMAR project in Brazil. awareness, university training, protected area establishment and management, research and species protection. The project also served as a model for multi-institutional cooperation for marine turtle conservation. Honduras In 1987, WWF supported a study of the status of Pacific olive ridleys in the Gulf of Fonseca, Honduras. Seven local communities depended on income from turtle eggs, and the situation had not improved since Pritchard reported two decades earlier that there were more hueveros (egg collectors) than turtles on the beach. Education programmes were WHAT WWF HAS DONE FOR MARINE TURTLES started to prevent over-exploitation of the resource. In 1989, WWF gave funds to assist government efforts to conserve the Punta Raton population of turtles in the Gulf of Fonseca. The Gulf of Fonseca is the focus for the ongoing Central American Environment Programme (Programa Ambiental Centroamericano – PROARCA). ment Programme at the National University of Costa Rica. This involved training ecologists in turtle research and management techniques. In 1985, WWF co-sponsored the first Symposium on the Marine Turtles of the American Pacific and, in association with the University of Costa Rica, initiated funding of an international programme to monitor sea turtle movements on Latin America’s Pacific coast. Eastern Atlantic WWF/ARQUIVO PROJECTO TAMAR With help from WWF, Senegal established a number of marine protected areas in the 1970s, including Iles de la Madeleine, Langue de Barbarie and Delta du Saloume National Parks. In 1980 and 1981 WWF gave funding to the Marine Biological Department of Senegal to carry out basic research and to discover if any coastal areas important for turtles were not yet protected. Beaches were being threatened by development and turtle fishing had become commercialized with meat being sold in urban centres. WWF also provided equipment for turtle protection to the Delta du Saloume and Kalissaye ornithological reserve. Costa Rica In 1982 WWF joined a research and monitoring project at Nancite Beach in the Santa Rosa National Park which hosts one of the greatest olive ridley arribadas in the world. Adult turtles from this population were vulnerable to heavy fishing pressure when they moved north to Mexico and south to Ecuadorian waters to feed, but were protected while nesting at Santa Rosa, which provided excellent conditions for research into their life cycles and movements. In 1990, WWF joined a National Science Foundation study of the factors that trigger the great arribadas at Nancite, and the area became the focus of a WWF-supported Wildlife Manage- 2000 WWF Species Status Report 27 WHAT WWF IS DOING FOR MARINE TURTLES hat WWF is doing for marine turtles Monitoring a turtle beach in the Mediterranean. MEDITERRANEAN In 1998, WWF published recommendations1 for a new approach to conserving the Mediterranean’s turtles, based on Luc Laurent’s wide-ranging study of their ecology.2 This approach sets out a number of urgent measures to reduce mortality of adult and sub-adult turtles, including: reduction of deliberate killing, especially in Egypt; reduction of bycatch in bottom trawls (especially in the eastern part of the Mediterranean), longline fisheries and a variety of small coastal fisheries; and education aimed at reducing mortality of turtles accidentally caught by all kinds of fisheries. Efforts to protect nesting beaches in Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, to limit damage by urban and tourist developments and to reduce predation by dogs and foxes need to continue. WWF is working to establish a fully representative network of protected areas, as part of its “Out of the Blue” programme for the conservation of the Mediterranean. The present number of marine and coastal reserves and national parks is grossly inadequate, and management of the few that do exist is often poor or totally lacking. Scientists have been 28 WHAT WWF IS DOING FOR MARINE TURTLES Zakynthos. In doing so, the immediate threat from tourist disturbance has been reduced. A study commissioned by WWF has led to steps being taken to address other threats to the site such as erosion, sedimentation and vegetation encroachment. Local people have been employed as wardens on the beach during the nesting season, and a programme of raising public awareness about turtles has been started. Sekania beach is part of a Marine National Park in Zakynthos, declared by the Greek government in 1999. Shortly before the government announcement, the European Commission made an application to the European Court of Justice citing Greece’s failure to fully protect its loggerhead turtles in accordance with the EU Habitat’s Directive. The Sea Turtle Protection Society, WWF and Greenpeace are all working to conserve the nesting sites. Turkey WWF-CANON/MICHEL GUNTHER WWF’s “Out of the Blue” programme is continuing efforts to conserve Turkey’s turtle beaches in collaboration with DHKD and the Turkish Sea Turtle Committee. Current work is based on a recent report on sea turtle status.3 Within a framework of integrated coastal zone management, the carrying out a “gap analysis” to ensure critical habitats of threatened species such as monk seals (Monachus monachus), marine turtles, and certain fish, are protected, particularly outside European Union states. They have paid special attention to the opportunities for Integrated Coastal Zone Management, in an effort to ensure that nature conservation and sustainable development move forward together. One of the most important priorities is to initiate protection of the newly-discovered turtle beaches in North Africa, particularly those in Libya, as well as the sea-grass beds that support turtles in shallow coastal waters. WWF has started to place observers on Italian longline fishing fleets to monitor fish catches and document the extent of sea turtle and shark bycatch and mortality. Greece In the early 1990s, tourism development threatened to overwhelm efforts to protect nesting turtles in Laganas Bay. WWF purchased the area surrounding Sekania beach, which has the highest nesting density of loggerheads in the Mediterranean and hosts more than half the nests in 2000 WWF Species Status Report 29 WHAT WWF IS DOING FOR MARINE TURTLES programme includes raising public and local government awareness, enhancing local expertise on turtles, and developing methods of monitoring nesting populations. INDO-PACIFIC In 1999, WWF, together with a network of NGOs and governments, participated in the second Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) sea turtle meeting, 15 to 17 July in Sabah, Malaysia. Coordinating measures for marine turtle protection on a regional basis is a priority for marine turtle conservationists. The region’s marine turtles and other species are threatened by coastal development, sand and coral reef mining, pollution, unsustainable egg collection, and entanglement in fishing nets or accidental killing by long-line fisheries. In Malaysia alone, four species of marine turtles have fallen dramatically in recent decades with leatherbacks in critical danger. Despite government and WWF efforts over the past 30 years sea turtles are in a state of decline not only in Malaysia but also throughout the region. The creation in 1996 of the Turtle Islands Heritage Protected Area, a group of nine islands shared by the Philippines and Malaysia offers some hope for the future. Indonesia In 1991, Indonesia’s Directorate General for Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (PHPA) asked WWF to help strengthen its marine conservation programme. Measures to protect marine turtles are urgently needed; recent surveys have shown that at least 20,000 adult and juvenile green turtles are killed annually, even in marine reserves, to supply the Bali meat market. Other threats include the annual harvesting of up to nine million turtle eggs of all six species, ill-planned tourist developments, and the destruction of seagrass “pastures” used by green turtles. WWF has launched a Regional Sea Turtle Conservation Project to lobby for stricter laws, enforcement of trade regulations and coordination of conservation efforts throughout the country. The Marine Reserve of Aru Tenggara, established in 1991, is a focus for WWF-funded research on the ecology of green and hawksbill turtles. Despite its protected status, the Aru Reserve’s marine resources, including turtles and their eggs, are exploited commercially in large quantities. Data from these studies will underpin conservation efforts and help formulate a sound management plan for the reserve, including measures allowing for a more sustainable harvest of turtles by local communities. Unplanned development in the tourist paradise of Bali threatens disaster for its precious marine biodiversity, which is also a key attraction for visitors. WWF is supporting efforts to introduce responsible ecotourism and to protect the last nesting beaches of olive ridleys and hawksbills in the northwest of the island. Although the Bali government has 30 Terengannu, Malaysia. Despite WWF and government efforts, 98 per cent of leatherback nests have been lost in the past 40 years. announced measures to limit the numbers of green turtles imported to the island from throughout the region, quotas are largely ignored. The government of Indonesia needs to improve enforcement. (See p. 37) Philippines Since 1993, WWF has been encouraging ASEAN countries to seek ways of coordinating the management of their marine turtles. A major achievement was the establishment in 1996 of the Turtle Islands Heritage Protected Area, the world’s first transboundary protected area for marine turtles. Seventy per cent of the Turtle Islanders live below the poverty line and health and welfare facilities are basic or totally lacking. Fishing and turtle egg collecting are traditional (and very important) sources of income. In fact, highly nutritious turtle eggs are usually sold rather than eaten, even though many of the islands’ people are malnourished. WWF’s wide-ranging programme for the Turtle Islands has several goals: to help raise health and living standards; to ensure that use of marine resources is sustainable; and to educate islanders about the significance of their new WWF/WWF MALAYSIA/MALAYSIA PHOTO SERVICE WHAT WWF IS DOING FOR MARINE TURTLES and unique protected area. In order to ease the pressure on turtle eggs and other resources, innovative ways of making a living are urgently needed. Guidelines for ecotourism to the islands have been drawn up and economic opportunities for the islands’ women are being explored, as well as ways to involve them fully in the conservation effort. Turtle research is also being undertaken and the results will be incorporated into a management plan that is being developed for the islands. A database is being set up for Baguan Island, which has the highest nesting density of any of the Turtle Islands, to assist scientists to monitor short- and long-term turtle population changes and cycles. A few turtles have been fitted with radio transmitters and their movements tracked by satellite. (See website: www.oneocean.org/ambassadors) Malaysia As a result of pressure from coastal development, sand mining, pollution, collection and consumption of eggs, and entanglement in fishing nets, numbers of nesting marine turtles (of four species) in Malaysia have fallen drastically in 2000 WWF Species Status Report recent decades, with leatherback nests declining by 98 per cent since the 1950s. The most important remaining turtle beaches are in the states of Terengganu (east coast of peninsular Malaysia), Sabah and Sarawak. In response to this situation, a national seminar on the conservation management of marine turtles (and terrapins) was organized in October 1996 by the Fisheries Department of Malaysia, in conjunction with WWF, other NGOs, research institutions and corporate partners. Following up on the seven resolutions arising from the seminar, WWF is working together with the Fisheries Department to formulate model legislation for the protection of turtle nesting and feeding sites, together with guidelines for hatchery management. It is hoped that individual states will enact legislation based on this model: currently there is wide variation between states. WWF is leading calls for a nation-wide ban on the collection, sale and consumption of turtle eggs, whilst the Fisheries Department is experimenting with TEDs, to try to reduce the number of net deaths. In May 1999, WWF-Malaysia published the fourth handbook in its Integrated Coastal and Estuarine Area Management series, dealing specifically with marine turtles (and terrapins) and aimed at planners and decision-makers. One month later saw the opening of the Ma’Daerah Turtle Sanctuary at Kertih, in Terengganu. WWF managed the process of establishing this important educational and public awareness facility, with funding provided by a subsidiary of BP Amoco Malaysia. Vietnam At present, no legal limits are imposed in Vietnam on the use of marine resources, including turtle eggs and meat. Populations of leatherback, loggerhead, green and hawksbill turtles are in serious decline. With WWF’s help, the government is identifying suitable areas along the Vietnamese coastline for establishment of a network of marine protected areas. An existing coastal reserve is the Con Dao National Park in southeastern Vietnam, one of the most important sea turtle nesting areas in Southeast Asia. WWF and park staff are continuing a research and monitoring programme on marine turtles, started four years ago, as part of a wider plan to improve management of Con Dao. There are plans to involve more local people, especially fishermen, in the effort to conserve marine turtles within this archipelago of 16 islands. WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN In November 1995, WWF co-sponsored an MTSG-IUCN regional meeting in the Western Indian Ocean to identify priority activities for marine turtle conservation. WWF is following up on the recommendations of the MTSG’s Marine Turtle Conservation Strategy and Action Plan for the West- 31 WHAT WWF IS DOING FOR MARINE TURTLES schools. The remoteness, lack of infrastructure and relative insecurity of this area near the Somali border make this a challenging task, but there has been an enthusiastic response from several of the local communities. WWF encourages implementation of the Sea Turtle Recovery Action Plan for Kenya, published by the Kenyan Sea Turtle Conservation Committee and the Kipini Community Conservation and Development Programme. WWF/RICK WEYERHAUSER Madagascar Hawksbill turtle from waters off Bazaruto Island, Mozambique. ern Indian Ocean and working to strengthen the network of turtle biologists in the region. Since 1996, WWF has sponsored regional scientists in attending international marine turtle meetings and in 1997 co-sponsored a workshop on TED technology for resource managers and fishermen from Kenya, Tanzania, Eritrea, Madagascar and Mozambique. WWF is involved in a number of marine protected areas on the east coast of Africa, including Mafia Island in Tanzania, the Kiunga Reserve in Kenya, and the Bazaruto Archipelago in Mozambique. A prime objective in all these areas is to ensure that marine resources are used sustainably by local communities and that critical habitats for coral fish, marine turtles, and dugongs are protected. WWF-India has also funded a project titled “Status, ecology and management of olive ridley sea turtles and their nesting habitats along north coastal Andhra Pradesh” through its Conservation Corps Volunteer Programme of CCV Division and Protected Area Programme of Forest & Wildlife Division. The project was executed from January 1997 to June 1998. The southern coast of Madagascar has great potential for ecotourism based on its landscapes and wildlife, including marine turtles. Community-based conservation programmes are being started up in the Fort Dauphin area, where green, hawksbill and loggerhead turtles come ashore to nest. The area has been identified by the Malagasy government as a priority area for tourism development. Southern Africa WWF-South Africa is continuing to support the government of South Africa’s Tongaland Sea Turtle Project based on the northern coast of KwaZulu-Natal Province. This study, which includes southern Mozambique and the Comores, has been going for more than 30 years and is providing valuable data on long-term trends in loggerhead and leatherback nesting populations, and migratory movements of turtles. In South Africa, the main focus is on a 56 km stretch of beach north and south of Bhanga Nek, which is regularly patrolled by field rangers and students. Since 1997, several tagged females have been tracked by satellite. The wanderings of one female leatherback were of epic proportions; she was recorded swimming south past the southern tip of Africa into the Atlantic, then headed east towards Australia, covering 7,000 km in five months before the transmitter battery failed. WWF is working in partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service and other organisations on a wide-ranging conservation and development project for the relatively new Kiunga Marine Reserve on Kenya’s northern coast, and the villages that occur within its boundaries. Turtle nesting beaches are regularly surveyed. For example, local people contributed almost 100 reports in 1998, and there is a lively programme of conservation education in the local primary 32 WWF/DENIS HUOT/BIOS Kenya Hawksbill turtle swimming offshore in the Bahamas. WHAT WWF IS DOING FOR MARINE TURTLES LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN CENTRAL AMERICAN REGION Annually, more than 80,000 turtles, mainly greens and hawksbills, are still captured off the coasts of Central America. Among the direct measures urgently needed are the prevention of accidental capture of olive ridleys by shrimp fishermen, (throughout the region), and of leather- WWF/F DI DOMENICO/PANDA PHOTO Marine turtles are a “species of special concern” or flagship group for WWF’s Latin America and Caribbean Programme. In late 1999, WWF sponsored, together with IUCN/SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group, WIDECAST and UNEP, a regional meeting in the Caribbean to promote a discussion on the need for regional management of marine turtles. The meeting was attended by 31 resource managers from 27 governments who represented 35 of the countries and territories of the Wider Caribbean. Recommendations of the meeting included the need to: strengthen collaboration among stakeholders; promote greater community participation; support scientific research and monitoring of turtles and their habitats; develop regional and national management plans; improve implementation of national laws; and Leading scientists at the meeting presented clear evidence that the populations of all six species in the Caribbean are severely depleted and endangered. It became obvious that no population has a chance of recovery unless major changes to the patterns of use occur and there is regional management among range states. The only exception to this is the Kemp’s ridley. While it remains a fraction of its original population, it is recovering after decades of conservation effort by its range states, the United States and Mexico. (See next page.) WWF is working with TRAFFIC to monitor and stop the illicit trade in hawksbill turtles like the one pictured here. harmonize national policies for sea turtle conservation throughout the Wider Caribbean. National resource managers identified the elements of effective scientific management. What also emerged was a consensus with two key elements: 1. the understanding that marine turtles have traditionally been a consumptive resource in the Caribbean; and, 2. true management can only occur through regional coordination among range states. 2000 WWF Species Status Report backs and other species by longline fishing fleets, (particularly in the Pacific). While populations of olive ridleys in the Mexican Pacific, Kemp’s ridleys in the Gulf of Mexico, and hawksbills in the Yucatan of Mexico appear to be recovering, thanks to more than a decade of focused protection and conservation efforts, other populations, such as Caribbean green turtles, are still in dire straits. Nevertheless, Cuba and Dominica are proposing to reopen international trade. 33 WHAT WWF IS DOING FOR MARINE TURTLES In Central America, WWF is working to encourage local communities and fishermen to protect turtles through use of TEDs. Other initiatives include campaigns to keep trash such as plastic bags and twine from banana plantations out of rivers and oceans. WWF is also encouraging establishment of wildlife refuges and sanctuaries and supporting patrols on turtle beaches. In addition, WWF is supporting measures to reduce the harmful effects of street lighting near beaches. On the trade front, the organization is working to halt the sale of tortoiseshell products and bring poaching activities to the attention of the authorities. A major effort to conserve marine turtles in the Central American region is being made through the Central American Environment Programme (Programa Ambiental Centroamericano – PROARCA) which seeks to promote integrated coastal management and protected areas programmes. PROARCA is carried out in partnership with the Central American Commission for Environment and Development and supported by the US Agency for International Development. It is implemented by The Nature Conservancy, WWF, and the University of Rhode Island. Since 1995, WWF has focused its activities on two areas: the Miskito Coast in northeast Nicaragua and the Gulf of Fonseca, which is shared by Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador. At both sites, WWF is working closely with local communities to promote sustainable use and management of coastal resources, including marine turtles. In the Gulf of Fonseca, WWF is working with the three governments to secure a network of ten protected areas. WWF is also expanding its programme to bring about a “sea change” in national and international policy in the region regarding turtles. WWF supported a study by the Costa Rican Environmental Law Centre, which was followed-up by a Regional Marine Turtle Conservation Workshop held in Tortuguero, Costa Rica, in 1998. WESTERN ATLANTIC – THE WIDER CARIBBEAN Because turtles are highly migratory, a decline in a local population may be a direct consequence of human activity hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away. The proposals made at the 1997 CITES Conference of Parties to reopen trade in hawksbill products thus have region-wide implications and will only add to the long list of serious and growing threats from human activities. Within the Wider Caribbean, WWF has addressed this and other threats to the region’s six endangered species of marine turtles. One of the first steps taken by WWF was its co-sponsoring a meeting in November 1999, Marine Turtle Conservation in the Wider Caribbean: a Dialogue for Regional Management. Recommendations arising from this meeting will be used to implement regional consensus about marine turtle conservation identifying actions needed for their recovery, and ways gov- 34 ernments could cooperate to undertake these actions. Other WWF initiatives include measures to develop a network of protected areas within the MesoAmerican Caribbean Reef Ecoregion to protect critical habitat (mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs) for hawksbill and green turtles. GUYANA SHIELD ECOREGION WWF has been supporting marine turtle conservation in the Guyanas since the 1960s. This biologically rich area comprising Guyana, Suriname, French Guyana, and part of Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil, has many important turtle nesting beaches along its coasts. Suriname is host to four species, including the only remaining nesting population of the olive ridley in the western Atlantic. The imminent extinction of the olive ridley makes protection of this area of prime importance. The leatherback population nesting in Suriname and French Guyana has increased over the past 30 years and is probably the largest in the world. The nesting population of green turtles appears to have stabilized. Through a number of initiatives, WWF is confronting threats from the shrimp industry, overharvesting, and erosion of nesting beaches. A Regional Marine Turtle Conservation Programme is being implemented from WWF’s newly established office in Paramibo, Suriname. Other current activities include conservation measures in Suriname’s Galibi Nature Reserve, where thousands of green turtles come ashore to nest, and at sites in French Guyana. WWF is also continuing its long-running support for conservation efforts at Hattes beach, French Guyana, which hosts 15,000 to 20,000 nesting female leatherbacks each year, and has recently been declared a reserve. Brazil WWF provides support to Projecto TAMAR, the Brazilian national sea turtle programme. A “mini-guide” project has been developed in which schoolchildren between 8 and 13 years old learn about marine ecosystems and sea turtle ecology, and ways of protecting the turtles. After the course, the children are given the chance to work as interns at the TAMAR visitor centre at Praia do Forte, where they inform tourists about sea turtles and help biologists in field activities. Their involvement not only gives them valuable skills for interacting with tourists, but also an extra source of income.4 WWF is also supporting conservation efforts at Noronha Island on the northeast coast, where three million hatchlings have been released over the past 19 years. Costa Rica WWF is supporting the ANAI Association, a local NGO, to protect Gandoca beach and its leatherback, green and hawksbill turtle rookeries. Last year, 449 volunteers helped to relocate clutches from vulnerable nests to hatcheries, WHAT WWF IS DOING FOR MARINE TURTLES camouflage other nests, and count turtles. By providing lodging for these volunteers, the local community earned four times more than they would have earned from the illegal selling of turtle eggs. Anguilla WWF has supported the Anguilla National Trust to manage their sea turtle conservation programme, which included a survey of turtle nesting beaches. Anguilla imposed a fiveyear moratorium on harvesting of both adult turtles and eggs in 1995, but the number of nesting turtles is still declining. In the last few years, more young hawksbills and greens have been seen in Anguillan waters, but the conservation effort will have to continue for many more years before populations begin to recover. Venezuela WWF’s associate in Venezuela, FUDENA, has worked for two decades on sea turtle conservation on the Isla de Aves and in the Laguna de Tacarigua National Park. The organizations activities on Isla de Aves include yearly monitoring and tagging of females during their nesting period. FUDENA’s “Adopt a Sea Turtle” campaign helps to support this programme. In Laguna de Tacarigua, FUDENA collaborates with several partners to involve local communities in protection of sea turtle nests. NORTHERN ATLANTIC Canada Mauritania The Banc d’Arguin National Park, an important nesting and feeding ground for green and loggerhead turtles, has been supported by WWF since 1976. Observers estimate that several thousand turtles are killed each year as bycatch in the offshore shark fisheries. It is hoped that WWF’s work on fisheries management will have a positive impact on solving this problem. Tag recoveries show that the Banc d’Arguin’s green turtles come from as far away as Florida, although others originate in the Archipelago dos Bijagos in Guinea-Bissau. Gabon Marine turtles are heavily exploited along Africa’s Atlantic seaboard, and all four species occurring along Gabon’s coast are threatened by unsustainable harvesting of adults and eggs, and through the bycatch of multinational fishing fleets. Gabon hosts the second most important breeding site for leatherbacks in the world and offshore seagrass pastures are important feeding areas for green turtles. With the exception of leatherbacks, which are partially protected, there are no laws in Gabon to protect sea turtles. In northwest Gabon, turtles are trapped with special nets; in other areas they are killed when they come ashore to nest. In 1997, as part of a regional action plan for turtles, WWF held a workshop in Pointe Pongara to collate data from scientists on turtle status and define measures needed for their conservation in the Gulf of Guinea. The workshop was timed to coincide with the turtle nesting season so that participants could learn field-monitoring techniques. WWF is pursuing a number of priorities highlighted in the Marine Turtle Action Plan. Rangers patrol waters off Mauritania’s Banc d’Arguin National Park. MARK EDWARDS/STILL PICTURES Between 1824 and 1992, only 60 leatherbacks were reported in Canadian waters. Since 1997, WWF Canada has supported a project to enlist the help of fishermen along the southern coast of Nova Scotia. In 1998 alone, over 200 were sighted. Thanks to this project, more is being learnt about leatherback distribution and movements – knowledge that will help reduce the number of turtles becoming entangled in fishing lines. EASTERN ATLANTIC 2000 WWF Species Status Report 35 WWF/JEANNE MORTIMER WHAT WWF IS DOING FOR MARINE TURTLES Pictured here is a small “bekko” factory in Japan that produces tortoiseshell products. Monitoring trade in turtle products Most countries have national laws restricting turtle fishing and egg collecting and many are members of CITES. Some national laws do not recognize some species of marine turtle as threatened or endangered. In Indonesia, for example, the green turtle is not considered endangered and large numbers are still killed for meat. Many tropical and subtropical countries allow harvesting of turtle eggs and theoretically this harvest is controlled. But abuses often occur, in Mexico, poachers removed 500,000 olive ridley eggs from a beach in Oaxaca in 1996.5 TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring arm of WWF and IUCN, documents the extent of the illegal international trade and is working to bring violations of international treaties to the attention of government authorities. Such violations appear to be widespread: there is still a substantial underground trade in tortoiseshell, leather boots, whole turtles, meat and eggs. For example, customs officials made a number of seizures of illegal turtle shells from Indonesia at EU borders between 1990 and 1995.6 In September 1998, police officers in Japan arrested five people attempting to smuggle 66kg of tortoiseshell into the country.7 In the United States, a number of arrests have been made recently at international airports in Florida, New York and California where people have been caught smuggling turtle eggs and meat in their luggage.8 The contraband finds its way to ethnic restaurants, where it is sold as a delicacy at high prices. As the trade in sea turtle eggs appears to be on the increase, TRAFFIC is increasing its efforts to collect and disseminate information on its extent, so that more effective protection and management can be implemented. TRAFFIC is also working with governments on improving protection of species threatened by trade, even 36 where that trade is largely internal and legal. For example, in Vietnam, large numbers of hawksbill turtles are legally caught for meat and medicine, and their coastal habitats are threatened by development. Numbers of tourists have been growing steadily and stuffed hawksbill turtles and tortoiseshell products are often found for sale in local markets. Many tourists are not aware that taking such items back to their home countries is illegal. A 1993 to 1994 TRAFFIC study of the effects of this trade on hawksbill populations found that the trade was contributing to the decline of Vietnam’s hawksbills, already under threat from other factors. As a result of this study, TRAFFIC was able to make a number of recommendations to the government of Vietnam on suspending commercial exploitation of hawksbills.9 TRAFFIC North America is carrying out a trade review and legal analysis of the fisheries and primarily commercial trade of marine turtles in the Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos Islands, British Virgin Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands. WHAT WWF IS DOING FOR MARINE TURTLES Turtle Conservation in Bali Bali has been the world’s largest consumer of green turtles since the 1970s. Turtle meat is used particularly in the Badung and South Denpasar areas for religious purposes and in traditional ceremonies. These practices have been in place for generations. During the last several decades, however, there has been a shift from using turtles within sustainable limits for ceremonial and religious purposes, towards large-scale commercial exploitation. WWF/ELIZABETH KEMF The need to conserve the stock in the wild has been largely ignored; consequently, there has been a dramatic decline as shown by the significant decrease in the numbers of female turtles coming ashore on Indonesian and neighbouring beaches in recent years. WWF, working together with the office of Natural Resources Ketut Putra, head of WWF’s marine turtle programme in Bali. Conservation in Bali and the local government, is addressing this problem in a number of ways. The first priority has been to record management which only allows an annual consumption of 3,000 the numbers of turtles coming into Bali through several major turtles per year. ports such as Tanjung Benoa near Denpasar and Padangbai in the WWF’s education and awareness programme focuses on the eastern part of the island. Attention is also being given to recording status of the turtle population, its biological profile and the laws which species of turtles are brought to these ports as hawksbills as protecting it. Together with local conservation groups, WWF has well as greens are being butchered. These data include analyses of launched a two-pronged programme to monitor the trade and, the size of the turtles caught. through Balinese religious, traditional and community leaders, to A second focus is on developing and implementing a educate devotees and young people to the fact that the green turtle Bali-orientated education and awareness programme designed to is endangered. In Prancak village, on the coast of west Bali, local reach those who use turtle meat, turtle traders from outside Bali, religious leaders have joined the awareness campaign and school- and both foreign and domestic tourists. The goal is to reduce the children have become “rangers” protecting turtle nests. Ex-turtle amount of turtle meat consumed in Bali annually to within the cur- hunters are among the many people now fighting for the survival rent quota system. This quota, estab- of turtles, and a number of Balinese youngsters have formed their lished by Bali’s Governor in 1990, own group, the Kelompok Pecinta Penyu Bali, which promises is set at 5,000 turtles per year, but to become a major force for turtle conservation. This is intended to function within programme must ultimately address ways to find the national guidelines alternative income sources for turtle hunters. for turtle population Leatherback turtle rescued at the last minute from being killed for sacrifice in Bali. 2000 WWF Species Status Report WWF-CANON/KETUT PUTRA by Ketut Sarjana Putra 37 WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE Six of the world’s seven species of marine turtles are threatened with extinction. Many populations which were abundant 100 to 200 years ago are now depleted, declining or remnants of their former size. Local extinctions have occurred in all ocean basins, and no population, not even those that are stable as a result of long-term conservation and management, is completely safe. Marine turtles present enormous conservation challenges because they grow slowly and require numerous and diverse habitats as they mature. They also move great distances in their lifetimes, frequenting the waters of many nations and must come ashore to lay their eggs. Although marine turtles are ancient creatures, the science of marine turtle biology is relatively new. Scientists have amassed a great deal of data about the amazing life history of these animals, but as one set of questions is answered, new ones emerge. In recent years powerful new tools, such as genetic analysis and satellite telemetry, have been developed to answer the riddles surrounding marine turtles, but much remains to be discovered, and much needs to be done. The following activities need to be undertaken: hat needs to be done Carry out long-term conservation action Clear and comprehensive conservation programmes are needed everywhere if marine turtles are to survive well into the future. Ensuring many populations recover to abundance (so that turtles can fulfill their ecological roles in the marine environment) is a necessary goal. Recognizing that regional cooperation and collaboration are essential to marine turtle conservation and management, resource managers have started international initiatives, collaborating with near and distant neighbour nations. More is needed. Long-term commitments to conservation are essential. Those started long ago are reaping rewards. Some depleted nesting populations, such as green turtles in Malaysia, loggerheads and leatherbacks in South Africa, and hawksbills and Kemp’s ridleys in Mexico, have stabilized and increased in recent years. But this is after more than two decades of protection and management. While the future of these populations remains tenuous, their improved status demonstrates the value of focused conservation efforts. WWF/ARQUIVO PROJECTO TAMAR Develop regional conservation and management programmes Leatherback returning to the sea after nesting in Brazil. 38 Marine turtle conservation and management need to be addressed regionally so that activities in one area do not undermine (but complement) programmes in others. Breeding and feeding areas are often widely separated, and within each region, critical nesting, foraging, resting and migration areas for each species must be identified and formally protected. Conservation hotspots in each region should also be identified so that attention can be focused on resolving prob- WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE lems, such as overexploitation of feeding grounds in one country where turtles from other nations may congregate. Regional agreements that provide legal frameworks, such as the Inter American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles and an initiative in the Indian Ocean to negotiate a treaty for marine turtles, need to be supported. Successful regional programmes must involve the participation of numerous sectors and include participants from the local to national to international level. To date, regional networks of biologists, conservationists, and resource managers have evolved in Southeast Asia, the South Pacific, the Mediterranean, Latin American, and the wider Caribbean, while new groups are emerging in the northern and western Indian Ocean, Arabian Gulf and Eastern Atlantic. These networks need to be strengthened, thus ensuring that cooperation, collaboration and the sharing of information, such as through regional databanks, should be promoted on all levels. Financial support from governments and donor organizations is also needed. Reduce accidental capture in fisheries After the shrimp trawl fishery was identified as a major source of mortality in the early 1980s, net inserts or Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) were developed to allow entrapped turtles (and other bycatch) to escape. Although TEDs are used widely in the western hemisphere, they are not employed extensively in shrimp and other trawl fisheries around the world. Mortality in longline fisheries for pelagic species such as swordfish and tuna is a grave and increasing threat, as these fisheries, which set billions of hooks each year, continue to expand. Marine turtles swallow longline hooks or become entangled in lines and drown. Many animals that are released alive but with hooks embedded in their gastro-intestinal tracts subsequently succumb to their injuries. Modifications to hooks and bait, as well as area and seasonal closures, will be needed to address this problem satisfactorily. Marine turtles are also captured and drowned in various gill net fisheries and in the lines of fish traps. Programmes to reduce mortality through modified gear and fishing techniques, or closing particular areas at particular times, are needed. Fishermen should be encouraged to assist in these efforts. Enforce CITES, laws and agreements Most species of marine turtles have been prohibited from international trade since 1975 when CITES came into force. By 1981, all marine turtle species were listed on Appendix I of CITES. This list prohibits trade by all CITES member nations. However, Japan continued to import large quantities of green, olive ridley and hawksbill products until the early 1990s under “reservations” or exceptions to the CITES listing. In 1992, Japan agreed to comply with CITES and stop marine turtle trade and retrain the bekko or tortoise- 2000 WWF Species Status Report shell artisans. Today, more than 140 countries have acceded to CITES, but tortoiseshell jewellry, turtle oil and stuffed turtle curios are still entering international trade. Marine turtles and their parts are sold in tourist markets and international airports in many areas of the western hemisphere and Asia. WWF encourages CITES member nations to stop illicit international trade and urges all countries to pass and implement national laws and regional agreements to conserve marine turtles. Protect marine turtle habitat Marine turtles move in and out of ocean and coastal habitats as they grow and mature. Although crucial nesting and foraging habitats can be conserved within national parks and marine protected areas, other areas utilized exceed the capacity of any government to provide full protection. Marine turtle conservation requirements should be included in coastal zone management plans as well as ecosystem conservation programmes. Regulations for maintaining water quality and contingency plans for oil and chemical spills are critical to maintain the health and productivity of the ecosystems on which marine turtle depend. The threats posed by dynamite fishing, marine debris, and oil pollution should be eliminated. Where necessary, legislation must be encouraged, such as lighting restrictions on nesting beaches. Erosion, accretion, sand mining, and foot and vehicular traffic on nesting beaches also need to be addressed to ensure that nesting females, eggs and hatchlings are protected. Longterm monitoring programmes are also critical to assessing the impact on these habitats. Support development of sound ecotourism based on marine turtles Sound ecotourism not only benefits local guides, food vendors, and small hotel operators, but, as shown by the cooperatives run by Projecto TAMAR in Brazil, can also help support entire communities. In Tortuguero, Costa Rica, the village’s major source of income is generated by tourists who visit the area to see its famous green turtles: in recent years the influx of visitors has enabled the community to install electricity and other modern amenities. These programmes demonstrate that living marine turtles can be more beneficial to coastal communities as “renewable” resources rather than harvested resources which are only used once. Develop guidelines for use Recognizing that some communities are dependent on marine turtles and their eggs, WWF supports the need to develop guidelines for use, with the goal of ensuring use is sustainable and these programmes benefit local coastal people. Opinions vary about what constitutes sustainable use of marine turtles. Thus, in developing guidelines, resource managers and biologists have to address the status of the 39 WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE population within its full range. Various approaches will need to be explored, such as weighing the value of an adult female for her production of eggs versus meat or harvesting nesting turtles that come ashore after a number of breeding seasons. In many countries harvest regulations focus on the wrong part of the population because they protect sub-adult turtles at the expense of adult breeders. Although egg collection is less controversial, these programmes are not without problems, as in the case of an authorized egg collection for one species that jeopardizes the eggs of other species needing full protection. Egg collection programmes need to be flexible enough to ensure that a sufficient proportion of eggs successfully hatch each year. REFERENCES History and Culture Clark, E. E. 1979. Indian Legends of Canada, Mc Clelland and Stewart, Toronto, Canada. Devaux, B. 1991. La Tortue, Robert Laffont, Paris, France. Parsons, J. 1972. The Hawksbill Turtle and the Tortoiseshell Trade, Etudes de géographie tropicale offertes à Pierre Gourou, Mouton. Paris. La Haye. Pritchard, PCH 1990. The Turtle Planet, Ironwood Video, USA. Witzell, WN 1983. Synopsis of Biological Data on the Hawksbill, Food and Agricultural Association of the United Nations, Rome, Italy. Support sea turtle research Many gaps in our knowledge of marine turtle biology still exist, such as how many hatchlings survive to reach maturity or how long marine turtles live. While “full knowledge” is not necessary to make many informed decisions about conservation and management, additional research is needed about factors that affect health, reduce reproductive output, or address the ecological roles of marine turtles in their environment. For example, in the last ten years, scientists have become increasingly concerned about the impact of fibropapillomas, debilitating and life-threatening tumour-like growths found in all species, but especially in green turtles. The effects of pathogens, pollutants and climate changes on sea turtles also need to be determined. While it is impossible to determine how depleted populations may have functioned when they were more abundant, studies demonstrate that nutrients from turtle eggs and egg shells play a critical role in maintaining the roots of beach grass and the stability of the associated dune ecosystem while offshore seagrasses regularly grazed by green turtles are more productive. Promote public awareness and education For many populations of marine turtles around the world, the day-to-day support of local coastal communities is crucial to their survival. Public awareness and educational programmes to instill understanding and appreciation are the cornerstones of local and national initiatives to conserve marine turtles. In Greece, for example, programmes developed by Archelon – the Sea Turtle Protection Society, reach thousands of school children and visitors to turtle beaches each year. This growing public awareness has enabled the government to establish the National Marine Park of Zakynthos, a major loggerhead nesting area in Greece. Other sectors of society that need to be targeted include developers, industrialists, and the media. Only by understanding the needs of marine turtles will they be encouraged to address the threats these species face. 40 Natural History (1) WWF Mediterranean Programme 1998. Marine Turtle Conservation Management in the Mediterranean –Recommendations for a New Approach. 16pp. (2) Laurent, L. 1998. Conservation Management of Mediterranean Loggerhead Sea Turtle Caretta caretta Populations. WWF International Project 9E0103. WWF International Mediterranean Programme, Rome. (3) Yerli, S., and Demirayak, F. 1996. Marine Turtles in Turkey: a survey on nesting site status. Coastal Management Report 96. DHKD, Istanbul, Turkey. (4) Vieitas, C.F., Lopez, G. and Marcovaldi, M.A. 1999. Local community involvement in conservation – the use of mini-guides in a programme for sea turtles in Brazil. Oryx 33(2) pp. 127- 131. (5) TRAFFIC Bulletin 16(3). (6) Raymakers, C. 1998. Imports of Indonesian Products into the European Union 1990-1995. TRAFFIC Europe/WWF. (7) TRAFFIC Bulletin 17(3). (8) TRAFFIC North America 1999: 2(2). (9) Le Dien Duc and Broad, S. 1995: TRAFFIC Bulletin 15(2).