Press Release | 21^st June 2006

2006 is the year for turtle, ProFauna appeals to stop sea turtles trade

Contents

• 2006 is the year for turtle, ProFauna appeals to stop sea turtles trade
• Turtle smuggling to Bali
• The protection of turtles in Kuta Beach
• For further information, please contact

Despite being protected by legislation, turtles and their body parts are still traded in many regions of Indonesia. These are in the form of meat, eggs, carapace and souvenirs made out of body parts. ProFauna Indonesia has recorded that up to 1000 turtles are slaughtered each year for mounted taxidermic display and sold along the south coast of Java. About 60 are accidentally trapped each year by fishermen and consumed.

Turtles are traded in Pantai Teluk Penyu Cilacap, Central Java; Pantai Puger Banyuwangi, Pangandaran and Pelabuhan Ratu in West Java; and Pangumbahan Sukabumi. Trade in souvenirs and ornaments from turtle body parts in Cilacap declined by 90% after the publication of ProFauna’s report on the investigation into the turtle trade in 2005. However, the merchandising has now moved to Pantai Pangadaran, West Java.

Meanwhile the trade in souvenirs made out of hawksbills’ shells is centred in Yogyakarta, particularly in Kotagede town and along Malioboro Street, where they are freely traded. A report has been submitted by ProFauna to the authority in 2001, however no action has been taken to stop the illegal trade in turtle products.

According to Indonesian legislation no. 5 of 1990 on Conservation of Natural Resources and Ecosystem, there are penalties of up to 5 years in jail and a monetary fine of Rp 100 Million for trading in protected species.

Ironically, despite being protected nationally, some of the local authorities are involved directly in the turtle egg business, such as in Pantai Pangumbahan, Sukabumi, West Java. The local authority of Sukabumi issued a ruling no. 2 of 2001, permitting a private company to harvest and trade in turtle eggs. Fortunately, the ruling was overturned last year by Ministerial decree no. 92/2005. This is because of the efforts from LASA (Animal Advocacy Institute) with support from ProFauna Indonesia.

According to ProFauna’s turtle campaign coordinator, I Wayan Wirdanyana, “All turtles are protected by law in Indonesia and there is no reason to exploit them commercially.” 2006 has been declared as the year of turtle by IOSEA (Indian Ocean and South East Asia) in the Marine Turtle MoU. For this reason, ProFauna appeals to the Indonesian government to take serious action to stop the illegal trade of turtles and their body parts, particularly in Yogyakarta and in Pengumbahan, West Java.

Turtle smuggling to Bali

In 1999, ProFauna unveiled that Bali was the centre of the turtle meat trade. At that time about 27,000 turtles were being inhumanely slaughtered each year for meat. Following tireless campaigning and hard work to stop the trade, in 2001 the police in Bali began the confiscation of poached sea turtles on a large scale. 4 turtle traders were given jail sentence ranging from 6 to 12 months. Since then the trade has declined by 80%.

Although the turtle meat trade in Bali has declined, this does not mean the trade has stopped. The smuggling of turtles to Bali still goes on. ProFauna estimated around 1000-2000 green turtles
(Chelonia mydas) are poached and smuggled to Bali each year. In the 3 years from 2004 to 2006, there have been 12 cases of motor vessels caught smuggling turtles to Bali. The last case was M.V. Isna Jaya, which was caught at Badung Straight, Bali on 12th May and found to have 7 large turtles on board.

Of those motor boats caught smuggling turtles to Bali, each carried between 7 and 200 green turtles, poached in the sea in Banyuwangi, Madura, Sulawesi and Flores. The high demand for turtle meat in Bali has driven up smuggling, despite tight marine patrols.

The protection of turtles in Kuta Beach

Besides being known as the main turtle smuggling destination, Bali is also renowned as an important destination for turtles to beach and lay eggs. Most famous is the tourist area of Kuta Beach. Since 2002 ProFauna, together with the Coast Guards of Kuta Beach and the indigenous Kuta tribe, has worked to protect nesting turtles.

With ProFauna’s help, the community has started to protect turtle eggs at Kuta Beach. In 2005, it was recorded that 1690 turtle eggs hatched. Most of them were Olive Ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea). Turtle hatchlings were released into the sea, which became a strong attraction for tourists and generated interest from the locals in helping in turtle conservation.

According to Wayan the turtle conservation program in Indonesian can only be successful by involving the people with the back up of effective law enforcement. Heavy sentences and appreciation of local community efforts will help to conserve 6 species of turtle living in Indonesian waters.

For further information, please contact:

Wita Wahyu Widyayandani, ProFauna Bali Representative
HP. 08179706066
email: bali@profauna.net