Article: The ‘Egg=Life’ crusade

Saturday September 12, 2009

WWF-Malaysia launched the "Egg=Life" campaign on Earth Day (April 22) this year with the aim of improving the protection of marine turtles in Malaysia.

The campaign, which runs till September 30, aims to get pledges from 40,000 people to never consume or trade in turtle eggs or their parts, support laws banning the sale and consumption of turtle eggs and support the call for comprehensive legislation to conserve marine turtles.

Pledges are obtained through signatures collected from the public, postage-paid hardcopy sign-up forms and online pledges through www.wwf.org.my or www.saveturtles.my. Many organisations and colleges are supporting the campaign as well by undertaking signature drive initiatives of their own.

When WWF-Malaysia executive director and CEO Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma first heard about the Telur Rangers proposal, he was very excited because it would promote turtle conservation awareness in a fun and unique way.

Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma.

"We hope to raise public awareness of the importance of turtle conservation and related issues, so the Telur Rangers are an important part of our Egg=Life campaign. We do not have the resources to undertake a peninsula-wide Egg=Life road show, so this was also a good way of getting our message out to the public in many states.

"We are pleased to support the efforts of such enthusiastic people who are passionate about protecting turtles that they took time off work to undertake the project," says Dionysius.

WWF-Malaysia's involvement in the project includes helping them secure accommodation, venue and car sponsorships, as well as promoting the project to the media and WWF supporters and networks. Each signature in support of WWF-Malaysia's "Egg=Life" campaign will lend weight to efforts aimed at improving turtle protection legislation in Malaysia.

"WWF-Malaysia will be working with our partners to call for laws banning the sale and consumption of all turtle eggs throughout Malaysia. I hope everyone will help save the turtles with just one signature — either when the Telur Rangers visit or through the many colleges and corporations that are helping us to obtain signatures in support of the campaign.

"This process will take time, but by the end of the year, we are optimistic that these signatures will help lend weight to the call," says Dionysius.

Dionysius points out that leatherback turtles have already been declared functionally extinct in Malaysia.

"In the 1950s, there were 10,000 leatherback nests in Rantau Abang each year; now there are less than 10. Moreover, turtle protection laws are inadequate. Current federal laws on turtles are limited. Under the Federal Constitution, it is the state that has the authority to make laws on turtles. State laws vary from state to state and are simply inadequate."

Marine turtles are threatened with extinction due to various factors such as the consumption of turtle eggs, turtles being accidentally caught in fishing gear, poorly planned coastal development, marine and nesting beach pollution as well as illegal trade in turtles and their parts.

In Peninsular Malaysia, WWF-Malaysia works with partners, including the Department of Fisheries Malaysia, to conserve turtles at key nesting rookeries including Kem Terendak, Pulau Upeh and Padang Kemunting beaches in Malacca as well as Ma'Daerah and Setiu beaches in Terengganu.

Malacca's beaches are home to the peninsula's largest population of hawksbill turtles — with 20% to 30% of the state's total nesting occurring on the 120m strip of beach in Pulau Upeh, the densest nesting beach in Malacca, while a significant population of green turtles nest on Terengganu's beaches.

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This article was taken from: The Star Online: Lifestyle: Travel and Adventure 12 September 2009