Coastal
development and harmful fishing activities
under the spotlight
Bali/Bangkok, 20 August 2008 - An innovative
regional agreement is beginning to turn
the tide for the 'ancient mariners' of the
world's oceans.
Marine turtles traverse
the seas for thousands of kilometers, returning
after decades to nest in the same area where
they entered the world as tiny hatchlings.
They are threatened
by degradation of critical habitats on land,
interaction with fishing gear at sea, and
excessive harvesting of eggs and for meat.
A new report, prepared
for a forthcoming meeting in Bali of 27
signatories to a region-wide turtle conservation
agreement, gives the most comprehensive
picture to date of how well countries have
been tackling these problems.
Douglas Hykle, who coordinates
the agreement's activities from the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) office
in Bangkok, said national reports clearly
show signatory states are making efforts
to monitor, manage and protect their marine
turtle populations.
"Participating
countries have made progress in many areas,
but there is still room for improvement.
Many have yet to clearly describe their
resource needs and to mobilise sufficient
funding for domestic implementation; and
only a few are carrying the burden of supporting
international coordination efforts,"
he said.
Examples of progress
include Australia, which has multi-million
dollar programmes in place to support the
development of community-driven approaches
to turtle conservation and to find solutions
to the problem of ghost nets.
Indonesia is carrying
out advanced research to identify interactions
between fisheries and turtles and to work
with industry to mitigate impact.
The Seychelles has devised
innovative approaches to involve the private
sector in practical conservation measures
Official delegations from more than 30 countries
are expected to attend the Bali conference.
