Indonesia is an archipelagic country with a very long coastline, thus making Indonesia becomes a paradise of sea turtles. In Indonesia, there are six types of sea turtles: Green turtle (Chelonia mydas), Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricate), Olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), Flatback turtle (Natator depressus), and Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta). The Leatherback turtle is the largest sea turtle species which has up to 2.75 meters length and 600 - 900 kilograms weight. While the smallest sea turtle in Indonesia is the Olive ridley weighing around 50 kilograms.

According to the Government Regulation (PP) number 7 year 1999 concerning the Preservation of Plant and Wildlife, all sea turtles in Indonesia have been protected by law and also based on the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), all sea turtles are listed in the Appendix I meaning that the international trade of the species for commercial purpose is prohibited. IUCN also enlists the Hawksbill turtle as critically endangered. While the Green turtle, Olive ridley, Loggerhead turtle are categorized as threatened.

Therefore, it is very important to conduct sea turtles conservation efforts in order to reduce the threat of their extinction. In an effort to carry out conservation missions (preservation and utilization) of sea turtles, turtle breeding is needed in a sustainable and programmatic way. One form of turtle breeding is a controlled restocking activity through breeding or conservation efforts. Restoking is an attempt to rehabilitate sea turtle resources or restore a population of sea turtle resources in critical waters by releasing the hatchlings (turtle children) to the sea.

Preserving the existence of sea turtles is not only a government obligation, but also the obligation of all people, especially the coastal communities. Bengkulu is one of the provinces that located adjacent to the sea. In there, the coastal communities are conducting sea turtles conservation in their homes with their own initiatives, but still under the supervision of Department of Marine and Fisheries Bengkulu Province. Until now, sea turtles conservation sites in Bengkulu are widely distributed in Central Bengkulu, Kaur, and Muko-muko Regency.

On the 20th of June 2018, I had the opportunity to visit the Sea Turtles Conservation Group "Alun Utara" located in Pekik Nyaring Village, Pondok Kelapa Sub-district, Central Bengkulu Regency. This conservation group has been established since 2016. They conserve 3 species of sea turtles, i.e., Green turtle (Chelonia mydas), Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricate), Olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea). They told me about how they do the turtle breeding system. Actually, the turtle breeding is simply done by moving the sea turtle eggs from their laying location on the seafront (called the natural nest) because their eggs are prone to be stolen (some are consuming and destroying their natural nest) and also preyed by the predators. Hence, the sea turtle eggs are transferred into a large tub / bucket containing of the sand (as seen in the picture below). In each tub / bucket containing of sea turtle eggs is written the estimate date of when the eggs will hatch. Then, when the eggs have already hatched, the hatchlings (turtle children) will be placed in a tub containing of sea water. The turtle children were given food in the form of small fish. Furthermore, if the age of the the hatchlings (turtle children) have been around 3 - 4 months, then they will be released back to the sea which is their original habitat.

The objective of coastal sea turtles conservation is as an effort to guarantee the sustainability of sea turtle populations whose system of activities is useful to protect, preserve, and exploit coastal areas in order to maintain the sustainability of marine ecosystem and certainly, to increase sea turtle populations through such activities. The spirit of attempts to save turtles that have been done by Sea Turtles Conservation Groups is deserved to be appreciated and expected can be as sea turtles protection campaign to all parties.

Images :

All of these pictures were taken by me and my sister.