Experts meet to help save world's largest turtles

Funding is key to saving the critically endangered leatherback turtle from extinction in the Western Pacific region, experts meeting in Malaysia said Tuesday। About 40 experts, scientists and officials from the Asian Development Bank gathered Tuesday in Malaysia's eastern Terengganu state to develop a viable plan to raise money for conserving leatherbacks, the world's largest turtles."We are really aware that time is running out for the leatherbacks here so we have to come up with specific actions which are fundable and (this) needs to be done immediately," said specialist Peter Dutton.

Turtles in the Pacific are hunted for their meat, shells and eggs, which are a source of protein for many traditional coastal communities।Conservationists have a plan to boost hatchlings in remaining nesting areas in the Western Pacific, said Dutton, who leads the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's marine turtle research programme."It's the costing and coming up with a mechanism to really address the long-term funding issues are the major concerns," he told AFP.The main hurdle for scientists seeking to conserve leatherbacks is a sudden shortage of funds, which could unravel years of work.The most immediate concern was increasing the number of leatherback hatchlings, Dutton said.That meant ensuring nesting females were able to avoid strangulation in fishing nets so that they reach beaches safely to lay their eggs, he said.Funding has so far depended largely on the US or on donations, he added."We also want to establish economic incentives for coastal communities in nesting beaches," Dutton said, suggesting fishermen could be paid not to fish during turtle nesting season.Leatherbacks frequently nested in Terengganu in the 1960s, but now it is rare to sight even one.

But there is still a viable leatherback population off the coast of Indonesia's Papua, where about 1,000 female turtles come to nest every year, laying up to 9,000 eggs."What we have to do is to provide economic incentives to communities which consume turtle meat and eggs and engage them in conservation projects," Dutton said at the start of the four-day meeting.The World Conservation Union lists the leatherback and the hawksbill turtle as critically endangered.