MYANMAR marked the official start of the Year of the Marine Turtle within the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asian region this month by launching a campaign aimed at conserving and managing marine turtles and their habitat.

The Year of the Turtle campaign was organised by the the Indian Ocean Southeast Asian (IOSEA) Marine Turtle Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed in Bangkok in 2001 by more than 20 countries around the world.

A staff officer with the Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, U Maung Maung Lwin, said that although the official start of the Year of the Turtle was on March 1, the department began its marine turtle activities in January.

“The objective of the campaign is to raise awareness of the social, cultural, ecological and economic value of marine turtles, as well as their habitat,” he said.

As part of the campaign, the Department of Fisheries plans to distribute posters and pamphlets, and publish a series of announcements in state-run newspapers and on television and radio to promote the conservation of turtles and their habitat, he said.

Conservation workshops for fishermen and rural villagers in coastal areas will be held in Tanintharyi Division in April and Rakhine State in May.

The Department of Fisheries will also organise a mid-year paper-reading session on conservation, which is expected to attract the participation of 70 experts from the department, the ministries of Forestry and Education, Myanmar Fisheries Federation, and Myanmar Academy of Agricultural, Forestry, Livestock and Fishery Sciences.

Department officials will also conduct surveys of sea turtle populations in coastal areas of Rakhine and Mon states and Tanintharyi division. The surveys will also include gathering information about adherence to regulations enacted by the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries in 1993 banning the eating of turtle meat and eggs.

U Maung Maung Lwin said the regulations also stipulate that fishing trawlers use special nets that enable turtles to escape, and that turtles accidentally netted by smaller boats be released.

The dumping of chemicals and industrial waste in waters inhabited by turtles was also forbidden, he said.

U Maung Maung Lwin said many factors had contributed to a dramatic decline in sea turtle populations, including construction projects on nesting beaches and the poaching of eggs.

Five of the world’s eight species of marine turtle are found in Myanmar waters – olive ridley, loggerhead, green, hawksbill and leatherback. All of them have been classified as ‘Endangered’ or ‘Critically Endangered’.

U Maung Maung Lwin said Myanmar began marine turtle conservation work in 1986 and its efforts gained momentum after it became a member of the Bangkok-based Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Centre in 1998.

The department also implemented a 30-year fishery development program in 1990, which included guidelines for sea turtle conservation and habitat rehabilitation, he said. “Concerted conservation efforts have seen turtle populations recover in some areas, but without urgent global action the future of these animals looks increasingly grim,” said Dr Sue Lieberman, director of World Wild Foundation’s Global Species Program.