Indo-Thai ties ... satellite tracking and much more

Interest in tracking sea turtles with satellite transmitters seems to have grown exponentially in recent years. One gets the impression that, just as tagging turtles grew in popularity in the 1980-90s, satellite tracking has become an enviable component of turtle conservation field projects. While both techniques can provide useful information for a range of applications, some caveats apply to both. More »

This past month has been a bit slow on the "news and feature" front, but there are several updates to report on activities in progress.

Six of ten Western Indian Ocean countries have nominated individuals to serve on the interim WIO Marine Turtle Task Force. Responses are still pending from France, Madagascar, Seychelles and Tanzania. After resolving some issues related to supporting documentation, the secretariat will submit the nominations to the IOSEA Advisory Committee for review. The Task Force is expected to be formally established in partnership with the Nairobi Convention when its decision-making body meets in Cape Town in September of this year.

All IOSEA Focal Points have now been given password access to test and begin updating their national reports using the Editor module of the upgraded Online Reporting Facility. Of special interest is the new interface for entering site-based information on species, threats and mitigation measures. Already the system contains basic details of nearly 500 sites around the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia. Between them, Australia and Indonesia have listed over 200 sites, and are working to fill in missing information. Internal tests have demonstrated that the soon-to-be-launched Viewer module will be an extremely powerful and versatile tool for analysing these data.

A new IOSEA educational video on sea turtle conservation issues is nearing completion, after of months of collaboration between the secretariat and Scubazoo, a video production company. The DVD packs a lot of information and wonderful film footage into a concise package that runs just over four minutes in length. A shorter version, intended for use in public service announcements, is also being produced. Copies will be distributed widely to interested organisations around the IOSEA region.

The long-lasting procedure to recruit a full-time "Team Assistant" for the IOSEA Secretariat is back on track. An advertisement for the post was circulated locally in May, with 23 June set as the closing date for applications, and interviews to follow in July. Hopefully some much-needed support for the office will materialise by September.

Also in June, the Secretariat submitted a proposal for a Junior Professional Officer (JPO) to the United Nations Environment Programme. Under the scheme, interested Governments may offer to fund JPO positions in different offices of UNEP around the world. Though UNEP promotes only a selection of the JPO proposals it receives by canvassing Governments for possible interest, proposals that are not among those short-listed for special consideration may still be taken up by interested Governments. IOSEA Focal Points will be sent a copy of the proposal for information and possible follow-up.

Orissa: Funding for turtle patrol boats expected (23 June)

Malaysia: When fewer turtles come a-calling (22 June)

Updated map of Signatory States (21 June)

Updated contact details for several Focal Points (21 June)

Orissa: NHRC seeks report on fisherman killing (21 June)

NGO promotes Marshall Islands conservation (19 June)

Fiji's turtles need to be watched (16 June)

Saving Australia's loggerheads from crabpots (15 June)

Orissa villagers determined to fight Posco plant (15 June)

Retaining Gahirmatha landmass a challenge (14 June)

Australian protesters target military exercise (12 June)

Hunter aims to sustain Ogasawara sea turtles (9 June)

Divers launch Red Sea turtle conservation project (8 June)

Greenpeace says Indian port killing rare turtles (8 June)

Bahrain turtle conservation plan faces data hurdle (7 June)

Bahrain proposes plan to reduce turtle threats (7 June)

Seized turtles on permanent display in museum (6 June)

Luxury resort operator takes a conservationist tack (4 June)