| Date |
Title |
 30 Dec 2008 |
Report of Fifth Meeting of IOSEA Signatory States available |
| Intro : The Report of the Fifth Meeting of the IOSEA Signatory States is now available in hard copy format, supplementing the online version that has been available on the website (under IOSEA Meetings) since October.
The report summarises the interesting discussions that took place in Bali, Indonesia, from 20-23 August 2008, and includes an overview of IOSEA MoU implementation progress. A synopsis of the meeting was also featured on 5 September 2008 (see Features Archive).
Copies have already been posted to meeting participants and others on a limited mailing list. |
| 26 Dec 2008 |
Accidentally-caught turtles receive new lease on life |
| Intro : Kélonia and IFREMER, in association with fishermen, are studying the migration of accidentally caught marine turtles in order to better understand and decrease marine turtle bycatch. As part of the programme, marine turtles are equipped with a satellite tracking device to record their trajectory and diving profile on a daily basis.
A young female loggerhead was accidentally caught off the coast of Réunion Island on 8 March 2007. Named Justatao after the fishing boat that caught her, she was taken to Kélonia’s care centre by the fishermen. An X-ray revealed the presence of a hook down her throat, and a surgical intervention was necessary to remove the hook. The animal was then reanimated by acupuncture and spent more than a year in Kelonia’s pool recovering. Justatao was the first marine turtle to be released as part of this programme. |
| 19 Dec 2008 |
Western Indian Ocean info-gathering project set to begin |
| Intro : With funding from the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), a small research project is set to begin in January 2009 to compile published and unpublished information on marine turtle conservation in the Western Indian Ocean. The six-month project will be supervised by Dr. Ronel Nel (Chair of the Western Indian Ocean - Marine Turtle Task Force) and administered through the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa.
The WIO-MTTF is a technical committee established under IOSEA and the Nairobi Convention. Its aim is to assist nations in the Western Indian Ocean (namely Comoros, Réunion (France), Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania) to undertake sustainable marine conservation using turtles as a flagship species. |
| 9 Dec 2008 |
Latest signatures bring IOSEA membership tally to 30 |
| Intro : Two key countries for sea turtle conservation in the Indian Ocean have joined the ranks of the IOSEA Marine Turtle Memorandum of Understanding. Representatives of France and Mozambique signed the MoU on 5 December 2008, during the meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), held in Rome last week.
Before witnessing the signature of French Ambassador Laurent Stefanini, IOSEA Coordinator Douglas Hykle called attention to the extensive marine turtle conservation work already undertaken by France in the Western Indian Ocean, notably through its ocean research institute, Ifremer, the Kélonia turtle observatory on Réunion Island, and the recently created South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Project (SWIOFP). |
| 20 Nov 2008 |
IOTC 'Ecosystems and Bycatch' report highlights turtle issues |
| Intro : The Secretariat of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) has released the report of the meeting of its Working Party on Ecosystems and Bycatch (WPEB), held in Bangkok in October 2008. Coordinator Douglas Hykle participated in the meeting and reported on its relevence to the IOSEA Marine Turtle MoU in an article featured on 23 October.
Among other things, the report describes a project being led by Ifremer (Réunion, France) to investigate sea turtle interactions with open sea fisheries. This project (a component of the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Project) has the potential to provide unprecedented insights into fisheries-turtle interactions in the Western Indian Ocean and to make a major contribution to IOSEA implementation. |
| 13 Nov 2008 |
Captured green turtles released from Thameehla Island |
| Intro : In September 2008, three female juvenile green turtles and one adult male green turtle were incidentally caught in a small-scale gillnet 1.6 km from Myanmar's Thameehla (Diamond) Island. The fishermen informed Department of Fisheries staff and sent the turtles to the Marine Turtle Conservation and Management Station out of a sense of awareness and cooperation.
Staff from the Station tagged and measured two of the female juvenile green turtles and the adult male and safely released them to the sea. Unfortunately one female juvenile turtle succumbed because of the long time hauling. |
| 28 Oct 2008 |
SEAFDEC reviews progress on turtle research programme |
| Intro : The Third Regional Technical Consultation for the ongoing ‘Research for Stock Enhancement of Sea Turtles in Southeast Asia’ project was held in Kuala Lumpur from 15-17 October 2008. The annual meeting reviews progress under this successful sub-regional programme, which is supported by a Japanese Trust Fund.
The IOSEA Secretariat is routinely invited to observe and actively contribute to the proceedings. The second RTC was the object of an IOSEA Profile of the Month presented in July 2007.
This particular meeting took on added significance, inasmuch as it served to review the outcomes of the fourth phase of the project, to exchange ideas on activities to be undertaken under a new fifth phase (2010-2014), and to plan for some “bridging” activities in 2009. |
| 23 Oct 2008 |
IOTC Working Party on Ecosystems and Bycatch meets |
| Intro : The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) held the Fourth Session of its Working Party on Ecosystems and Bycatch in Bangkok from 20-22 October 2008. By virtue of an IOTC recommendation adopted in 2005 (drafted with input from the IOSEA Secretariat), IOTC members are encouraged to collect and voluntarily provide the IOTC Scientific Committee with information on interactions with sea turtles in fisheries, including successful mitigation measures. The recommendation also encourages greater cooperation and exchange of information between IOTC and IOSEA. |
| 20 Oct 2008 |
Speed boats – please beware of basking turtles! |
| Intro : Collisions with boats, particularly propellers, are one of the causes of injuries and sometimes death of marine turtles, especially green turtles in Réunion Island.
These turtles spend time at the surface to bask and increase their body temperature so that it remains above the external temperature. It increases their metabolism and eases digestion. The time spent basking is even longer during austral winter as temperatures tend to be colder. Turtles tend to doze while basking and therefore can be hit by speed boats.
Boat users often tend to forget that the sea is the home of many species and that collision (accidents) can happen. To avoid these accidents, we need to look beyond the boat and reduce speed when approaching the coast, where marine life is more abundant. |
| 29 Sep 2008 |
French language version of the IOSEA DVD now available |
| Intro : The popular IOSEA educational DVD "Sea Turtles: Our Ocean Ambassadors" is now available in French, thanks to a fruitful collaboration with « Te mana o te moana », a non-profit foundation based in French Polynesia.
The IOSEA Secretariat, « Te mana o te moana », and Scubazoo (Filming/Photography) teamed up to produce the French language version of the DVD, as well as the informative packaging.
« Te mana o te moana » generously prepared the translations and sponsored the production of the latest version, which is titled: « Les tortues marines : ambassadrices des océans ». |
| 5 Sep 2008 |
Reflections on Bali ... a synopsis of the Signatory State meeting |
| Intro : The official report of the Fifth Meeting of the IOSEA Signatory States, held in Bali from 20-23 August 2008, will be prepared and circulated in draft form in the coming weeks. In the meanwhile, the Secretariat is pleased to offer this synopsis.
The Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF), H.E. Freddy Numberi, took time from his busy schedule to address the delegates and officially open the meeting on 20 August, in the presence of various senior officials and dignitaries. |
| 1 Sep 2008 |
Turtles successfully recovered from Iranian petrochemical reservoir |
| Intro : Mahmood Moghimi reports from the Islamic Republic of Iran on more than 10 turtles recovered from Mobein Petrochemical Reservoir of South Pars in Bushehr Province:
Based on our observations and collected information, more than 10 live Hawksbill and Green turtles of different sizes were found in the reservoir tank of Pars Petrochemical Zone.
Upon observing the unusual swimming behaviour of the animals, marine experts of the Department of Environment (DoE) located a large water circulation system on the bed of the tank which prevented the turtles from swimming normally. |
| 21 Aug 2008 |
Republic of Yemen joins IOSEA Marine Turtle MoU |
| Intro : The Republic of Yemen became the 28th Signatory State to the IOSEA Marine Turtle Memorandum of Understanding with the signature, on 20 August 2008, of Mr. Abdullah Hamoud Abo Al-Fotooh, Director General of Natural Resources and Research, Environmental Protection Authority.
Mr. Al-Fotooh signed the instrument in the presence of IOSEA Coordinator, Douglas Hykle, after the opening ceremony of the Fifth Meeting of IOSEA Signatory States, held in Bali, Indonesia. The event was witnessed by an audience of more than 100 conference participants from 30 countries.
Bordering the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, Yemen is home to regionally important populations of Green, Hawksbill and Loggerhead turtles; and Leatherback turtles are reported to forage in its waters. |
| 20 Aug 2008 |
Fifth Meeting of the IOSEA Signatory States under way in Bali! |
| Intro : The Fifth Meeting of the Signatory States got under way today in Bali, Indonesia, following months of preparation by the Host Government, IOSEA Secretariat, and other cooperating partners.
The conference follows a two day-session of the IOSEA Advisory Committee, an informal meeting of the sister CMS Memorandum of Understanding on Dugongs, and a related workshop on by-catch reduction techniques organized by WWF-Indonesia and Udayana University.
The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, in partnership with WWF-Indonesia and a team of volunteers from Udayana University in Denpasar have been working hard on the local logistical arrangements, while the IOSEA Secretariat has been busy in Bangkok taking care of the substantive documentation for the meeting. |
| 11 Jul 2008 |
World Ocean Day in French Polynesia |
| Intro : The educational project “Sea turtles, children and local colors” launched in Moorea two months ago by ‘Te mana o te moana’ and the Mediterranean sea turtle research and conservation center (CESTMed) culminated successfully on World Ocean Day.
Students from Afareaitu High School have been communicating by various means with students from Aigued Mortes High School in metropolitan France for two months. They have collected information on sea turtles in their regions, on relations between children and turtles, and then compared their ways of life. |
| 4 Jul 2008 |
Community-based turtle and dugong management plans - Update |
| Intro : The Torres Strait Regional Authority’s (TSRA) Land and Sea Management Unit (LSMU) is supporting eight Torres Strait Island Communities in a Dugong and Marine Turtle Project which aims to assist indigenous Australians to become more involved in the sustainable management of dugong and marine turtle.
The project is one of a number of projects coordinated by the North Australia Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA) and has five regional partners located in areas from the Kimberly to Torres Strait. |
| 11 Jun 2008 |
Sensitizing action at Kélonia during World Ocean Days |
| Intro : On 5 June 2008 the Kélonia team, together with a 6th grade class (10 children) from Lapierre School in Saint Louis, released a green turtle into the sea. This event took place as part of the World Ocean Days, which in Réunion are co-jointly organized by the Lions Club and Kélonia.
The turtle was named Corallien by these young enthusiasts, who have participated in a sensitizing project about the conservation of marine turtles and their habitats since the beginning of their school year. Corallien is a young male with a mass and size of 83 kg and 99 cm, respectively and was born in 1991 on the island of Tromelin. After 18 years spent in the pools of Kélonia, he returned to sea as part of a reintroduction program, carefully watched by his young protectors and trainers. |
| 4 Jun 2008 |
Marine Turtle Satellite Tagging Project - Kenya |
| Intro : Sam Weru reports on a new initiative by the Marine Programme of WWF in Kenya to conserve East Africa’s green turtles, aided by satellite tracking.
Referred to as the Kenya Integrated Turtle Conservation Programme (KIST-Con), WWF will up-scale its marine turtle conservation initiatives in the Kiunga Marine National Reserve (KMNR) project, which works to protect sea turtles at sea and on nesting beaches.
This will involve the installation of at least five satellite transmitters (Sirtrack Kiwisat 101 PTT) on sea turtles, which will accurately record global positioning among other inferred data. |
| 2 Jun 2008 |
Bali Marine Police confiscate seven live Green turtles |
| Intro : Based on information received from villagers, Bali Marine Police confiscated seven live Green (Chelonia mydas) turtles at Kedonganan Beach Badung region, Bali, Indonesia. The confiscation action was taken on 31 May 2008 between 2 – 3 a.m.
According to the Indonesian NGO ProFauna, the sea turtles come from East Java, brought by small fisherman boat as camouflage. Two men in their early 40s were arrested.
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| 21 May 2008 |
New Poster: Marine Turtles of the South-western Indian Ocean |
| Intro : Kélonia - the Marine Turtle Observatory, in Réunion, has kindly provided a downloadable image of a beautiful new poster emphasising "An exceptional, natural and common heritage to preserve".
According to Kélonia:
This poster, by artist Phillipe Payet, was prepared to present the 5 species of marine turtles living in the south-western Indian Ocean. Local names of each species allow viewers to identify them and facilitate information exchange between the different regional actors. This cooperation is essential for the study and the conservation of these migratory reptiles that occupy different habitats spread accross several countries during their life cycle. |
| 15 May 2008 |
Indonesia to host the Fifth Meeting of IOSEA Signatory States |
| Intro : The Secretariat is pleased to announce that the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of the Republic of Indonesia has agreed to host the Fifth Meeting of IOSEA Signatory States, in Bali, in August 2008. The meeting will be organised by the Directorate of Conservation and Marine National Parks, in cooperation with the IOSEA Secretariat and WWF-Indonesia; and will be coordinated with a number of associated events and meetings.
Formal invitations will be circulated in early June, at which time the following provisional dates and meeting venue will be confirmed:
18-19 August: Meeting of the IOSEA Advisory Committee
19 August: Associated meeting on the CMS Dugong MoU (including ceremony for new signatories)
20-23 August: Main Meeting of the IOSEA Signatory States (IOSEA SS5) |
| 13 May 2008 |
IOSEA website receives a facelift |
| Intro : Well into its third year of service in its current format, the IOSEA website was due for a bit of “refreshment”. Beyond the obvious cosmetic improvements made to the home page, we’ve taken advantage of the opportunity to introduce some new tools and to improve the functionality of several aspects of the site (and even eliminate a few nagging bugs).
We hope users will find the site even more useful and visually appealing than ever before. Here's an overview of some of the enhancements that have been introduced: |
| 12 May 2008 |
Australia: Draft Management Plans released for stakeholder consultation |
| Intro : Through the Torres Strait Dugong and Turtle Project, the Torres Strait Regional Authority’s (TSRA) Land and Sea Management Unit (LSMU) have been supporting Traditional Owners on the Islands of Badu, Boigu, Erub, Iama, Mabuiag, Mer, Horn and St Pauls, to strengthen their capacity to sustainably manage their dugong and turtle fisheries.
The TSRA Dugong and Turtle Project is part of a north Australia-wide project coordinated by the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA), and funded by the Natural Heritage Trust. |
| 5 May 2008 |
WWF: Adaptation to climate change in marine turtles website |
| Intro : The World Wildlife Fund has announced the launch of a new webpage focussing on "Adaptation to Climate change in marine turtles" to consolidate ideas and understanding about the effects of climate change in relation to marine turtles. According to the WWF news release, the website has been set up to share information and results that came out of a workshop held in December 2007 to discuss the current state of information about climate change and marine turtles, and to attempt to address adaptation measures that could be implemented to mitigate the negative effects of climate change.
While the project appears to focus particularly on hawksbill turtles of the Caribbean, its methodogy and findings will certainly be of much wider interest, including to countries of the IOSEA region. |
| 1 May 2008 |
Satellite Tracking Turtles from Mer Island, Australia |
| Intro : For the past two years, the Torres Strait Regional Authority’s (TSRA) Land and Sea Management Unit (LSMU) has been working with eight Torres Strait Island communities on the Torres Strait Dugong and Turtle Project.
The TSRA Dugong and Turtle Project is part of a north Australia-wide project coordinated by the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA), and funded by the Natural Heritage Trust. |
| 25 Apr 2008 |
India's Dhamra Port controversy heats up again - Editorial |
| Intro : For as long as the IOSEA website has been tracking news headlines, marine turtles of the Indian state of Orissa have probably been featured more frequently than any other single issue over the past several years. More specifically, a search of the IOSEA archives for “Dhamra port” using the built-in search tool yields dozens of stories, dating back to 2004, about this controversial development project.
In brief, concern has been expressed that the project would create a major port facility, and result in ancillary industrial development, within 5 km of a national park and close to some of Orissa’s world-renowned turtle nesting beaches. |
| 21 Apr 2008 |
Sustainable Development Week at Kélonia |
| Intro : During the "sustainable development week", 1-7 April 2008, Kélonia held a training session for eight eco-guides from the Departmental Collective of Mayotte and one from Iranja Lodge, a hotel resort in the south of Nosy Be in Madagascar.
The trainees are working at protected sites in Mayotte and Madagascar to assist tourists and visitors who come to discover the stunning sight of nesting sea turtles. During the week-long seminar, they learned basic knowledge about sea turtles of the South-Western Indian Ocean, studied the place of sea turtles in human societies, and discovered projects on sea turtles and valuation of habitats. |
| 17 Apr 2008 |
Mauritius - Rare green turtle nesting at Gris Gris Beach |
| Intro : The oceanic islands of Mauritius and its outer islands are nesting sites for green sea turtles. In the 1800’s, the Dutch reported great numbers of turtle nesting in Mauritius but due to the exploitation by man and the loss of favourable habitats on the coasts for nesting, very few turtles exist in the waters around Mauritius today (Hughes 1974).
In October 2007, after an apparent absence of 31 years, a green sea turtle was observed laying eggs at Gris Gris, a sublime and beautiful beach in the south of the country. |
| 14 Apr 2008 |
Western Indian Ocean Task Force report now available |
| Intro : The report of the first meeting of the Western Indian Ocean - Marine Turtle Task Force (WIO-MTTF), circulated widely by e-mail earlier this month, is now available for downloading.
As reported in the IOSEA Feature Story of 3 March 2008, the Task Force was successfully convened for the first time in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in late February, under the chairmanship of Dr Ronel Nel (South Africa). |
| 3 Apr 2008 |
Kélonia (Réunion) participates in an ''eco-weekend'' |
| Intro : Surf Rider Foundation Europe organised the thirteenth “eco-weekend” which was held on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of March 2008 throughout Europe. This “eco-weekend” was dedicated to the protection of coastal habitats. Last year, 12 countries from Europe and Africa participated, and grouped more than 10,000 volunteers, who organised a massive beach clean-up on 230 sites throughout the region. This year, rivers and lakes were included in the process.
Kélonia participated in the eco-weekend and organised two educational workshops to increase public awareness on beach pollution and sea turtles habitat destruction. |
| 25 Mar 2008 |
Satellite Tracking of Nesting Hawksbill Turtles in Seychelles |
| Intro : Barclays Bank of Seychelles is supporting an innovative programme being implemented by the Marine Conservation Society of Seychelles (MCSS) in association with the Ministry of Environment and the Wildlife Clubs of Seychelles.
To date there is no information on the movement patterns of the nesting turtle populations on the developed islands of Seychelles, nor where they go to forage between nesting seasons. Two turtles nesting on the beaches on the south of Mahe will be fitted with satellite tracking tags that will record their movement patterns and diving habits over the course of three months. |
| 19 Mar 2008 |
New monitoring programme in Pulau Banyak, Aceh |
| Intro : A local NGO Yayasan Pulau Banyak has recently started a monitoring programme in Pulau Bangkaru (West Sumatra, Indonesia) in response to an urgent need to identify the current status of the sea turtle populations in Northwest Sumatra. There is a lack of recent information on leatherback populations nesting in Sumatra. Green and hawksbill turtle populations are also data deficient.
The Pulau Banyak sea turtle conservation programme will provide significant baseline information for combined international sea turtle conservation actions through a tagging and beach patrol programme. Inconel tags will be applied to all turtles, whereas and PIT tags will be used only on leatherbacks. |
| 17 Mar 2008 |
UNEP/WCMC hosts Knowledge Management project partners |
| Intro : For the last several years, IOSEA has led the way among multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) with its innovative online reporting system < http://www.ioseaturtles.org/report.php > aimed at providing member States and other partners with timely information needed for policy and decision-making.
Over this time, IOSEA Coordinator Douglas Hykle has participated alongside other MEAs in a UNEP-administered initiative known as the Knowledge Management project. Other partners include the secretariats of CBD, CITES, Ramsar and CMS/AEWA; as well as the UNEP/World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC). As the first phase of the project drew to a close, the participating organisations met at UNEP/WCMC’s headquarters in Cambridge, UK, from 7-9 March 2008, to review progress to date and to discuss future plans. |
| 3 Mar 2008 |
Full steam ahead for the WIO - Marine Turtle Task Force |
| Intro : Marine turtle conservation efforts in the Western Indian Ocean received a boost last week with the convening of the inaugural meeting of the WIO – Marine Turtle Task Force in Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania, from 27-29 February.
The organisation of the meeting represented a win-win partnership between the Nairobi Convention, WWF-Tanzania and the IOSEA MoU Secretariat. The Nairobi Convention offered a political framework for convening the Task Force, WWF hosted the meeting and provided most of the financial support, and IOSEA prepared all of the substantive inputs - making extensive use of information contained in the Online Reporting Facility. |
| 28 Feb 2008 |
South-East Sulawesi supplies poached sea turtles to Bali |
| Intro : An investigation in 2007 by ProFauna Indonesia has revealed that Green sea turtle poaching for trade is still continuing in South East Sulawesi, Indonesia. The investigation conducted by ProFauna, in collaboration with the World Society for the Protection of Animals, reported that about 1,115 green turtles (Chelonia mydas) are caught in the region every year.
Most of them are said to have been poached in the Wakatobi National Park area, while some are caught in Moramo, Ereke, and Tikep regions. According to the investigation, the majority of the poached turtles are smuggled to Bali, where high demand for turtle meat increases the poaching in South East Sulawesi. There are reportedly two or three such shipments each year. |
| 14 Feb 2008 |
Love turtles and terrapins this Valentine’s Day |
| Intro : The Turtle Research and Rehabilitation Group of the Institute of Oceanography, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu with the support of a wide network of volunteers who will serve as our “Turtle Ambassadors” has announced the launch of year-long campaign to encourage members of the Malaysian public NOT to eat turtle and terrapin eggs.
The campaign - which runs from February 2008 to February 2009 - has been spurred by disturbing trends that have developed in Malaysia in recent years. |
| 4 Feb 2008 |
WIO-Marine Turtle Task Force to meet in Dar es Salaam |
| Intro : The first meeting of the Western Indian Ocean - Marine Turtle Task force has been rescheduled and will now take place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from 27-29 February 2008. The Task Force was formally established in November 2007 in partnership with the Nairobi Convention. Originally slated to take place in Nairobi, the meeting had to find a new venue because of the continuing unrest in Kenya.
Fortunately, WWF-Tanzania was able to respond quickly to these unfortunate circumstances and to offer an alternative venue, in addition to being the main sponsor of the meeting. All but one of the Task Force members, and a number of other experts, have confirmed their participation. |
| 31 Jan 2008 |
IOSEA side-meeting during ISTS-2008 |
| Intro : As part of the events surrounding the International Sea Turtle Symposium held in Loreto, Mexico, in January 2008, Dr Karen Arthur and Lalith Ekanyake kindly organised a side-event bringing together people interested in turtle conservation in the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia region.
Discussions covered a range of topics, including ghost nets and marine debris, networking among genetics projects, sea turtle conservation in Western and Northern Australia, the Western Indian Ocean - Marine Turtle Task Force, nesting beach surveys in Fiji, and arrangements for next year's meeting. The recently-released IOSEA DVD was also screeened on the occasion. |
| 28 Jan 2008 |
29th Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology & Conservation |
| Intro : The International Sea Turtle Society convenes an annual symposium to bring people together to promote the exchange of information that advances the global knowledge of sea turtle biology and conservation.
The 29th Symposium will be held from 17-19 February 2009 in Brisbane, Australia. This will be the first time the symposium has been held in Australia, and indeed the southern hemisphere. |
| 20 Jan 2008 |
Petition calls for halt to deepwater port project in Orissa, India |
| Intro : The Sea Turtle Restoration Project is circulating a petition calling upon the State of Orissa to conduct to conduct a more thorough review of the ecological impacts of the Dhamra port project and urging the IUCN to withhold support for the project before an adequate environmental assessment is completed.
The petition, circulated on the CTURTLE list serve and reproduced below, contends that the Dhamra port project would create one of the largest, busiest deepwater ports in South Asia approximately 15 kilometers from the famous Gahirmatha nesting site where 200,000 olive ridley sea turtles gather each year to nest. |
| 1 Jan 2008 |
IOSEA 2007 Year-end Review and Look Ahead for 2008 |
| Intro : Looking back on some of the collective achievements of 2007, we hope that the IOSEA website has continued to serve as a useful vehicle for exchanging information about efforts to conserve marine turtles in the Indian Ocean – South-East Asia region.
Indeed, the 300+ news headlines published in 2007 are indicative of another busy year in the field of turtle conservation. There is no way to adequately summarise all regional developments in this limited space; but the IOSEA website’s Headline Archive and Search Facility offer a reasonable overview of newsworthy events. |
