Itsamia is a small village located on the east coast of Moheli, the smallest and least-populated island of the Comoros archipelago. Recently it has been recognised as one of the ‎most important green turtle nesting sites (inhabited by ‎humans) in the south-western Indian Ocean.

Villagers are conscious of the eco-touristic value of the turtles nesting on the ‎beach, and have taken action to protect them. For many years, members of the Association ‎for the Socio-Economic Development of Itsamia (ADSEI) have fought against the increasing ‎threat of poaching.‎ More »

Over the last couple of months, the United Nations Environment Programme has released two publications that will be of interest to IOSEA readers.

"Marine Litter: A Global Challenge", launched on World Oceans Day, is the first-ever attempt to take stock of the marine litter situation in the 12 major regional seas around the world.

The report's findings indicate that despite many international, regional and national efforts to reverse marine pollution, alarming quantities of rubbish thrown out to sea continue to endanger people's safety and health, entrap wildlife, damage nautical equipment and deface coastal areas around the world. More »

The Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) has recently published a report on the “Third Regional Technical Consultation on Research for Stock Enhancement of Sea Turtles”, which was held in Kuala Lumpur in October 2008.

The 203-page report contains a wealth of information on tagging and satellite telemetry studies carried out in each of the eight SEAFDEC countries (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam). Additionally, it describes the interesting results of genetic sampling and analytical work conducted in the South-East Asia region, aiming to elucidate stocks/populations of green and hawksbill turtles.  More »

Baler, Aurora, Philippines – In celebration of World Environment Month and through ‎the massive and intensive campaign of Aurora province in marine turtle ‎conservation, another endangered sea turtle was released off waters of this ‎town after it was caught and surrendered to authorities by ‎fishermen. ‎
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A female hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) or locally known as ‎pawikan, measuring 51 cm and 46 cm wide wide, was fished out in Dibut Bay, ‎San Luis, Aurora by fishermen a day before it was released on Tuesday 9 June.  More »

A two and a half-day workshop on the problem of illegal taking of marine turtles in South-East Asia was held in the Malaysian state of Terengganu from 1-3 June 2009.

The workshop focused on the illegal capture of hawksbill and green turtles in the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines – mainly by vessels operating out of China’s Hainan province. Some estimates suggest that about two-thirds of the individuals involved in this illegal fishing are Chinese nationals. More »