Protection of Sea Turtles

Knowledge Series

PROTECTION THROUGH ENACTMENT

Since the rapid declination of leatherback sea turtles back in the 90’s there have been conservation and protection efforts to save and recover the population growth of the sea turtles in Malaysia. The earliest enactment dedicated towards the protection of marine turtles is in Kelantan, the Fisheries (Turtle and Turtle’s egg) Rules 1935, which the enactment includes protection for all Chelonia species of turtles.

In 1988, the first sea turtle sanctuary was established in Rantau Abang. In 1989, amended enactment banned only leatherback eggs collection but still allows other species of sea turtles egg collections. Currently other turtle species such as olive ridley and hawksbill are facing the same future as the leatherback sea turtle. In light of the events, the Terengganu Turtle Enactment was amended in November 2021 and all species of turtle eggs harvested are banned, which will be enforced from June 2022.

IUCN Red List

As mentioned previously, four of the seven species of sea turtles that can be found in Malaysia are the green turtle, leatherback turtle, hawksbill turtle and the olive ridley. The leatherback sea turtle was declared locally extinct in 2006. Apart from leatherback, other species of turtles such as olive ridley and hawksbill are on a steady decline. According to the IUCN Red List the olive ridley are globally vulnerable while hawksbills on the other hand are critically endangered. In Malaysia, among the four species that have been sighted, only green sea turtles have a fairly stable population.

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Biology

Sea turtles are marine reptiles that are found in tropical and subtropical seas in the world. Four sea turtles which have been found in Malaysia are; the green turtles, the hawksbill, the olive ridley and the leatherback. The green sea turtles...

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Life Cycle

The general life cycle starts from the adult females that dig nest cavities on sandy, ocean-facing beaches. After the incubation, the hatchlings emerge from the nests, crawl to the water and swim out to the open ocean. The young juveniles would remain pelagic...

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Ecology

Sea turtles are highly migratory marine reptiles that play vital roles in maintaining the health of the oceans. All sea turtles use different habitats and areas during their life cycle such as the seagrasses and the coral reefs.

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