Sea turtle conservation in Southeast Asia requires collaboration

The content of the report was proposed by Mr Nguyen Khac Pho, Director of Con Dao National Park, at the 2nd Regional Conference on the Decade of the Ocean and the 11th International Ocean Science Conference organized by UNESCO in Thailand recently.

According to Mr. Nguyen Khac Pho, since 1987, Con Dao National Park has been implementing sea turtle conservation activities, establishing management protection stations for 18 nesting beaches of green turtles, tagging mother turtles, conserving coral reefs and seagrass beds. Con Dao National Park has also implemented various measures to prevent intrusion, disturbance of mother turtles and egg harvesting, relocating turtle eggs to hatcheries, rescuing turtle hatchlings, and organizing ecotourism activities".

Over the past 30 years (1993 - 2022), Con Dao National Park has recorded 12,654 mother turtles coming ashore to lay eggs, with nearly 37,000 nests relocated to egg hatcheries, totalling over 3.2 million eggs. More than 2.4 million turtle hatchlings have been hatched and released into the sea.

"The hatching rate of turtle eggs has increased significantly compared to the early stages when intervention to relocate eggs to hatcheries was not implemented. Specifically, it has increased from 27% (in 1993) to over 80% (in 2022). The number of sea turtles nesting and breeding here is the highest in the country, with around 700 individuals per year," Mr Pho informed.

During the conservation activities, Con Dao National Park has also observed that turtles after nesting in Con Dao migrate to Phu Quy Island, the Spratly Islands (Vietnam), and some areas in Southeast Asia such as Sihanoukville (Cambodia), the eastern coast of Pahang (Malaysia), and the Natuna Sea (Indonesia).

However, according to Mr Pho, Con Dao National Park has not yet had a comprehensive training and research project on sea turtles, such as regular monitoring of migration routes, determining the habitat areas of sea turtles, the impact of climate change causing erosion and nesting beach loss, and the gender imbalance of sea turtles. Some training and capacity-building activities for conservationists and researchers on sea turtles have also not been adequately prioritized.

Therefore, Vietnam proposes a project for researching and conserving sea turtles with a connectivity and experience-sharing approach among countries in the region. "Conserving sea turtles in Con Dao is not only important for Vietnam but also has cross-border significance and international cooperation", Mr Pho emphasized.

According to Mr Pho, there is a need for tighter connections and experience sharing among countries in the Southeast Asian region regarding sea turtle conservation.

Recently, a green sea turtle from Malaysia travelled thousands of nautical miles to Hon Bay Canh (part of Con Dao National Park) to lay 108 eggs. This turtle weighs 90 - 100kg and is approximately 40 years old. It is expected that the eggs will hatch in June, and the forest ranger force will release the hatchlings back into the sea.

Previously, in 2018, the Bay Canh Forest Ranger Station of Con Dao National Park also discovered a mother turtle laying eggs with a tag from Indonesia.

The 2nd Regional Decade of Ocean Conference by the United Nations and the 11th International Ocean Science Conference attracted nearly 1,500 delegates from 124 countries and territories. This is a great opportunity to raise issues aimed at promoting cooperation and concrete actions to address challenges for sustainable development of the marine environment in the region.