UN ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF TOOL TO MAP MYSTERIOUS LIVES OF MARINE TURTLES

UN ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF TOOL TO MAP

MYSTERIOUS LIVES OF MARINE TURTLES

(Reissued as received.)

CAMBRIDGE/BANGKOK, 13 February (UNEP) -- The first comprehensive online system to map the nesting and migrating habitats of endangered sea turtles is being launched today.  Despite years of intensive study, relatively little is known about the life history of these ancient mariners once they leave their natal beaches.  The new system, focused initially on the Indian Ocean/South-East Asia region, comprises an interactive mapping tool that will help policy-makers, scientists and conservationists alike to understand and better protect these unique species.

“The marine world in which turtles live is one of the least protected environments on Earth.  Indeed, less than half a per cent of the world's oceans and seas have protected area status”, explained Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).  “At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, governments drew up a Plan of Implementation which contains specific requests to establish a representative network of marine protected areas.  As they gather again this week, at the seventh Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Kuala Lumpur, it is my sincere hope that they can take this issue forward.  Many millions of people rely on marine living species for food and tourism revenues, and they must be assured of a more secure and sustainable future”, he added.

The Marine Turtle IMapS will allow researchers worldwide to pool basic information collected locally, in order to get a bigger picture of the status of marine turtles.  Experts believe that only a collective effort of the research and conservation community can reveal the true fate of these species and enable better-informed decisions to be made for their survival at an international level.

The first phase of the Marine Turtle IMapS has been developed to support an international conservation agreement known as the Indian Ocean-South-East Asian Marine Turtle Memorandum of Understanding, based in Bangkok, Thailand.  It is the latest in a series of collaborative projects undertaken by UNEP's World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) on behalf of the global Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), to which the IOSEA Marine Turtle MoU is affiliated.

“The ability to display marine turtle nesting and migration data, in such detail over the Internet, will underpin international conservation efforts”, says Douglas Hykle, IOSEA MoU Coordinator.  “Some of the world's most important marine turtle populations are in the Indian Ocean/South-East Asian region, and many are seriously threatened.  Decision-makers need to be made aware of the importance of particular sites for marine turtle nesting and feeding, and gain an appreciation of just how widely these animals range.  Often the same populations are shared among several countries, which have a common interest in their conservation.”

Major threats to turtles include accidental entanglement and drowning in fishing gear, and overexploitation for meat, eggs and shell.  Destruction and disturbance of important habitats -- such as coral reefs, sea grass beds and nesting beaches -- are contributing to declines in many parts of the world.

“With the Marine Turtle IMapS, anyone with an interest in turtles will be able see global trends and patterns as well as details of specific projects in the field”, comments Mr. Toepfer.  “By making this information widely accessible, it will be available for decision-making at all levels.  This kind of information exchange is key to the effective implementation of international conservation plans.”

The Marine Turtle IMapS includes information on six species:  the Loggerhead (Caretta caretta), Flatback (Natator depressus), Green (Chelonia mydas), Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) and Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea).

The conservation status of each of these wide-ranging species varies from region to region.  Leatherbacks, for instance, have been all but extinguished from their former nesting beaches of peninsular Malaysia, but appear to be making a gradual recovery half way around the world in South Africa.  Green turtles are subject to unsustainable exploitation in Indonesia, where conservation and traditional practice are at odds with each other.  The once flourishing commerce in tortoiseshell from Hawksbill turtles has been greatly reduced through international trade restrictions, but their populations have yet to recover.  Loggerhead turtles in the western Pacific are thought to be under threat from longline fishing operations, but efforts are underway to reduce these impacts.  The Flatback turtle, native to Australia, is among the most studied in the world, with some animals having been monitored in the wild for nearly three decades.

Dr. Colin Limpus, of the QueenslandParks and Wildlife Service, and CMS Scientific Councillor on turtles, is excited by the potential of the Marine Turtle IMapS.  He has pioneered this effort by contributing 30 years of data on the nesting and migration of turtles throughout the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia.  “We are calling for all researchers to make their mark on the map by letting others know which turtle colonies they are studying and the number of turtles on their beaches”, said Dr. Limpus.  “With this basic information, the research community will be able to begin to see the priorities for conservation and improve our knowledge of the movements of the turtles.”

Female marine turtles return regularly to their natal beaches to lay their eggs, some traveling over 2,500 kilometres.  “In some years production of turtle hatchlings is less successful than others”, Dr. Limpus explains.  “With the new system we will be able to see if this is a local issue or a global trend.  For the first time we have a common repository for nesting population census for nest counts and migratory data.  Researchers will be able to use this to draw up larger-scale assessments of distribution, abundance and trends.  We have over 30 years of data for some regions and this will be made available via IMapS and then added to as new information emerges.”

The IMapS will enable users to provide information on turtle observations, nesting sites and turtle numbers along with other vital information such as the location of seagrass foraging beds, coral reefs and protected areas -- unique global datasets maintained by UNEP-WCMC.

Workers in the field will be able to map their data in the system and draw regional and global analyses while retaining ownership and credit for their own work.  Dr. Mark Collins, Director of UNEP-WCMC, is keen to stress that the Marine Turtle IMapS is intended as a common resource.  “Credit is given for each and every contribution to the system.  Scientists and conservation organizations working on marine turtles in the field are encouraged to register their activities and contribute information.”

“The Marine Turtle IMapS for the Indian Ocean and Australasia is only the first in a series of similar applications under development”, Dr. Collins continues.  “UNEP-WCMC plans to work with the Convention on Migratory Species and other partners to extend the coverage of IMapS to other regions for which data are available.  The AtlanticCoast of Africa, the Western Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean are among the regions under consideration.”

A remarkable story from Australia, Dr. Colin Limpus is conducting one of the world's longest-lasting turtle-monitoring programmes, which includes placing tags on individual turtles in order to track their movements.  Through IMapS, it will now be possible to plot them as migration maps, revealing for the first time where individuals from multiple studies go to feed.

Premiere, a 29 year old adult female loggerhead turtle in her first breeding season (tag number K33061), was originally tagged as a tiny hatchling at Mon Repos, south Queensland, in January-February 1975.  After having navigated coastal waters and open sea for nearly three decades, she returned to her natal beach, and now she is being tracked as she returns to her foraging grounds.

About 130,000 hatchlings were tagged over an eight-year period in the mid-1970s.  Premiere represents the first fruit of this long-term research:  she is the first of these tagged loggerhead hatchlings discovered to have returned as a breeding adult.  Hopefully, many more will follow.

Premiere laid four clutches of eggs during November 2003-January 2004 on Mon Repos beach in this first breeding season.  After laying her third clutch for the season she was fitted with a satellite-tracking radio transmitter, and was released on 28 December 2003.  She laid her fourth clutch on 14 January and within hours commenced her homeward post-breeding migration.  Since then she has been swimming steadily northward along the Queensland coast inside the Great Barrier Reef.  She is more than 400 kilometres distant from her nesting beach and still travelling northward at about 26 kilometres per day.

Tagged turtles like Premiere are important since they teach us many important lessons, which will ultimately help conservation efforts that aim to assure their long-term survival.

For more information, please contact:  Will Rogowski, Head of Marketing UNEP-WCMC, tel.:  +44-1223-277314, e-mail:  will.rogowski@unep-wcmc.org or Rachel Holdsworth/Gayle Nicol, tel.:  +44-1954-202789, e-mail:  rachel@holdsworth-associates.co.uk; Nick Nuttall, UNEP Head of Media, in Nairobi, tel.:  +254-20-623084, mobile:  +254-733-632755, e-mail:  nick.nuttall@unep.org; Douglas Hykle, Coordinator / Senior CMS Advisor, IOSEA Marine Turtle MoU Secretariat, Bangkok, Thailand, tel.:  +66-2-288-1471, e-mail:  iosea@un.org; Gerardo Fragoso, Head, Species Programme, UNEP-WCMC, tel.:  +44-1223-277314; e-mail:  Gerardo.Fragoso@unep-wcmc.org; Colin Limpus, CMS Scientific Councillor on Marine Turtles; Capalaba, Queensland, Australia, tel.:  +61-7-3390-1518; fax:  +61-7-3390-1518, e-mail:  climpus@dodo.com.au

Researchers:  To register to become a contributor to Marine Turtle IMapS, to contribute data, or for technical enquiries, please write to species@unep-wcmc.org.

Further information on the Indian Ocean-South-East Asian Marine Turtle Memorandum of Understanding can be found on the Web site:  www.ioseaturtles.org

Electronic presspack and free images to use in conjunction with this press release are available on:  http://valhalla.unep-wcmc.org/turtles/presspack/index.htm

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