TURTLES will it take to bring them back? of marine turtles AcrossCoralTriangle,the entire populations are being wiped out. What © Cipto Aji GUNAWAN / WWF-Indonesia With six of the world’s seven marine turtle species navigating Green turtle Chelonia mydas the Coral Triangle, WWF is rallying support from businesses, !! ENDANGERED /WWF-Canon governments and communities for a new rescue plan to save them. /WWF-Canon /WWF-Canon Martin HARVEY Hawksbill © Eretmochelys imbricata Isaac VEGA CRITICALLY Isaac VEGA © !!! © ENDANGERED What makes turtles Olive ridley A lifetime of great journeys so special? Lepdochelys olivacea Marine turtles can undertake migrations of up to12,000 km, but unfailingly come back to the exact ENDANGERED Turtles are a fundamental link in the !! same beach where they were born decades ago. For example, the leatherback and loggerhead Coral Triangle’s fragile ecosystems. turtles travel across the entire Pacifi c Ocean between feeding and nesting grounds—a journey that is more than one-third of the way around the world. For example, turtles help to maintain Loggerhead the health of seagrass beds and coral Mean daily Coastal shallow Caretta caretta Adults migrate to reefs which are home to commercially– nesting turtles water foraging mating areas ENDANGERED 250 Developmental (immature and valuable species such as shrimp, !! migration adult turtles) (30–50 years)years) Breeding lobster, and countless other species. migration at 200 2–8 years Leatherback Adult females Dermochelys coriacea 150 return to foraging areas THE CORAL TRIANGLE —the nursery of the seas—is the !!! CRITICALLY 2 ENDANGERED most diverse marine region on the planet, covering 6 million km of /WWF-Canon 100 MatingMating areasareas n o ocean across six countries in the Indo-Pacifi c region. It is home to Lost years n (shallow waters)waters) a C (5–20 years) - 3000 species of reef fi sh and commercially-valuable species such Source: WWF-TNC Joint Programme Berau F FREUND W W as tuna, whales, dolphins, rays, sharks, and six of the seven known 50 / D species of marine turtles. N U Flatback Jürgen E © R F Natator depressus 0 n e 1950s 1970s 1993 2002 Years g 2003 r ü DATA DEFICIENT J © Decreasing numbers of mean number of daily Nesting nesting turtles on Sangalaki Island, East Borneo HatchlingsHatchlings on beach /WWF-Canon FREUND Deadly threats at every life stage Jürgen /WWF-Canon /WWF-Canon Because of dramatic declines in nesting turtles in the last two © decades, leatherback and loggerhead marine turtles are at risk FREUND Not only do turtles have major cultural, of vanishing from the Pacifi c Ocean. In the Coral Triangle, Jürgen Edward PARKER several factors threaten all turtle species: © traditional, and social signifi cance, they © also draw visitors from around the world. • Illegal trade and direct consumption The Coral Triangle hosts breathtaking (meat, eggs, shell, leather, curios) sites that are visited by turtles and • Bycatch (trawlers, longlines, gill nets) tourists alike, such as Tubbataha Reef • Habitat destruction and alteration in the Western Philippines, Sipadan (coastal tourism, industrial development) Island in Eastern Malaysia, Bunaken in /WWF-Canon • Pollution Indonesia, and the Solomon Islands. • Disease For local residents, the fl ow of visitors FREUND • Climate change who come to admire turtles is a vital Jürgen source of income. © At sea, longline fi shing boats are not only pulling out fi sh catches but also thousands of turtles, dead or dying. Today, as few as 2,300 adult nesting leatherback females are estimated to remain across the entire Pacifi c Ocean—hardly enough to sustain the species /WWF-Canon /WWF-Canon /WWF-Canon into the future. In Indonesia alone, it is FREUND estimated that as many as 7,700 turtles are FREUND killed every year from accidental catch in Jürgen Hèlëne PETIT Jürgen © © shrimp trawls and tuna long lines. © Saving marine turtles —more than just protecting a species The benefi ts of saving marine turtles go far beyond simply protecting these remarkable species. Conservation efforts will make fi sheries more sustainable and provide benefi ts for small coastal communities. But to be effective, turtle conservation calls for protection of the full range of destinations visited by turtles during their life cycle— places such as beaches, seagrass meadows, coral reefs, open ocean, and migratory pathways that cover several countries. This is exactly what the WWF Coral Triangle Programme is striving to achieve through Marine Protected Areas and reduction of turtle bycatch in fi sheries. /WWF-Canon FREUND Jürgen © WWF’s Coral Triangle Programme WWF’s Coral Triangle Programme is focused on securing the health of the region’s natural resources and the WWF-Canon / millions of livelihoods that depend on it. We are working to ensure that proper environmental, political and socio- economic management is put in place © Michel GUNTHER towards: • Building a sustainable live reef food Objectives fi sh trade • Promoting sustainable tuna fi sheries • By 2020, 50 percent of turtle major nesting, foraging and inter-nesting habitats, and • Financing marine protected areas key migratory pathways for priority species in the Coral Triangle are protected. • Protecting marine turtles and • By 2020, turtle mortality due to bycatch of leatherbacks and green turtles in tuna reducing their bycatch longline, and coastal fi sheries near major nesting beaches, is reduced by at least • Reducing the impacts of climate change 50 percent against 2008 levels. www.panda.org/coraltriangle/turtles /WWF-Canon FREUND Jürgen © /WWF-Canon FREUND Jürgen © /WWF-Canon FREUND Jürgen For more information © Lida Pet-Soede Matheus Halim Leader Turtle Strategy Leader WWF Coral Triangle Programme WWF Coral Triangle Programme Tel/Fax +62 361 730185 Tel +62 21 576 1070 /WWF-Canon Email [email protected] Email [email protected] FREUND Printed in September 2009 on 100% recycled paper Jürgen © 1986 Panda symbol WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature (Formerly World Wildlife Fund) ® “WWF” & “living planet” are Registered Trademarks ©.