Turtle Conservation Faces Huge Challenges

WITH ECOTOURISM BEING a popular focus for the modern traveller, it’s not too unfamiliar or uncommon to see travel businesses pursuing partnerships with wildlife conservation bodies or vice versa. The most common in Malaysia are marine conservation programmes, in which hoteliers and tourists can get involved or visit conservation or research sites. Many revolve around sea turtle conservation work at turtle nesting areas. With several years working in the ecotourism sector, I’ve been able to witness how conservation groups operate and work extensively on their sites, learning how research groups like MareCet and Lang Tengah Turtle Watch (now known as PULIHARA) collect data while running physically demanding work, engaging marine mammals and sea turtles. The one thing that always stood out was the need to form strong synergies with hoteliers within their research area—to ensure their work can be sustained through tourism support.