SANDAKAN: The Executive Committee of FOSTER (Friends Of Sea Turtles Education & Research) together with 40 student from SK Libaran successfully released the 30,000th baby turtle from Libaran Island yesterday.
The students later verbally pledged they would help protect the environment by not throwing rubbish around.
As part of a turtle conservation program made available through the subsequent signing of a 5-year duration Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Sabah Wildlife Department in July 2013, FOSTER was involved in the setting up of a turtle hatchery on Libaran island in 2012.
The program includes creating awareness for the locals and visitors on the conservation value of sea turtles, undertaking research projects with the goal of better understanding the life cycle of sea turtles surrounding the Libaran Island area and to make available research programs on sea turtle for international and local students.
Since January 1, 2013 till January 31, 2018, the turtle hatchery on Libaran has collected 22,786 Green Turtle eggs and 10,090 Hawksbill Turtle eggs (totaling 32,876). A baby turtle usually requires 45-65 days to hatch from an egg. Not all will survive the incubation period.
And on March 1, this year the hatchery celebrates the release of its 30,000th baby turtle from the shore of Libaran island.
“We have in fact started the hatchery program at the end of 2011 and have been releasing baby turtles since then. But for this special release, we started to calculate from the year we signed the MOU with the Sabah Wildlife Department,” said Alexander Yee, the president of FOSTER and the managing director of Walai Penyu Conservation Park.
Continue reading at: 30,000th baby turtle released from Libaran Island
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