25,000 green turtles (adults and subadults) are 

 slaughtered for domestic consumption alone. 



Indonesia has also become a major supplier of 

 turtle products in the world market: stuffed 

 turtles appear to form the bulk of exports (partly 

 by-products of Bali slaughter houses) . Turtle 

 shell, as rough scutes and as worked 

 tortoiseshell, are exported in smaller quantities. 



The outlook for the hawksbill is not less grim. 

 The take of young plus large hawksbills has been 

 estimated at between 20 and 30,000 annually. 



Going into detail once more about the export of 

 tortoiseshell and other turtle products to Japan 

 and other countries would be superfluous. 



Turtle populations are also affected in indirect 

 ways, such as by siltation of feeding habitats. 

 Let me limit myself to one example: in the 

 Celebes Sea, mass extinction of some 20 km of sea 

 weeds in the green turtle foraging grounds has 

 occurred. I blame the siltation caused by the 

 destruction of the West Borneo forests. 



And now some good news: Although in serious 

 decline, large populations of green turtle, 

 hawksbill and leatherback still exist in 

 Indonesia. For the last few years, increasing 

 concern has been shown in Indonesia about the sea 

 turtle problem and the first significant steps 

 toward conservation measures have already been 

 taken or are proposed. One interesting 

 conservation management measure should be 

 mentioned here: the establishment of multiple use 

 reserves with special management areas among them 

 that provide local resources for local people. In 

 Indonesia the largest and least disturbed reef 

 areas are often far from the larger islands, and 

 have small populations of people living on small 

 sand keys. Not residents but rather visiting 

 fishermen are the ones who threaten the reef 

 resources. These vast reef areas offer a good 

 opportunity for the establishment of large 

 multiple use reserves, which can be zoned to 

 accommodate strict protection of valuable areas, 

 appropriate tourist development plus continued 

 fishing by residents. Management would be largely 

 entrusted to the heads of local villages with a 

 low level of supervision by the conservation 

 authorities. 



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