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Marine Turtle Newsletter 20:10-11, © 1982
Rodney V. Salm
IUCN/WWF in Indonesia, c/o Directorate of Nature Conservation P.O. Box 133, Bogor, Indonesia
(reprinted from Conservation Indonesia, Newsletter of WWF Indonesia, 5, pp. 18-19, 1981).
The brown sand beaches between Sorong and Manokwari along the north Vogelkop coast of Irian Jaya are generally considered to have the largest concentrations of nesting Dermochelys coriacea, the leatherback turtle, in Indonesia. Densest nesting reputedly occurred at four sites: east of Nuni River and between the villages of Warbifor, Prafi and Masni in the Manokwari District, between Mar and Koor villages west of Kaap Goode Hoop and between Sausapor and Meja villages in Sorong District. Reserves to safeguard the nesting beaches and turtles have been proposed at all four sites. In August Dr. Ron Petocz, WWF Consultant in Irian Jaya, and I surveyed the four proposed leatherback reserves to count turtle nests, and to assess the extent of egg harvest. The nesting activity in the proposed reserves proved disappointing. In fact, the Nuni River area had no sign of nesting. People lived at or near the beaches in each of the proposed reserves and it is likely they collected all eggs laid there.
Elsewhere in Irian Jaya, at a site that will remain undisclosed until it is protected, we found previously unconfirmed nesting beaches where thousands of leatherback turtles nested. Here the nesting density was so great it was impossible to count the nests. We estimated about 4,000 nests on five main beaches totalling 14 km in length. There appeared to be not one square centimetre not covered by turtle tracks and the beach was pitted with the nests of two species: the enormous leatherback turtle nests about 3-5 m above high water mark and green turtle nests high up the beach at the edge of the vegetation. Wild boar had unearthed 50+% of the nests and left behind an excavated basin rimmed with white egg cases.
It would seem that the turtle stocks of the better known beaches, such as those named above, have been drastically depleted by egg and turtle collectors - possibly even eliminated in the case of Nuni River. There is always the danger that nesting populations at new or poorly known areas will also face elimination once fishermen discover them. This must not be allowed to happen to the last of the dense leatherback nesting beaches in Indonesia, and what may prove to be the most important nesting beach for this species in SE Asia. These beaches must be protected in a new reserve. At the same time there must be surveys to confirm which turtle species nest there, estimate their numbers, determine the loss of eggs to wild boar and people, identify other threats and the harvest methods, assess the cultural, nutritional and economic dependence of local communities on turtle and egg harvest. This should lead to a management plan directed at immediate conservation needs, such as wild boar control, but the survey must ultimately be backed up by studies to develop a programme of sustainable harvest that would be incorporated into a long term management plan.