Record-breaking 1.4 million turtle eggs laid in South PH

Thursday, 02 February 2012 14:07 Janvic Mateo

Enviromental organization Conservation International (CI) reported on Tuesday that more than a million green turtle eggs were laid in one of the Turtle Islands in Southern Philippines last year, setting an all-time high since the recording of turtle nests started in 1984.

According to the report, a total 14,220 greent turtle nests – or 1.4 million eggs – were recorded in Baguan Island in Tawi-Tawi in 2011, breaking the previous record of 12,311 turtle nests recorded in 1995.

CI Philippines Executive Director Romeo Trono said in an ABS-CBN News article that the protection program in the country's turtle islands is a part of a worldwide efforts to rebuild the green turtle population. “We are seeing very stable increases in their populations around the world and... this is a very important contribution,” he added.

With only one percent survival rate up to maturity, Trono said that the eggs in Baguan alone can produce up to 13,000 turtles that may reach adulthood.

Baguan Island belongs to the Turtle Islands Heritage Protected Area jointly managed by Malaysia and the Philippines. The area is composed of the six islands of the Philippines' Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary (including Baguan) and the three islands of Sabah's Turtle Island Parks.

Secretary Ramon Paje of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) meanwhile said that saving the turtles in the Turtle Islands is important for the overall health of the Coral Triangle, an area of tropical waters encapsulating parts of Southeast Asia that contains spectacular marine biodiversity.

“If the Turtle Islands are not protected, it can have serious implications to the whole region's turtle population and marine ecosystem as a whole,” he said.

Since 2007, Conservation International has worked with the DENR, the local government, and the Malaysian Sabah Parks to advise and implement marine conservation strategies to protect the turtles and their eggs from poachers.

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