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| Rangers Instead of Egg Thieves The Pulau Banyak Foundation gives people on the archipelago work as rangers and hosts. Insted of stealing turtle eggs for a living, they now support the sea turtle conservation programme.
The Pulau Banyak Foundation was established in 1994 by Mahmud Bangkaru and initiated the very first protective measures for the sea turtles of Pulau Bangkaru. The available funds were enough to protect beaches with nesting sites from egg collectors and to educate the population on the need for environmental protection. To compensate for the income they lost from selling eggs, island inhabitants turned to the new sources of income provided by tourism and work as rangers on turtle patrol. Work was suspended in 2001 during the turmoil of the civil war in Aceh. The turtle rangers turned to stealing eggs again in order to survive.
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The protection programme was restarted in 2007 with the support of PanEco and the Casa Tortuga foundation. Management was assumed by the sea turtle expert Maggie Muurmans. Mahmud Bangkaru continues to be responsible for the development of ecotourism, while island inhabitants and Acehnese are trained for beach research. In February 2008, the first sea turtles were fitted with chips that will enable them to be identified again and that will track their migratory journeys.
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Goals of the turtle conservation programme:
- Protection of sea turtle nesting sites
- Research on the sea turtles of Pulau Banyak (Population size, migratory routes, characteristics)
- Establishing sustainable regional management structures
- Developing ecological tourism
- Informing the population about the sustainable use of natural resources
- Creating a volunteer programme
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New Edition of Suara Pulau
The December edition of the "Voice of the islands" is filled with updates on our current activities and achievements on Pulau Banyak.
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Turtles online
Visit the website of the Pulau Banyak Foundation! Read about the projects, the people and how to become a volunteer.
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