pelf-ism is contagious

A lot have been reported on the status of the leatherback turtles in Terengganu of late. Scientists have estimated the extinction of the leathery turtles in 1996 but a recent report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) confirmed it. A front-page article concerning this was published in The Star on 13 August 2006. And last month, I blogged about a similar article that was published in New Straits Times. Same facts, same story, same intensity of denial, what’s new?

Yes, we are losing them, whether we like it or not. In fact, we are not only losing another species of turtles, we are losing a very important part of our heritage that we were once very famous for.

There is nothing we can do to repopulate the leatherbacks in our waters because they are “effectively extinct”, meaning the adult population in the waters is NOT enough to reproduce to sustain anymore future generations. The five-pathetic-nests of eggs that were laid this year by two-pathetic-leatherbacks will NOT produce 100% hatch rates and subsequently survival rates.

But is our friend, Mr. K, accepting the fact? No.

In fact, he insisted that the leatherbacks are technically not extinct and that they are returning to lay eggs. Now tell me, if the fact that a population of thousands of leatherback turtles in the 1950s dwindled to only two individuals in 2006 does NOT reflect the fact that they are “effectively extinct”, what will? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand the figures and trends that would categorize the leatherbacks as being effectively extinct, you know..

But why do you think I am sooo concerned over what Mr. K thinks? Because he is the Director of Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre (TUMEC) – the national agency mandated to save the turtles - and he is potentially capable of draining the country’s turtle conservation resourses in his personal mission to revive the leatherback population by proposing absurd multi-million ringgit plans like this.

A friend of mine recently said:

It is a great loss that we should give up on the leatherback turtle, but sometimes, when enough mistakes are made… life must go on. We need to urge those in power to learn from these mistakes and apply this knowledge to the other turtle species that stands a chance.

So now, I need a favour from YOU. Please read and analyze this article carefully and send your opinions to the Editors of various newspapers:

1. The Star –> editor@thestar.com.my
2. New Straits Times –> letters@nstp.com.my
3. The Sun –> chenghai@thesundaily.com
4. Berita Harian –> bhsurat@bharian.com.my
5. Utusan Melayu –> online@utusan.com.my

And if you have the emails for the Chinese press Editors, do let me know

Please help us. Saving them saves us.