Turtles Take Centre-Stage

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By Leyla Alyanak*
Bali's fishermen have traditionally slaughtered green turtles for religious ceremonies. But now that WWF has warned of the danger to the species this represents, the fishing communities are beginning to change their ways.

Perancak, Bali: More green turtles are killed in Bali than anywhere else on earth. That is because they play a key role in the rites of Hinduism - the predominant religion of the island.For centuries fishermen have set sail in narrow vessels known as jukungs, with a Hindu god on their prows for protection, catching the turtles with hand-held spears.

"There were so many turtles, we just had to lean over the boat to spear them," said Wayan Tirha who fished the waters along the western coast for more than 40 years.

These old, cumbersome fishing methods meant few turtles were caught - an average day would yield five or six, which were divided among a dozen fishermen. But with modern techniques, the old, sustainable ways were overtaken by mass slaughter. The number of green turtles plummeted, and fishermen were hard pressed to catch one or two a week.

"With our net, which was 1,000 metres long, we could catch up to 90 turtles at a time," says Wayan. "Now they have all disappeared to the bottom because there was too much disturbance."

Ketut Sarjana Putra, a marine biologist with WWF-Worldwide Fund For Nature in Bali, points out that Indonesia has six species of turtle, but only five are protected. Green turtles were not considered endangered, so fishermen were free to catch as many as they could.

The green turtle was subsequently over-fished, and the crisis prompted WWF, along with Indonesian conservation authorities, to look for ways of keeping the number of green turtles from falling further without destroying local religious and cultural customs.

"The first thing we did was to talk to religious leaders," says Putra. "We were relieved to learn that turtle meat was not indispensable to religious ceremonies. Other meats, such as duck, could be used instead."

Having established that there were alternatives to turtle meat, they gathered village leaders to explain the plight of the green turtle, and to ask for their help in saving the animal. "They went back to their villages and passed on the word," says Putra.

Convincing the coastal villagers to change the customs of generations will not be easy. But the conservationists are working with local communities to get the message across.

"We have something called drama gong, a kind of village play with many actors and musicians," says Putra. "The plays are about good and evil, and take scenes from everyday life. We have written a story about turtle fishing."

Other cultural forms such as sendratari (classical dance), tari topeng (mask dance) or wayang kulit (puppet shows) will help to spread the word.

Each year 5,000 green turtles can be traded legally in Bali. The government has recommended the figure be lowered to 3,000, but WWF feels the new quota cannot be enforced because it is not legally binding. Wayan has given up fishing for a living, and he now works for the booming tourist industry. He also helps WWF by watching the green turtle trade at Benoa, Bali's main port. Fishermen throughout the island bring their turtles here to sell, and he sees that the quotas are not exceeded.

Not all fishermen, however, find it easy to maintain their livelihood now that the number of hunted turtles has been reduced.

"Until fishermen can find ways of replacing the money lost from turtles, it will be hard to make them change," says Putra. Part of WWF's turtle protection efforts will be aimed at helping fishermen to find other sources of income.

Green turtles still line the back streets of Benoa, their shells listening in the sun. But where once there were hundreds, today there are only a few.

*Leyla Alyanak is a freelance journalist based in Switzerland