Head of the Marine and Fisheries Service of West Lampung Nata Djudin Amran said that because of the limited budget the regional government could not do much to re-green and repair areas damaged by abrasion.
He said that West Lampung had a stretch of 211.5 km of beaches, of which 100 km had so far become a place for turtles to lay their eggs. However, about 3.5 km of the 100 km stretches have been denuded and damaged due to abrasion.
It was recorded that there were four species of turtles that often landed on this beach to lay their eggs.
The four species are gray turtles, hawksbill turtles, green turtles and leather back turtles.
The number of the turtles has now declined to only165.
"Re-greening programs in the coastal areas must be carried out in order to attract turtles to lay their eggs. After all, the turtles would lay eggs on the site which is far from the conservation areas if re-greening is not conducted," H Ahyar (56), a turtle hatch activist in Sukamaju village, Ngambur subsdisrict.
He said that damage to the coastal areas threatened the population of turtles in West Lampung.
According to Nata Djudin, the regional government is now making its efforts to collect young mangroves to be planted in the coastal areas.
"This coastal areas are a turtle conservation location where all stakeholders should pay attention because otherwise turtle population in the area could become extinct," Nata said.
The coastal areas of West Lampung are designed to serve as a turtle conservation location for at least four species.
(Uu.A014/HAJM)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
