seaturtle.org : MTN : ARCHIVES : Sign In

The Advisory Committee established under the MoU held its first meeting in March 2003, in Kuala Lumpur, in conjunction with the 23rd Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation. Four of the six members were present: Dr Jack Frazier, Dr Jeanne Mortimer, Dr Nicolas Pilcher and Romeo Trono (The other Committee members are Dr Colin Limpus and Dewapriya Amarasooriya.)

The first meeting served primarily to review the Committee’s terms of reference and to share ideas on how best to fulfil the mandate entrusted to it by the Signatory States to the MoU. The Committee’s first tasks include: contributing to the knowledge base and exchange of information about relevant turtle conservation activities, providing advice on priorities for implementation, and looking into the feasibility of undertaking a “Year of the Turtle” campaign in 2005.

Recently, the Secretariat circulated copies of the MoU’s Annotated Conservation and Management Plan, containing preliminary information on implementation in three of the MoU’s four sub-regions. Copies in Word and/or PDF formats are available from the Secretariat on request, at the address above.

A web site for the IOSEA Marine Turtle MoU is currently under development, and will contain many useful features of interest to marine turtle conservationists in the region. Details will be highlighted in a coming issue of the MTN.