seaturtle.org : MTN : ARCHIVES : Sign In

With a few re-adjustments of regions to assure that all members have an appropriate communications nexus, the MTSG leadership has provisionally appointed new Regional Vice Chairs. Following is the complete list of new and re-appointed Vice-Chairs and their regions:

Mediterranean Chair: Dimitris Margaritoulis

Middle East Chair: Ali Al-Kiyumi

East Africa Chair: Simmons Nzuki

South Asia Chair: Kartik Shanker

Australasia Co-Chairs: Col Limpus and Mark Hamman

Pacific Chair: Milani Chaloupka

Northeast Pacific Co-Chairs: W. J. Nichols and Raquel Briseño

Southeast Pacific Co-Chairs: José Vicente Rodríguez and María José Barragán

Southwest Atlantic Co-Chairs: Alejandro Fallabrino, Joca Thome and Neca Marcovaldi

Caribbean Chair: Alberto Abreu-Grobois

North Atlantic Chair: Blair Witherington

Southeast Atlantic / West Africa Chair: Jacques Fretey
Communications Officers: Angela Formia and Manjula Tiwari
Data Officer: Alexis Billes

As we welcome these new Vice Chairs into their positions, we would also like to acknowledge the work of two former VCs who will no longer be serving in this capacity. Both Saif Al-Ghais, former VC for the ‘Western Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea’, and Pamela Plotkin, former VC for the ‘Northwest Atlantic’, have dedicated tremendous amounts of time and energy towards the MTSG’s mission, and have helped make it the group that it is today. On behalf of the MTSG (and the turtles) thank you Saif and Pam!

With the help of the new VCs, Rod, Nick and Brian are in the process of streamlining and strengthening the membership invitation list. Upon receiving the go-ahead from the new Chair of the SSC, the membership appointments will be announced. We regret that this represents a delay in the timeline set forth during the World Conservation Congress in Bangkok, which called for this process to be complete by the end of May. Members can rest assured that the delay is beyond the control of the MTSG Chairs, and we will proceed with the mailing of re-appointment notices the moment that we are given the green light. We trust that this will happen in the weeks ahead. Meanwhile, we encourage all MTN readers who may be interested in MTSG membership to contact your regional VC, or Program Officer, Brian Hutchinson.

Southeast Asian, Middle East and African Updates

In January and again in April, Nick Pilcher had the opportunity to travel to the Middle East and Eritrea, where he met with several existing and potential new members, and worked to reinforce the MTSG presence in those regions, where several new turtle conservation initiatives are underway.

Between March 29 and 31, Nick also participated as an observer in the third meeting of the Signatory States to the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of Marine Turtles and their Habitats of the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia, held at the UNEP offices in Bangkok, Thailand. The meeting was attended by representatives of nearly all Signatory States and a number of observer nations and NGOs. A highlight of the meeting was the signing ceremony, at which Indonesia’s Ambassador to Thailand, H. E. Ibrahim Yusuf, signed the MoU in his capacity as official representative of the Government of Indonesia. This now brings the number of Signatory States to 22.

Nick offered the services of the MTSG in the form of an ex-oficio representative to the Advisory Committee, in order to be able to offer its assistance in technical, research and conservation issues. He further noted that the MTSG comprises numerous international turtle specialists and can fund its own attendance, but a review panel decided there was no need to expand the AC with MTSG representation because most of the AC members are also MTSG members anyway, and the offer was declined.

There was a protracted discussion on the use of hatcheries as conservation tools, and many members appeared to be in favor of implementing this as a key step in saving sea turtles. A recent publication on hatcheries (November 2004) has been produced by the Marine Fishery Resources Development and Management Department, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), entitled, “A guide to set-up and manage sea turtle hatcheries in the Southeast Asian region”, and was cited as a good reference manual. Nick pointed out that the MTSG position is that hatcheries and disturbance of eggs should only be done as a last resort after having considered all the alternatives, as suggested in the MTSG Technical Manual #4, and that the MTSG would not be in favor of supporting projects which used hatcheries as a ‘feel good’ measure by conservation agencies unless a careful review of the needs, methods and aims were first conducted. This intervention did not appear in the meeting report, and we are concerned that there could be too much of a ‘smoothing over’ of this issue when it comes to accepting whatever conservation actions a country or agency proposes, which often disregard the large body of scientific literature that may point in alternate directions. The full report can be accessed at: <http://www.ioseaturtles.org/MeetingSS3/Report/SS3_Report.doc>.

Tsunami Relief

As reported on in the last MSTG update, the MTSG in partner with SEATURTLE.ORG and the International Sea Turtle Society created the Indian Ocean Tsunami Fund (IOTF), to provide immediate relief to affected sea turtle conservation projects in the region. We are happy and grateful to report that the total raised by this fund as of June 2005 was USD 37,854. Two key initiatives have received sponsorship through the fund. Tags and applicators worth some AUD 8,000 and nearly USD 12,000 in cash were provided to the Turtle Conservation Project (TCP) of Sri Lanka, and USD 21,432 was provided to Naucrates, whose project in southern Thailand was devastated by the tsunami.

The IOTF contribution to TCP was matched by means of a successful “click to donate” fundraising campaign spearheaded by Conservation International’s (CI) Sea Turtle Flagship Program and the MTSG in conjunction with AIDE, Inc. As mentioned in the previous MTSG update, CI, the MTSG and AIDE, Inc. have created an Internet site that partners corporate sponsors with non-profit causes. In exchange for the acquisition of an agreed-upon number of consumer “hits” generated by a cyber-campaign that both educates the user and simultaneously exposes them to information about the sponsor, corporate donors agree to make charitable contributions to selected conservation projects. The recent campaign to provide relief aid to the TCP in Sri Lanka engaged 1,160 Internet users who successfully generated 20,000 ‘clicks’ to result in a $10,000 matching contribution from Working Assets, Inc. This fundraising campaign would not have been possible without the active involvement of so many dedicated people who participated in the drive. We would like to thank all those who dedicated their time to make this effort so successful, and for helping to provide much needed relief to the TCP. CI, MTSG and AIDE Inc. will be launching similar campaigns in the future at: <http://www.seaturtleaide.com>.

Roderic Mast subsequently traveled to Sri Lanka in May, along with Sri Lankan sea turtle researcher, Naamal de Silva, from CI’s Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, to assess the damage to the sea turtle nesting beaches of southwestern Sri Lanka and witness the recovery efforts currently underway. Rod summarizes his observations:

MTSG Mediterranean Regional Meeting

In the context of the 2nd Mediterranean Conference on Marine Turtles (Kemer, Turkey, 4-7 May 2005), the Mediterranean members of the MTSG had the opportunity to meet and discuss several issues. Roderic Mast and the MTSG Red List Chair Jeff Seminoff were present at the meeting, in addition to 14 MTSG members, 4 new nominees and 2 invited observers (Eladio Fernandez Galiano from the Council of Europe and Marco Barbieri from CMS). The meeting began with an introduction by Dimitris Margaritoulis, the Regional Vice-Chair of the group, and a short presentation by Rod on the MTSG’s recent global activities, including the newly updated vision and mission of the group. Next, Jeff Seminoff presented on the value of Regional Red List Assessments and specifically the outcome of a first attempt to elaborate the Mediterranean regional assessments, which were conducted on 3 May by a MTSG Working Group (see below).

Next, the objectives of the group in the Mediterranean were discussed and the use of the listserv “MedTurtle” for email exchange between groups and individuals was emphasized. It was urged that the members should send news items to the MTN for inclusion in the Mediterranean News section as there is much going on in this region that unfortunately does not get out. In addition, such information should be regularly submitted to Bojan Lazar, who is the Communication Officer of the Group, and responsible for posting information on the MTSG Mediterranean webpage.

A discussion was initiated regarding the status of the Mediterranean membership and the formula for reinstatement. Moreover, a proposal was made to change the boundaries of the MTSG recognized region (formerly known as Mediterranean & NE Atlantic), given that the existing organization of the regional group did not allow much involvement from the NE Atlantic. It was proposed that the NE Atlantic be separated from the Mediterranean region and potentially combined with the NW Atlantic region. After further discussion in the ensuing weeks, the NE Atlantic, including members working in Portugal, France, Atlantic Spain and the UK, has now been combined with the NW Atlantic region, under the direction of its new provisional Vice Chair, Blair Witherington. Another minor change was made to include the Atlantic portion of Morocco with the Southeast Atlantic / West Africa region, managed by Vice Chair Jacques Fretey.

Red Listing Update

The need for developing regional assessments of sea turtles has been highlighted on numerous occasions over the past several years. We are pleased to announce that the MTSG is now responding to this need. As part of the 2nd Mediterranean Conference on Marine Turtles, a team of sea turtle experts from the Mediterranean was assembled for a Workshop on Regional Red Listing of sea turtles in the Mediterranean. The Regional Assessment Committee consisted of 7 members; Jeffrey Seminoff (MTSG Red List Chair, USA), Dimitris Margaritoulis (MTSG Mediterranean Regional Chair, Greece), Juan Antonio Camiñas (Spain), Paolo Casale (Italy), Andreas Demetropoulos (Cyprus), Yakup Kaska (Turkey), and Bojan Lazar (Croatia). The workshop was convened on Tuesday, the 3rd of May, and consisted of a morning open session attended by 16 people including MTSG Co-Chair Roderic Mast. The morning session consisted of introductions, a presentation on Red Listing by Jeff Seminoff, and updates for each of the three species in the Mediterranean that are being assessed with the IUCN Red List Criteria: the Mediterranean green turtle (coordinated by Andreas Demetropoulos), the loggerhead (coordinated by Bojan Lazar), and the leatherback (coordinated by Paolo Casale). During the afternoon session, the meeting was limited to the Red List Committee Members and was an opportunity for participants to discuss several issues pertaining to the Regional Red Lists such as, (1) the determination of Index Sites, (2) the finer details about the 2001 IUCN Red List Criteria, (3) the applicability of the Red List Criteria to each sea turtle species, (4) the use and method of extrapolations, and (5) the development of a timeline for completing the assessments.

Each of the assessments is currently in preparation. Although the final status listings are not available at this time, we have been able to develop a timeline for completion. The first goal is to have the initial drafts completed by November so that they can be posted on the MTSG website for internal review. Subsequent to these reviews, assessment coordinators will have additional time to address comments and suggested changes. The final loggerhead, green turtle and leatherback assessments will be presented at the 26th Annual Sea Turtle Symposium in Crete at the beginning of April 2006. As the first regional assessment initiative of its kind for the MTSG, this exercise will serve as a template for future similar efforts. Over the course of the next several months, we expect to face a number of challenges as we move toward our goal of completing these assessments. However, we are confident that through teamwork and constructive collaboration we well be able to address any issue that arises and pave the way for future efforts in other regions throughout the world.

Workshop Plans

As reported at the Annual General Meeting, the MTSG will be hosting a multi-species bycatch workshop in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia later this year. Plans for this event are already well underway, and we are pleased to report that the necessary funding for this endeavor has been secured. The list of workshop invitees is nearly complete, and includes specialists in a variety of taxa and representing a wide range of geographic and thematic areas of expertise.

Also as mentioned in the previous update, the MTSG plans to host a workshop to address the issue of sustainable use of marine turtles in the near future. The initial plans were to hold this meeting in India during November of this year, but due to the already overwhelming commitments of the Co-Chairs and local MTSG members this year, the decision has been made to postpone the workshop until early 2006. We will continue to keep you updated as plans from this important workshop progress.

In response to suggestions from many MTSG members to improve the “Burning Issues” process, and in line with the MTSG’s interest in global priority-setting, plans for a workshop to define the methodology which we will use to identify the “Burning Issues” in marine turtle research and conservation are also underway. The tentative plan is to hold this meeting in Washington, DC, USA during August of this year. We will continue to report on these plans as they develop, and are counting on the input and expertise of our membership to guide us through this important process.

As always, for additional information on any of these activities please contact Brian Hutchinson, MTSG Program Officer.