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Marine Turtle Newsletter 22:3, © 1982

Sea Turtles in the Meru Betiri Wildlife Reserve

Raleigh A. Blouch
Leader, WWF Meru Betiri Project, P.O. Box 133, Bogor, Indonesia

The Meru Betiri Wildlife Reserve is located on the Indian Ocean in East Java, Indonesia, and contains Sukamade Beach, the most important sea turtle nesting site remaining in Java. The reserve was established in 1972 and placed under the administration of the Indonesian Directorate of Nature Conservation (PPA), but most turtle eggs continued to be collected and sold up until 1979. In that year as part of a general improvement in reserve management policies the removal of eggs, hatchlings, and adult sea turtles was strictly prohibited.

Although records prior to 1980 are not totally reliable they serve to indicate that there is considerable annual variation in nesting activity (Table 1). Green turtles are by far the most common nesters but there are also small numbers of leatherbacks, olive ridleys, and hawksbills. It is interesting to note that after a three year absence from the beach, nesting leatherbacks returned to Sukamade in 1980 and again in 1981 and 1982, producing about 20 nests annually.

Table 1. Annual number of nests of four species of turtles at Sukamade Beach.

All nests are left where they were deposited and allowed to hatch naturally except that those laid below the high tide mark are moved up beyond the reach of the sea. Every morning PPA guards patrol the three kilometer beach and note the number and species of turtles that nested the previous night. All new nests are marked with numbered bamboo stakes and nests which have hatched are excavated to determine hatching success.

In 1981 there were 2201 visitors to Sukamade Beach, an increase of 88% over the previous year. Almost all came to view nesting sea turtles. Motor vehicles are parked at the PPA guardpost and visitors must walk the last 700 m to the beach where guards conduct them to a turtle which has begun to lay eggs. This system facilitates control of access and prevents undue disturbance to the nesting turtles. It is to be hoped that the management policies used at Sukamade Beach will be applied to other sea turtle nesting sites in Indonesia coming under PPA's administration.