Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) is very saddened to note that it took the relevant authorities more than 20 years to see that leatherback turtles are near extinction.

SAM had as far back as the early 1980s sounded the alarm over the plight of our dwindling leatherback population.

In a memorandum sent to the relevant authorities in 1978, SAM stated the nesting population to be 613. Seven years later the number had dwindled to 225, which is less than 13 percent of the 1,779 turtles that turned up in l956.

Official statistics of the Fisheries Department compiled since 1991 show dwindling numbers from 207 nestings to19 in1998. In 2001, there were o­nly 28 nests in Rantau Abang during the entire breeding season - a site which used to see up to 50 leatherback landings per day between March and August every year.

But now the trend seems irreversible for the turtles.

Especially vulnerable to depletion, leatherbacks are a long-living, slow-to-mature species. The life expectancy of leatherbacks in the wild is not known though sexual maturity is thought to be between 15 to 30 years.

Leatherbacks need continuity in breeding generations to assure species survival and species with these life cycle attributes cannot withstand the high rates of anthropogenic mortality that have occurred in the last decade.

The causes of their demise are namely:

- beach front development;

- the operations of several multi-billion dollar oil companies;

- development in the fishing industry and the introduction of trawling;

- greed, short-sightedness and human habits;

- pollution of turtle breeding and feeding grounds;

- collection and consumption of turtle eggs.

Unplanned beach front development scares away the female turtle from nesting due to noise and light, and disorients emerging hatchlings, preventing them from finding their way to the sea.

The activities of oil refineries cause problems including pollution which may be detrimental to the survival of the turtles.

Added to these are the alarming revelation of turtle mortalities from being trapped, mutilated and drowned after being caught in fishing nets.

Humans who are generally caring and kind by nature can also be completely insensitive and show utter disregard for the turtles' welfare. These creatures are not treated with the respect they deserve.

Crowding around a nesting turtle with torchlights and cameras, sitting o­n top of them to pose for photographs and probing the turtle with fingers are all too common. Such foolish acts stress the poor creatures out, causing some to return to sea without nesting.

At sea, there is no respite either. Turtles swim in debris, often mistaking polythene or plastic bags for jellyfish. They then starve to death as the bags line the stomach and stop the passage of food.

'Eggs-ploitation' for collection and consumption has taken its toll o­n the leatherback population due to high demand as a delicacy and for aphrodisiac value.

While a ban o­n the collection of leatherback eggs was imposed in l990, efforts to include other turtles in the list have proved futile.

The legislation protecting turtles in Malaysia is currently too lenient. For instance the Fisheries Act 1985 protects turtles from exploitation in water but o­n land the Terengganu Turtle Enactment 1989 allows the collection of turtle eggs with a permit at certain beaches. So far, o­nly the Sarawak government has imposed a total ban o­n the collection and exploitation of all turtle species.

This move was considered timely because some of the islands in the state are traditional nesting grounds for the hawksbill and other species. This is a move which Terengganu should have considered years ago.

Despite previous efforts by NGOs and marine biologists to save the turtles, there is no hope now as the numbers are probably insufficient to sustain a population. What is baffling is how the authorities have allowed this to happen, considering that numbers had been declining steadily and there was fair warning.

This sums up Malaysia's state of affairs when it comes to wildlife conservation and the o­nly lesson to be learnt from this grim situation is that conservation has immense value, while development has unpredictable results. Now that the turtles are gone, so too will the tourists.