Sea Turtles Conservation in Redang

To the most of us, we associate Redang Island (Pulau Redang) with a holiday paradise. Lush crystal clear waters with endless powder like beaches; it is one of the top beaches in Malaysia. Ask anyone who has visited and I am sure they'll all agree. 

Of the 4 sea turtles that nest in Malaysia, only 2 of them, the Green Turtle and Hawksbill Turtle nest on Redang Island.

In Redang, there 3 areas that have been designated as Turtle Santuary.

• Chagar Hutang Turtle Sanctuary - Managed under SEATRU
• Mak Kapit Turtle Sanctuary - Managed under the Department of Fisheries Malaysia
• Mak Simpan - Managed under the Department of Fisheries Malaysia

Redang and the islands in its vacinity have also been designated as a Marine Park to help protect and conserve various habitats and marine life.

The Sea Turtle Conservation based at Chagar Hutang is managed by SEATRU (Sea Turtle Research Unit) of Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. Their duties includes studying of these sea turtles, collect & protect eggs under incubation and monitoring turtle nesting.

SEATRU also requires volunteers to help run their programme. If you would like help SEATRU or more info on their programme, please visit their site.


We are having a site visit to Chagar Hutang on the 1st Oct as part of our Marine Awareness program this year. All our guests staying over that period would get to visit this restricted (normally not opened to public) area.

Reference

• www.umt.edu.my/seatru
• Images provided by SEATRU (Sea Turtle Research Unit)
• Wiki page on sea turtles (link)

 

[Images have been taken and used with permissions from SEATRU]