Belambangan and Sambit, situated next to the Muaras reef, are the most Easterly islands of the Derawan archipelago. The islands are the furthest away from the mainland and therefore the most threatened. They are the last two of the five main turtle nesting islands in the archipelago that must still be protected. Unlike the islands of Sangalaki, Mataha and Bilangbilangan the TURTLE FOUNDATION has yet to build the infrastructure on Belambangan and Sambit in oder to accomodate rangers. But due to lack of funds this plan has had to be postponed. The expansion of our projects in Indonesia (Mataha and Bilangbilangan) together with the start of a very important protection program on Cape Verde has increased the financial needs of the TURTLE FOUNDATION significantly. Therefore, additional sponsors and donors are badly needed.
Unfortunately highly alarming news from this area has made us aware that immediate action must be taken. The TURTLE FOUNDATION was informed that fishermen from Sulawesi and Madura are not only looting turtle nests but also killing turtles for their meat. In addition, the terrible methods of bomb and cyanide fishing as well as shark finning are common practices amongst these fishermen whose number is constantly increasing.
With BGG, a company which operates a large aquarium in Berlin, we have found a partner who is willing to help with this urgent matter. Thanks to their support we will hopefully soon be able to have our rangers conduct daily patrols from a base on Belambangan Island in order to effectively protect Belambangan as well as Sambit. In addition, it is planned to operate boat patrols from Belambangan several days a week to the nearby Muaras reef which is ecologically very valuable. This is very essential because in this area the lethal practices of bomb and cyanide fishing are still taking place. Therefore not only sea turtles will benefit from our ranger station on Belambangan but also the entire marine fauna and flora of the whole area.
More help is offered to the TURTLE FOUNDATION by Extra Divers, a German dive travel organization, who has been running the resort “Nabucco” for several years already and just recently opened a new resort (Nunukan), which is only one hour away (by boat) from Belambangan.
Many thanks to: