|
On Aug. 26, Zambales residents marked the start of the annual turtle nesting season in the province by releasing a 100-kg. female green turtle into the South China Sea.Bruce Oliver chair of the Environmental Protection of Asia Foundation Inc. (EPAFI) said in a telephone interview that the turtle joined more than 17, 500 hatchlings that had been freed to the sea since 2002, under the Zambales Turtle Conservation Program (ZTCP). ZTCP is implemented by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, EPAFI and the Zambales government. It maintains three hatcheries, which is run by ZTCP volunteers and resort workers, near the Punta de Uian Resort in San Antonio, Rama resort in Botolan and Palmera Gardens in Iba. Oliver said that the release of the green turtle, which was found by a resident in Barangay Pundaquit in San Antonio, signified the commitment of the villagers to conserve the egg rather than sell or consume these for their supposed aphrodisiac value. Based on the ZTCP's monitoring, three species of marine turtle nest on the coast of Zambales. These are the olive ridley (lepidochelys olivacea), green turtle (chelonian myd) and hawk bill turtle (eretmochelys imbricate). These species are listed in the Conservation Foundation Trade and Endangered Species as critically endangered species. [via] |
