Message in the sand for Peter Garrett to save Australia’s unique flatback turtles

Joint Media Release
The Wilderness Society WA Inc
14 May 2010

Up to 50 per cent of Australia’s unique flatback turtles could disappear before the end of the century if urgent steps are not taken to create sanctuary areas to protect them, an alliance of conservation groups has highlighted today as part of World Turtle Day.

Turtles drown when caught in fishing nets, either as by-catch in commercial fishing nets or as a result of becoming entangled in discarded fishing nets, known as ‘ghost nets’, across northern Australia.

Communities in Perth, Broome, Darwin and Cairns today joined with the Australian Marine Conservation Society, The Wilderness Society and Environs Kimberley to make giant sand turtles on beaches to highlight the threats flatback turtles face and urge the Federal Environment Minister to create safe havens for them.

An emerging threat flatback turtles now also face is the increase in industrial development such as oil and gas drilling across northern Australia, The Wilderness Society’s Jenita Enevoldsen said.

“Pollution is now emerging as a real and present danger for flatback turtles and other unique marine life. Establishing large sanctuaries for turtles would provide a critical buffer against such threats.”

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) marine turtle specialist group, suggests that the flatback turtle faces between a 30 to 50 per cent decline in numbers before the end of the century if no conservation measures are taken: http://www.iucn-mtsg.org/red_list/nd/Flatback%20Assessment%20DRAFT%20150308.pdf

“Although the northern Australia coast and marine environment is one of the most pristine marine environments in the world, less than one per cent is protected,” Emma Belfield from Environs Kimberley said.

Current and future threats to turtles in northern Australia include the expanding resource industry destroying rookeries and feeding areas, marine pollution (eg West Atlas rig spill off the Kimberley last year) and drowning of turtles in the nets of commercial fisheries & climate change.

“On World Turtle Day we ask Minister Garrett to create a network of world class marine sanctuaries in the North and North West Marine Bioregional Planning process to protect northern Australia’s world class marine environment,” Prue Barnard from the Australian Marine Conservation Society said.

World Turtle Day cyberaction can be found at: http://amcs.org.au/WhatWeDo.asp?active_page_id=649