Opinion Editorial

2 February 2024

Channels News Asia: Commentary section

By ACRES Co-CEO Anbarasi Boopal

You don’t really care to ‘save the turtles’ but you only know so little. Turtles have explored the oceans for millions of years like the ancient adventurers they’ve always been.

Today, these species face a great threat to survive in the only world they know that is changing drastically. The need to safeguard and conserve these ocean protectors is more important than ever, with the threats of habitat loss, climate change, and poaching hovering over us.

Hawksbill turtles used to be a common sight in Singaporean waters. Today, they are a critically endangered species. Many of these turtles get caught in fishing nets by accident and especially sea pollution too. Their eggs are often dug up and cooked as delicacies, some sold off to be pets. Their decline was so concerning that we never thought they would come back. For a year, they didn’t.

Until October 26 of 2023, Pulau Satumu had female visitors – Hawksbill turtle females coming to lay their eggs once again. Turtles are a big part of our ecosystem. Simply put, turtles are the ecosystem’s engineers to control the algae, jellyfish, and tiny species in the ocean. This time, doing as much as we could to improve their chances of survival.

This time, instead of appealing for urgency, we take another approach to commend the work and effort that has been put in by the government, organisations, researchers, as well as volunteers.

You wouldn’t have been aware of the hours of tedious research and monitoring put in by researchers to study nesting habits and migration patterns while the government acts upon The Wildlife Act to regulate the import, export, and possession of wildlife like the Hawksbill turtles.

Another achievement we’ve achieved that I’ve been so proud of is the launching of Singapore’s first ever Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation. Big thank you to National Parks Board for finally finding the space for our animals to recuperate when they’re first rescued.

This Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation is a big step forward for Singapore’s wildlife, especially for the sake of the Hawksbill turtles. Singapore’s conservation team ranging from ACRES to NParks would not be able to save more animals if not for this new space.

That doesn’t mean we can take this new positive news for granted. We have long roads to tread to restore the ecosystem that we have thoroughly damaged over the centuries.

We begin with restoring; next we educate our young ones. I urge people of Singapore to do better. I urge the youth to do what we couldn’t achieve.