171 sea turtle hatchlings released on Riau Islands

Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands (ANTARA News) - As many as 171 sea turtle hacthlings were released by Banyan Tree Bintan Hotel and Resort on Tanjung Said Beach, Lagoi, Bintan, to celebrate the World Turtle Day.



"The green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) hatchlings that we released to the sea today were captive bred in Tambelan Island, about 125 nautical mile away from Bintan District," Manager Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of Banyan Tree Bintan Henry Ali Singer said on Friday.



The program of sea turtle hatchlings release on Friday has been the third time in 2013 conducted by Banyan Tree Bintan, or the 17th since its first sea turtle conservation program in 2008, Singer said.



"This has been our contribution and commitment to nature preservation," he said.



Banyan Tree Bintan had also received an award from Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) in 2008 for its effort in nature conservation.



Since 2008, Banyan Tree Bintan had secured 1,732 sea turtle eggs from poaching and 1,002 of them had hatched and released to their habitat.



The sea turtle hatchling release on Friday was participated in by around 150 people consisting of international tourists, hotel employees, local residents and students of Maritim Raja ALi Haji University (UMRAH).



Banyan Tree Bintan cooperated with the Faculty of Marine and Fishery of UMRAH to conduct the program which is also aimed to identify the sea turtle hatch rate in Lagoi.



As many as 171 out of 193 eggs taken from Tambelan were hatched. "The hatch success rate was quite high, around 88.6 percent," Singer said.



On the same day, Banyan Tree Bintan also gave education on sea turtle conservation to elementary students in North Bintan Sub-district.



The purpose of World Turtle Day, May 23, is to bring attention to, and increase knowledge of and respect for, turtles and tortoises, and encourage human action to help them survive and thrive.



(A059/A059/A014)