Mulanay, Quezon - As part of the continuous implementation of activities under Marine Turtle Conservation and in order to instill in the minds of the community and develop their knowledge and skills on marine turtle conservation concerns, the DENR-CENRO Catanauan together with the LGU of Mulanay conducted a Lecture on Marine Turtle Conservation which includes (1) Threats to Sea Turtle; (2) Hatchery Management and Hatchling Releasing; (3) Marine Turtle Conservation Strategies; and (4) Presentation of Marine Turtle Conservation Effort of LGU-Mulanay held in Sitio Bayanan, Brgy. Ibabang Yuni, Mulanay, Quezon.

The objective of the activity is to engage and mobilize the community in conserving and protecting marine turtles, specifically in the management and protection of its eggs.

Part of the activity is the actual handling and transplanting of sea turtle eggs using ping pong balls instead of real eggs of the subject wildlife since there were no existing nests ready for excavation in the area.

In the actual exercise conducted, the community has gauged the sensitivity of the marine turtle egg and the risk of damaging the eggs all throughout the process. This reminded the community to be careful and dedicated in the operations required from digging up and excavating the nest to removing and transplanting the eggs piece by piece in the egg chamber (ex-situ).

To support the activity, Tanggol Kalikasan and some community volunteers from Sitio Bayanan and Sitio Mugos of Brgys. Ibabang Yuni and Patabog, Mulanay, Quezon were invited to participate in the activity.

It has been noted and recognized that five (5) out of the seven (7) types of turtles that can be seen in the Philippine coastal areas (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species - CITES), two (2) species (Olive Ridley and Green Sea) remain to exist and seen in the coastal area in Brgy. Ibabang Yuni, Mulanay, Quezon.

CENRO Ramil J. Gutierrez said that “sea turtles have a significant role in maintaining the balance of our ocean; they swam to eat our seagrasses, corals and other marine animals leading to an overall improvement of the quality of each ecosystem thereby benefited by other marine life. We all together will protect marine turtles for a balanced and healthy ocean.”

The Barangay Officials and community expressed their sincere thanks to the DENR personnel for providing them technical assistance and mobilizing them by sharing important knowledge and skills in the conservation and protection of marine turtle eggs, in particular.