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Bali governor urged to take action against illegal turtle trade

Testudinal testament

The Jakarta Post
Denpasar
Wed, June 19, 2013 Published on Jun. 19, 2013 Published on 2013-06-19T14:36:03+07:00

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Testudinal testament: Members of  ProFauna wave banners and posters calling for an end to the illegal turtle trade while submitting of a petition to Bali governor Made Mangku Pastika in Denpasar, Bali, on Wednesday.  As many as 15,000 people have signed the petition which urges the government to take tough measures against the illegal trade in turtles and their eggs that is common in Bali. (JP/Agung Parameswara) Testudinal testament: Members of ProFauna wave banners and posters calling for an end to the illegal turtle trade while submitting of a petition to Bali governor Made Mangku Pastika in Denpasar, Bali, on Wednesday. As many as 15,000 people have signed the petition which urges the government to take tough measures against the illegal trade in turtles and their eggs that is common in Bali. (JP/Agung Parameswara) (JP/Agung Parameswara)

Testudinal testament. Members of ProFauna wave banners and posters calling for an end to the illegal turtle trade while submitting of a petition to Bali governor Made Mangku Pastika in Denpasar, Bali, on Wednesday. As many as 15,000 people have signed the petition which urges the government to take tough measures against the illegal trade in turtles and their eggs that is common in Bali. (JP/Agung Parameswara)

ProFauna, a nonprofit organization concerning wildlife and forest protection, has handed over an international online petition to Bali governor Made Mangku Pastika, urging him to put an end to illegal trade of sea turtles and their eggs.

'The petition shows that the international community is now concerned about the illegal turtle trade in Bali, which has increased again,' said Bali-chapter ProFauna coordinator, Jatmiko Wiwoho, on the sidelines of a rally and the petition handover in front of the Bali governor's office in Denpasar, Wednesday.

The petition has been organized by ProFauna and SOS Sea Turtles, a non-profit group concerned with sea turtle conservation, via www.change.org since March. The petition has drawn support from 25,000 netizens, most of who come from Australia, United States and Europe.

'We hope the Bali governor can take more serious, concrete and thorough action to put an end to the illegal turtle trade,' said Jatmiko, as quoted by Antara news agency.

He said the ongoing illegal turtle trade in Bali had tainted its image as a tourism destination country.

'An illegal turtle trade recently revealed in Tanjung Benoa has tainted the image of Bali as a region prone to illegal trade of turtles,' said Jatmiko.

Calls to boycott Bali tourism, which once occurred in 2000, might happen again unless the administration took action against the wildlife crime.

ProFauna data shows that four attempts to smuggle a total of 83 green turtles (Chelonia mydas) occurred in Bali over the last eight months.

In May, ProFauna reported an attempt to smuggle turtle shells from Bali to Turkey to the Bali Police and the province's natural resources conservation agency (BKSDA). (ebf)

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