Sea Turtle Management Progress of Pangumbahan Beach, Sukabumi District, West Java-Indonesia

Abstract

Pangumbahan Beach, located in Sukabumi District, West-Java Province has been appointed a conservation area for the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) in Indonesia. Recently, the Local Government of Sukabumi District has taken measures to manage the beach as a “Coastal Park” in order to promote sea turtle conservation. In context, the development of green turtle conservation has been managed as follows: management activity started in 1907 under license from the Dutch Colonial Government. The management implementation was initiated effectively in 1957 using an auction system, with a total management area of 12,300 m^2 established. In 1989, the area of Pangumbahan at about 115 ha, with its 3,000m long and 500m wide beach, was determined to be under the rightful management of the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Service of Sukabumi District. During this period, the technical sea turtle management has beenimplemented by a private company. From the beginning of April 2008 to the present, the management of the beach has been taken over by the Sukabumi District Government which charges the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Service as responsible for managing the park. The positive impact appears in several indicators including data gathering, non utilisation of eggs for any purpose, improvement of hatching rate, an increase in hatchling numbers released into the sea and open access for visitors, which tends to increase year by year. This positive management example would be valuable to turtle conservation in Indonesia.