Turtle-y awesome effort: Justine (left) and Roland Agansai (second left) – an active member and one of the co-founders of the Kudat Turtle Conservation Society – training volunteers from a local university on how to take a turtle measurement for monitoring purposes.
KOTA KINABALU: What started out as an internship for Eva Vivian Justine as part of her bachelor’s degree programme has now turned into a full-time job looking after turtles.
She joined the Kudat Turtle Conservation Society six years ago during her last semester in 2017, thinking only of completing her marine science course.
The NGO, which was founded in 2011, works with local coastal communities in Sabah’s northern Kudat district to protect sea turtles, their nesting beach and foraging areas.
It was supposed to be a three-month stint.
“But I find myself volunteering for the society to this day,” said the 29-year-old in an interview.
The society is actively involved in conservation work with residents in Kampung Bavang Jamal and Kampung Kosuhui which are located in Simpang Mengayau or popularly known as the Tip of Borneo.
Both are nesting beaches for green and Hawksbill turtles and occasionally, the Olive Ridley turtle, though very rare. It also has hatcheries there.
It would be convenient to assume that Justine fell in love with the docile sea creatures while working with the society, hence, the continued passion to be their guardian.
In fact, the community was the one that grew on her.
Their devotion to turtle conservation has left a lasting impression on her to contribute more to the community.
“Of course I know (turtle conservation) is doing good for the environment and the turtles but what makes me stay on is more because of the community on the ground.
“I can really see their efforts and they have been doing this for quite a long time.
“Many of the villagers do not even have a background in science or have higher education but the awareness is there and they want to do it,” she said.
“They have a vision that keeping turtles safe is not only beneficial for the preservation of the reptile species but also for the community, for example, in tourism.
“It’s not easy to find people who are willing go into conservation. I really admire them for this as they also are doing this for free. That’s why I decided to stay on,” Justine added.
Besides training the community to look after the turtles and the environment, she said, where the villagers lack in terms of skills, she will fill the gap.
“Besides my background in marine science, I have the skills to write proposals to get more funding, so we can support their activities.
“Since they have tourism activities like turtle releases, we train them to speak in English, so they can communicate with tourists.
“I am also involved in training villagers to take measurements of turtles and other data to be provided for universities in their researches,” she said.
Justine also coordinates awareness and outreach programmes to educate the younger generation about turtle conservation.
Recently, she landed a permanent role as an assistant parks manager in charge of coral restoration this year with Sabah Parks, the custodian of national parks in the state.
But what makes the deal sweeter is she gets to stay in Kudat, which is part of the biodiverse Coral Triangle, as well as within the Tun Mustapha Marine Park.
“That means I can volunteer for the society after working hours and also during the weekends.
“I don’t find it difficult juggling between the two roles,” said Justine, who is also the present secretary of the society.
Justine said the work by conservation groups like hers have borne fruit over the years as fewer local villagers were consuming turtle eggs and meat now.
In the past, she said, the villagers caught the reptiles and ate them because turtles are just another source of food.
“Once we started our awareness programme, the number of people consuming turtle eggs and meat have considerably gone down.”
Justine said 15 people from the two villages have been trained by the Sabah Wildlife Department as honorary wildlife wardens.
“These wardens will patrol the beaches every night. If they spot turtles eggs on the beach, they have been trained to retrieve and relocate them to the hatcheries,” she said.
Despite the good work of the society and others, she said, the work is far from over.
“Our mission is to increase local participation and we hope more local communities, especially in coastal areas get involved in conserving and preserving the turtle population.
The ultimate aim, Justine said, is seeing the local community thriving from turtle conservation.
“When we protect turtles, we also protect their habitat which is the ocean.
“This will give a much bigger impact, not only to turtles but in terms of fisheries and tourism.
“All these will contribute to the wellbeing of the surrounding people.
“Just knowing this, it keeps me going,” she said.
