Day 4 finally rolled around and it was time to sit back and listen to presentations on some of what are considered model programs for turtle conservation in the region.  First up is the Cuc Phuong Turtle Conservation Center in Vietnam, perhaps the best known and respected of all the regional centers due to its longevity.  The presentation was done by the young man in charge now, Hoan Van Thai. This was his first ever public presentation before an international audience and for a shy person, he did an admirable job.  He was followed by Shailendra Singh, TSA Turtle Conservation Coordinator, who presented a comprehensive 5-year overview of the Batagur program on the Chambal River Sanctuary in India.  This program is impressive in its scope and the number of hatchling Batagur (two species) that have been hatched and released (37,000 for B. dhongoka alone) is significant.  Many other components are involved including headstarting, local awareness and poacher conversion.

With all the country and trade reports as background information, and with the Red-listing behind us, the stage was finally set for the critical Day 3 of the workshop:  designing specific priority conservation actions for the most threatened species.  And though I am not at liberty to formally report the findings of the Red List workshop, I can tell you that the situation has worsened, in fact very considerably.  The number of species recommended for the Critically Endangered rank (the next most serious rank is Extinct In The Wild) now stands at 38% of the 86 Asian species, a 90% increase since the 1999 Cambodia workshop!!

On Tuesday morning - day two of the workshop - the seventy workshop participants reviewed the “Red List,” an internationally recognized database of the world’s most vulnerable species. Participants from countries throughout Asia provided the most up-to-date information on the status of each species. A few were determined to be secure enough now to consider lowering their Red List status, but for a significant number of other species the group agreed that they are now at a greater risk of extinction than when previously reviewed.

Despite numerous successes in captive breeding, habitat protection and community awareness, these dwindling species have suffered overwhelming stresses to their populations. Be it a poor fisherman trying to feed his family or a wildlife trader selling rare animals to an international collector for thousands of dollars, both result in animals being vacuumed from the wild.

We were happy to see some old friends and meet some new ones at the Conservation of Asian Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles workshop at the Singapore Zoo. Over 70 delegates from 20 countries, including 16 Asian nations were in attendance.

Hosted by the Wildlife Reserves Singapore and the Wildlife Conservation Society, in collaboration with the Turtle Survival Alliance, Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, San Diego Zoo Global and the IUCN Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, the workshop summarized the turtle conservation activities over the past ten years in Asia. 

Many of the same issues we heard about 10 years ago in Phnom Penh, Cambodia are still an issue, a disappointment but a reminder that we aren’t doing enough.  There were some great highlights to the day mingled amongst the somber news; our Asian friends have not been sitting by idly.  The scope and scale of the turtle trade in Asia is clearly still the problem and new countries and trade routes are being exploited.  The numbers of turtles passing through some of these countries is almost incomprehensible; one country reported in excess of 40,000 lbs of turtles registered as being traded per year.  This only represents what is passing through legally “on the books” and does not represent what is being transported illegally.  One market in China reported in excess of one million turtles being sold annually with most of the turtles being endangered or critically endangered.  Some of the rarer animals for the pet market are fetching prices of USD 25,000; it is little wonder these animals are being vacuumed from the landscape. 

The Asian Turtle Program (ATP) of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (CMZ) has worked since 1998 to promote tortoise and freshwater turtle (TFT) conservation through awareness, training and research activities.  The Mauremys annamensis Project (MAP) has focused on this critically endangered and endemic species in central Vietnam with a permanent field presence since 2007.  MAP activities have included surveys, community meetings and wildlife protection department training in key areas.  With the threats to this species now fully realised, it received full protection in 2006 under Vietnam’s principal wildlife protection law, Decree 32.

Torrential monsoon rains caused rivers to spill over their banks and brought water in lakes and reservoirs to capacity throughout northern Vietnam.  It was mid-November 2008 and Team Rafetus Vietnam had just completed a series of awareness activities in local communities surrounding Dong Mo Lake (located about 60 km west of Hanoi) where the world’s last known Rafetus swinhoei remains in the wild.