The municipality of Botolan in Zambales province, approximately 255 kilometers (km) away from Manila, is known for hosting first-class beach resorts that lure beachgoers to enjoy the sun and the sand.
Other than tourists, Botolan is also frequented by beach lovers, but of entirely different species—the marine turtles.
Locally called “pawikan,” marine turtles find their way to the coasts of Botolan to nest and lay eggs.
Every year, between September and January, nesting pawikan—particularly the olive ridley, green turtle and hawksbill turtle—nest along the beaches of Botolan.
The two other marine turtle species are the leatherback turtle and the loggerhead turtle.
Endangered
Most marine turtle species are already endangered because of illegal wildlife trade.
These long-distance swimmers are hunted in the oceans for their meat, shell and body parts. On beaches, it is the nest and eggs that are being hunted.
The seven known species of marine turtles are listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
This means they are all threatened with extinction. Trading of any species on this list is prohibited.
Hundred eggs, handful survive
Female marine turtles lay hundreds of eggs in one nesting season. However, only a few young turtles survive their first year of life and grow to sexual maturity for them to return to their birthplace to nest and lay eggs and become “mama pawikan” themselves.
Turtle eggs are vulnerable to predation. Lizards, snakes and even domesticated animals like stray dogs or cats are known to dig turtle nests to feed on the eggs.
Even newly hatched marine turtles fall prey to crabs, foxes and birds as they emerge from their nest and struggle to reach the shores.
Worse of all, in coastal areas like Botolan, harvesting marine turtle eggs is a way of life for residents, further threatening their survival as a species.
One nest at a time
At least one group, The Mead Foundation (TMF), is working to save marine turtles in Botolan and prevent their extinction.
Ben Mead, founder of TMF, is leading his team of conservation workers to save the pawikan, one nest at a time.
Through the TMF’s Pawikan Project, Mead is able to help empower the local communities who have stopped hunting marine turtle eggs and become protectors of this amazing creature of the sea.
One of the speakers during the recent online celebration of World Wildlife Day with the theme “Recovering Key Species for Ecosystems Restoration,” Mead gave a private sector perspective on the conservation of the endangered pawikan.
Holistic approach; livelihood creation
Interviewed by the BusinessMirror on April 20, Mead said the pressure on natural resources in the Philippines requires a holistic approach to conservation. This is the reason TMF adopted species conservation across all time horizons, he said.
In ensuring the sustainability of TMF’s conservation programs, they are anchored on the economic viability and decoupled from short-term funding pressure.
More importantly, he said, the education and awareness of all stakeholders as a key strategy is critical, hence, integrated into TMF’s approach to conservation.
To make conservation efforts more sustainable, TMF has integrated livelihood creation to “give people the opportunity to make more sustainable choices and not have to resort to non-sustainable outcomes.”
“We apply a pragmatic and disciplined mindset, though the metric of success is impact and sustained outcomes,” he said, citing as an example the approach that covers both flora and fauna.
Secured hatchery
Mead said they work with both government and other private sector partners.
“We try to strike a balance between working with government and other NGOs [nongovernment organizations] and private enterprises,” he said.
In partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and its Biodiversity Management Bureau, NGOs and private groups, TMF initiated the Pawikan Project: Sea Turtle Conservation in Botolan.
It has established a secured marine turtle hatchery near Sundowners Beach resort in the area, where recovered nests are secured.
Only in its third year of operation, the Pawikan Project is already picking up significant strides and has established best practices in sea turtle conservation.
Primary nesting area
“Zambales is one of the primary nesting areas. All five sea turtle species [found in the Philippines] nest on its shores,” Mead said.
He said the entire coastline of Zambales is dedicated to conservation zones.
“There are still significant pressures from poaching that is why we adopted this approach of establishing a secure hatchery and stewarding the nesting of the pawikan,” he narrated.
In running and managing the hatchery, TMF is working closely with the DENR-BMB, Philippine Maritime Group and the Provincial Agriculture Office of Zambales.
Engaging with the youth
“We also engage with the local youth. Consistent with educating and exciting the youth, we thought it is also important to work with the community,” he told the BusinessMirror.
“Initially, our strategy was to engage the youth and have them patrol the beach in the evening and identify the nesting sites and relocate the eggs to our secure hatchery; and release them upon hatching,” he said.
Mead said the TMF is also working closely with the local military and police, and is lately closely coordinating activities with the tourism office of Zambales.
Incentivizing the community
He explained that they understand that the local community in Zambales are affected by poverty. In the past, people living in coastal communities had searched for marine turtle nests to get the eggs, either for food or to sell them.
A pawikan egg costs around P7 each.
Harvesting of pawikan eggs is illegal. The only way to stop it is by offering the community an alternative livelihood.
Mead explained: “Their [residents’] interest in pawikan egg is because of lack of livelihood, opportunity and lack of food and various other reasons. So we shifted our approach to align with the community to work with us and pay them a reward for reporting.”
The approach proved to be very successful and has created a strong alignment with the community.
“We work at the barangay level as well as LGUs,” he said.
Increasing awareness
Meanwhile, Mead said the move to increase the awareness of the community in Zambales is an ongoing process.
“We want to increase the number of hatcheries in Zambales. We require the partners not to touch [the nests]. We have trained rangers to perform that,” he said.
“Once the [presence of a] nest is reported, our rangers move in. Following the best practices, we move the eggs to our secure hatchery,” he explained.
In 2020 and 2021, the Pawikan Project’s secured hatchery gathered a total of 3,432 eggs that were surrendered by the communities, he said.
Moreover, Mead noted that because the hatchery is secured and the eggs are undisturbed, they were able to ensure an 80 percent success rate in terms of pawikan hatching.
During the two-year period, he said a total of 2,743 eggs were hatched and later released to the wild.
Mead said the campaign was able to forge ties with three local government units and seven barangays in Zambales.
The project also continues to receive reports from the community about discovered marine turtle nests in different areas, with a coverage of approximately 20 km from their base of operation.
Way forward
Mead said part of the project’s future plans is to scale hatcheries in Zambales and other areas in the Philippines.
“We are looking at Ilocos Norte, Davao del Sur and Bohol,” he said.
Meanwhile, to ensure financial sustainability, he said TMF is eyeing the establishment of a dive shop in these areas.
In the Sundowners Resort in Zambales, TMF established the Finn’s Diveshop. The income from its operation goes to conservation.
“It is our way of making sure that our conservation will not run out of funds, hence, sustain our effort to save the pawikan,” he said.
Image credits: Pawikan Project Facebook page