October 2011: The October issue of the Indian Ocean-South-East Asian (IOSEA) Marine Turtle Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) e-newsletter highlights: that Malaysia has joined the MoU; the draft agenda of the sixth meeting of IOSEA Signatory States; and sea-turtle conservation efforts in Hong Kong.

Malaysia’s joining the MoU makes it the 33nd IOSEA Signatory State. According to the newsletter, in November 2008, Malaysia launched a National Plan of Action on Conservation and Management of Sea Turtles, which is consistent with the IOSEA Conservation and Management Plan. The Plan includes a national ban on commercial sale of turtle eggs, harmonization of state legislation pertaining to marine turtles, and the gazetting of turtle sanctuaries at nesting beaches. A Sea Turtle Working Group established in July 2010 monitors implementation of the National Plan of Action.

The newsletter also announces the provisional schedule and information note for participants to the sixth IOSEA Meeting of Signatories, noting that one of the key papers on the “Proposal for a network of sites of importance for marine turtles” has been distributed and that other substantive papers will be finalized soon.

Finally, the Secretariat highlighted that in Hong Kong, China, all sea turtle species are protected under local laws and that the Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) operates a satellite tracking programme, started in 2002, to identify the migratory routes and movements of green turtles in the South China Sea. [Publication: IOSEA E-News, October 2011]