Smuggling Of Turtle Eggs Rampant In Southeast Asia Region

Bandar Seri Begawan - The smuggling of turtle eggs continues to be rampant in the region despite stringent laws in most countries, including Brunei, making the sale and consumption of the dying "delicacy" illegal.

"We believe it is coming mainly from the Philippines and Malaysia, specifically from Sabah and Sarawak and through Brunei as well," Malaysia's TRAFFIC officer, Norainie Awang Anak, told the Bulletin.

TRAFFIC is Malaysia's wildlife trade monitoring network responsible for raising awareness of illegal wildlife trading within the region. The non-government organisation is in Brunei to conduct a two-day workshop in collaboration with Brunei's Department of Forestry and the World Wildlife Fund.

"(Turtle eggs) are also smuggled from the Turtle Islands to Sandakan in Sabah before going to Terengganu," she said. Demand for the regional delicacy is apparently quite large in the Malaysian state.

"There is also a third route where smuggling of this species occurs from Kalimantan to Sarawak. They also come from the Natuna region going to either Malaysia, Singapore or Brunei," added the wildlife officer.

According to Norainie, the largest amount seized by Malaysian enforcement authorities was in 2008 with over 10,000 turtle eggs suspected to be smuggled regionally.

Meanwhile, Brunei authorities are not denying the smuggling of turtle eggs into Brunei that are then sold illegally to the public but its occurrence is apparently "very rare".

"We will not deny that turtle eggs are being smuggled into Brunei," said Pg Haji Abdullah, Assistant Superintendent of Customs at the Customs and Excise Department.

He, however, asserted that there have been no cases of locals smuggling turtle eggs out of the country.

"Cases (of smuggling turtle eggs) are quite rare," he told the Bulletin, citing only nine known cases between 2004 and 2009.

He added that while there are cases of turtle eggs being smuggled in for personal consumption, most of the cases involve turtle eggs of which amount goes up in the thousands to be sold illegally in local markets, further revealing that "approximately 20,000 turtle eggs have been seized since 2004".

Most of these cases have already been prosecuted while others are still pending at the Attorney General's Chambers.

Meanwhile, Claire Beastall, Training and Capacity Building Co-ordinator for TRAFFIC, puts her faith in these workshops as an avenue to raise awareness among the people directly involved in the enforcement of these laws.

"Most people in most regions are not aware of how big the problem is," she told the Bulletin. "This is about raising awareness and helping customs officers and other enforcement agencies in the Heart of Borneo area to work together to protect its unique wildlife."

While the decline of the species continues, Beastall believes that "everybody is working towards improving the detection of the smuggling of illegal wildlife".

"It's everybody's job from all the enforcement agencies in all countries to the public itself," she added.

Poaching of marine turtles remains one of the biggest dangers to the species coupled with pollution of the ocean and drastic climate changes that affect the species' ability to reproduce.

In Brunei, marine turtles and their eggs are protected under the Wild Fauna and Flora Act 2007.

In 2009, Brunei's Royal Customs and Excise Department foiled an attempt to smuggle in a total of 4,150 turtle eggs as a result of a tip-off from the public, the largest number of turtle eggs seized by local authorities thus far.-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin