Second DSM Workshop's Summary Report

SECOND REGIONAL TRAINING WORKSHOP ON DEEP SEA MINING LAW AND CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS,

Held In Nukua’lofa Tonga

From 11-15^th March 2013

Summary Report:

Don’t rush to do Deep Sea Mining in the Pacific. Haste Brings Waste!

Acknowledgement

Let me take this opportunity to thank the sponsors of the Second Regional Training Workshop on Deep Sea Mining Law and Contract Negotiations.

I thank the European Union and the Ocean and Islands Program of the SOPAC Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Commission to facilitate this workshop. I would like to express my special thank you to Hannah Lily, Vira Atalifo, and those who made it possible for me to travel to Tonga at such a short notice. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Helen Rosenbaum for nominating me to represent the civil society in Papua New Guinea to attend this workshop. Last but not the least a big thank you to my family for allowing me to represent my people at this training.

Introduction

This Summary Report outlined the kind of experience I gained from the workshop.  It points out the lessons learnt, the benefits achieved, setbacks encountered and a few recommendations to help the organising committee improve in the planning for the coming workshop.

Experience Gained:

This workshop helped me learn how to negotiate on behalf of the civil society with the government representatives and the Deep Sea Mining Company.  It also empowered me to learn more on Deep Sea Mining Law and Contract Negotiations in general.  The mock exercise actually gave me a fair idea of how it is actually done in real life situation.  I also gained additional skills, knowledge and lessons from other presenters.

Lessons Learnt:

Some of the key lessons learnt from this workshop include the question I paused to Mary Louise Viteli about the right for all citizens to know about the Content of the Contract Agreement between the State and the DSM company (Nautilus) in this case.  She pointed out that all citizens have the right to know about that and that the State should make it public.  I flag her comments to the representative of the PNG’s Solicitor General’s Office who attended the workshop as a reminder.  I believe this was captured very well by the East Timor nation as shown in the television documentary produced by ABC’s Four Corners in Timor Leste.

This small island nation truly proved to us that they have a fighting spirit and would not sway or be swayed by multi-billion corporate entities such as Woodside and ConocoPhillips to agree to their terms and conditions.  They stood their grounds and argued that they get the fair share of the revenue from their petroleum industry.  They also pushed hard to ensure that the pipeline be connected to their island nation.  They were able to prove to Woodside through a local company Timor Gas and Petroleum that that was possible as proven in the bathometric studies of the sea floor.

They even went against the recommendation by World Bank and used the money from their Sovereign Wealth Fund to build and improve their health, education and agriculture services. 

A key lesson to learn from that video documentary is that they relied on no one but on themselves for the best advice.  This may not be literally true but goes to say that at the end of the day, whatever decision we make should be good for our country and our people based on sound and independent technical advice or evaluation report. 

Another lesson I picked up from that video documentary was that they had a bigger fight ahead of them and that was the need to collect all the tax due to their nation from the petroleum companies operating on their land. 

In addition, mining companies and the respective government representatives, International Seabed Authority and key speakers from SOPAC gave us a clear and in-depth knowledge and understanding of issues dealing with DSM laws, geology and the DSM technologies.  I now have a fair knowledge of deep sea minerals, how mining companies carry out exploration activities in the sea floor, what kinds of equipment they use, the money used to do their work and the risks involved. 

The KIOST’s presentation showed us clearly how they will use their technology to mitigate risks particularly in an event the slurry pipe breaks midway up or down in the ocean.  However, I am not happy with their plans to pump the waste back to the sea.  Neptune also emphasized the process of taking small steps one at a time to ensure that their activities do not cause negative impact to the environment but did not show us the kind of technology they plan to use in DSM.  Nautilus’s presentation showed part of a equipment left in the sea which was found some years later when doing the exploration in the same area.  This is not a good sign and an indicator of careless work attitude. 

Benefits achieved:

This workshop helped me gain more knowledge about deep sea mining, contract law and techniques for negotiation.   I learned about the geology of the earth and the deep sea minerals from Akuila Tawake’s (SOPAC) presentation which was also complemented by Jang Wan Bang’s (KIOST) presentations.   I must also commend Nautilus, KIOST, and Neptune for taking a due diligent process in dealing with the DSM industry.  Speaking to Jang Wang Bang, he pointed out that they will operate within the laws of the State.  That once again brings to attention the need for all Pacific Island nations to ensure that all their Laws, Procedures, Policies, and Strategies MUST be in place prior to issuing exploration and exploitation licenses to DSM companies.  We cannot totally blame DSM companies if we fail to do our part.  As a civil society representative, I am happy that I was able to get our precautionary principle and due diligent messages across to the rest of the participants. 

The setbacks:

The Pacific- ACP States Regional Legislative and Regulatory Framework for Deep Sea Minerals Exploration and Exploitation and the Precautionary Approach In A Deep Sea Mining Content reports,

 should have been sent out to all the participants a month early and not a few weeks before the workshop.   That would give us sufficient time to read and also gauge the views from other stakeholders prior to attending this workshop.

Recommendations for improvement:

I recommend that SOPAC should send us key documents in advance – a month or two leading up to the workshop.  This will give us ample time to gauge views from other members prior to attending the workshop.

Message:

I call on all Pacific Island nations to follow the due diligent and the Precautionary Approach in DSM.  We MUST not rush into DSM as we are not living on life support.  We are a resilient breed of people who have sailed our open seas with sailing canoes and without compass, climbed the tallest and rugged mountains on bare foot, and swam across fast flowing rivers and lakes full of crocodiles, snakes and other dangerous wild animals without safety gears.  Not even the mosquitoes were able to wipe us out of the face of the earth.  We lived off our seas, rivers, lakes and oceans using rudimentary tools for more than 50,000 years.  Who said we will die now if there’s no deep sea mining.  Our land, sea, air and water is our life.  Caution: Don’t Rush. Haste Brings Waste! 

Malo 'au pito

Wenceslaus Magun

The National Coordinator

Mas Kagin Tapani (MKT)

Leatherback Protected Under PNG Laws

From Jeff Kinch: The leatherback turtle is currently the only sea turtle in PNG that is listed as protected fauna under the 1976 Fauna (Protection and Control) Act (Kula and George, 1996), which stipulates that any person who knowingly buys, sells, offers or  consigns for sale, or has in possession or control of a protected animal is guilty of an offence and the penalty is K 500. Any person who takes (kills) a protected animal, in contravention of a condition of a permit is guilty of an offence and the penalty is K 40/animal.

An Open Letter for Sponsorship or In-Kind Donation

www.thenational.com.pg

The article in today's The National Newspaper (Friday 22, March 2013)  has instigated us to make this public appeal for assistance in order to sustain our Sea Turtle Restoration and Protection Project in Madang.
 
MAS KAGIN TAPANI ASSOCIATION
POB 1312, Port Moresby, National Capital District, PNG
+ (675) 71959665
magun.wences@gmail.com • maskagintapani.blogspot.com

Friday 22 March, 2013

To Whom It May Concern

Dear Sir/Madam,

REF: REQUEST FOR SPONSORSHIP

RATIONAL
We are applying for sponsorship or donation of in-kind support for our
marine education awareness program for our Sea Turtle Restoration and
Protection Project in Madang in order to achieve our organizations
project goal and vision to help protect and restore the declining
population of the endangered leatherback turtles and other marine
habitat and biodiversity in Papua New Guinea. We believe your
organisation has been assisting NGO’s and charity groups by way of
donations in cash or kind. Our organizations are in urgent need of
producing educational awareness materials, video documentaries,
promotional materials, and meetings and awareness for all our coastal
and offshore island schools in Madang.

BACKGROUND
Our organisation is at present adapting an alternative to marine
protected areas, using the conservation deeds approach which are
created and managed by communities not regulators.
Conservation deeds in Papua New Guinea are the result of a
community-driven process that creates a locally managed conservation
area, and a long term community stake in the protection of natural
resources in ways that also meet the economic and social needs of the
community.

We are now applying this model to coastal/maritime communities of
Madang as our pilot project site in Papua New Guinea. We envision a
maritime conservation process planned and implemented by the partners:
each local (coastal) community, Gildipasi planning committee (local
CBO), Mirap and KarKum (Duergo) STRP Committees, STRP Community
Facilitators. Community members will be the ones to actually set up
their marine conservation areas and eventually sign conservation
deeds.

We have heard personally from leaders and people in coastal village
who know in their hearts that they have to do something about the
decline, not only in the number of sea turtles frequenting their
beaches, but also the decline in the entire fisheries resources. They
are beginning to realize that they themselves had been and still are
one of the causes of the decreasing fish stocks (and sea turtles).
They also know that outside interests such as commercial fishing, sea
bed mining, sea tailings disposal will also impact their marine
environment.
Our goal is getting them through a process to think and work out what
they can do to address this issue and to develop actions plans to move
forward. Our effort has seen Karkum village in Madang, established its
locally managed marine area using conservation deed in 2008 (Please
see the media article).

COMMUNITY OUTREACH:
In 2007, we developed and facilitated a yearlong series of
conservation deed training workshops in villages along the north coast
of Papua New Guinea.

We worked closely with community partners to hold trainings and
community development activities for a total of 8 villages
representing approximately 3,500 people. Through this process, the
communities came together for workshops in sea turtle and marine
resource protection identify conservation measures to which they will
choose in exchange for support of community needs, such as health
centers and books for libraries and other social and infrastructure
developments. Additionally, the communities have requested help in
fighting the threat of deep-sea mining. As the conservation deed
process continues, we are providing assistance and consultation to
villagers on the best way to address these threats.

We have developed a core group of activist volunteers to assist with
the conservation deed process and other efforts in the region. The
volunteers in several communities are now conducting land and
marine-based resource surveys to provide detailed parameters for
developing conservation deeds. Village leaders and volunteers, as well
as individual resource owners, are highly interested in moving the
conservation deed process forward. We have continued to conduct
resource awareness seminars, surveys, and deed development into 2008.

Concurrent with the work to gain community support for immediate sea
turtle protections, we are building awareness of the impacts on
coastal villages of sea bed mining, sea tailings disposal, commercial
fishing, pollution and related issues. We are also working to educate
governmental leaders, university professors, urban professionals and
others in the nation about the financial and environmental impacts of
these issues. This year we are working to further engage these groups
and individuals in preparing an international call to protect PNG
waters from sea bed mining.

Contact
For further information and queries please do not hesitate to contact
Mr. Wenceslaus Magun on telephone number digicel 719 59665
or email: magun.wences@gmail.com.

We can supply further information should you require them.

For further recommendation of our efforts please contact the Education
Officer for Mahonia Na Dari, Ms Adolphina Luvongit on:
adolph.luvongit@gmail.com or Damien Ase on daseari2@yahoo.com

Yours sincerely,

WENCESLAUS MAGUN
The National Coordinator

Letter to PM Peter O'Neill

http://www.deepseaminingoutofourdepth.org/

The Hon. Mr. Peter O’Neill

 Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea

FAX: 675 327 7490; 327 6630

PO Box Parliament House

Waigani NCD, PNG

6  December  2012

 Dear Prime Minister O’Neill,

We would like to introduce the Deep Sea mining Campaign affiliated with Friends of the Earth Australia. We are a small team who collaborate with colleagues in PNG, the Pacific Islands region and further abroad (as far as Namibia, Hawaii and the Azores for example).  Our goals are to stimulate informed debate about deep sea mining, ensure free, prior and informed consent by local communities, and to facilitate civil society engagement in decision-making about DSM. 

As PNG is the testing ground for this unprecedented form of mining we have focused significant energy on examining the Solwara 1 project.  You may be aware that last year we released a report (downloadable from our web site - see above) providing an overview of DSM in general and the Solwara 1 project in particular.  Entitled, Out of our Depth: Mining the Ocean Floor in PNG, this report raises many concerns about gaps in the EIS and the many risks that have not been properly assessed.  Subsequent conversations with Nautilus resulted in reassurances that research has since been conducted that would address these concerns.  However no such information has been provided. 

Consequently we have embarked on a further examination of the EIS's oceanographic aspects.  We chose to look at these due to their critical importance to level of risk that coastal communities and marine ecosystems will be exposed to. The report was released in early November and can be downloaded from our web site.   The link to the report is http://www.deepseaminingoutofourdepth.org/report/.

Solwara 1 is a unique project of worldwide significance.  Key aspects of its approvals process are not in the public domain.  This has resulted in many questions about the project's likely impacts and the basis upon which the 20 year operating license was issued by the Government of PNG.

 In the interests of transparency and informed debate, we would like to ask whether it would be possible for the PNG National Government to release:  

·         The full oceanographic data set for the EIS, i.e. all the data gathered and all the analysis conducted by the EIS consultants but not presented in the EIS

·         The 2009 independent review of the oceanographic aspects of the EIS conducted for DEC by Cardno Lawson Treloar Pty Ltd

·         Any other independent reviews of the EIS commissioned by DEC

·         the conditions of the Solwara 1 permits issued to Nautilus by DEC

·         The draft environmental management plan for Solwara 1

·         Studies and modeling that show what metals will be released, what chemical forms they will be present in, the extent to which they will find their way into the food chain, how contaminated the seafood eaten by local communities will be and what effects these metals will have on fisheries of local, national and regional importance.

The release of the above documents would enable discussions about the recommencement of  Solwara 1 to start on the right footing and with due attention paid to civil society’s concerns.

We note and welcome recent statements by yourself that recognize the need for the environmental impacts of Solwara 1 to be addressed.  However, we are left wondering whether this concern is shared by the Department of Environment and Conservation.  We are disappointed by the cancellation of the public forum DEC was to hold in Port Moresby on 26-27 November and by the lack of response from the Acting Secretary of DEC, Mr Gunther Joku to a letter from the DSM campaign e-mailed, faxed and posted to him last month. 

We look forward to a productive discussion with your Office and with DEC. In particular we and our PNG colleagues would appreciate your advice as to the concrete steps the PNG National Government intends to now take to ensure that environmental concerns are addressed prior to the re-commencement of operations at Solwara 1.   

Wishing you all the best for a peaceful Christmas and a Happy New Year,

Yours sincerely,

Helen Rosenbaum (PhD)                                                            Wences Magun
Coordinator, Deep Sea Mining Campaign                   National Coordinator, Mas Kagin Tapani
Affiliated with Friends of the Earth Australia             Steering Committee Member,
Ph: 61 413 201 793                                                         Deep Sea Mining Campaign

E-mail: hrose@vic.chariot.net.au                                               Ph: 7195 9665

E-mail: magun.wences@gmail.com

Liberty’s plight to save turtles

Feature story POST COURIER page 30, Tuesday 30th January, 2013

By NELLIE SETEPANO

PAPUA New Guinea’s many beaches and near reefs are homes to marine turtles.
While turtle conservation programs have been initiated in parts of the country, some areas that are significant in nature, lack turtle conservation programs.
It is in these areas that local consumption of turtles for eggs and meat go without saving any. One such area is the Jomard Island in the Milne Bay Province.
A young woman from Brooker Island in Jomard is determined to save her turtles for future generations. Liberty Betuel agrees that turtles are red listed as threatened species and something drastic must happen to save them.
Jomard, according to traditional knowledge, the people of Brooker have witnessed as nesting ground for turtles, as the white sandy beaches of the little islands within the Jomard area are populated with both Hawksbill turtles and Green turtles during the months of November, December and January. The cluster of islands in Brooker Ward of Louisuiade district is made up the Venaliwa, Gulewa, Panaial (one and two) and Brooker Islands. The ward has a population of less than half a thousand. These islands are clustered near the international shipping passage-Jomard Passage. The islands lay approximately 60 km southwest of the main administration of Misima Island.
Tagging did once take place and co-ordinated by Conservation International Alotau when Brooker was one of CI’s project sites.
Liberty grew up on the islands where turtles nest and hatch and found their home out at sea.
She remembers rearing them as pets and then setting them free to the ocean when they were big enough.
“They were part of our life, food and survival in a customary way.” Nobody knew how much they were decreasing every year.”
Liberty only realised when she joined Conservation International Milne Bay Project she realised how lucky her islands were surrounded by these huge marine creatures and the beauty that surrounds them.
She recalls her father, a former announcer for Radio Milne Bay Joseph Betuel who introduced her to turtle farming in 2009, during two nesting seasons.
He father applied traditional methods with no expert advice. Those that survived in his nest were kept for a period of six months than released. Her father releases an estimate of more than 200 Green turtles.
Liberty promised her father she would continue the conservation program. “I was then touched to move fast when the ban with Beche-de-mer by National Fisheries Authority was forcing the locals to harvest turtles in large numbers and at the nesting grounds to sell for cash,” Ms Betuel said.
The Brooker Island woman did not stop; her attempts to save the turtles took her to Madang last year to gather Marine Turtle Biology Training in Madang co-ordinated by an Environmental activist Wenceslaus Magun. With a help from SK Wilson and Associates and her husband’s expenses she received training at Madang facilitated by Marine Biologist.
During her one week training she chose two things in relations to marine.
These are; turtle tagging and monitoring and for her and her community and; marine protected area (MPA) for her father and his clan as they have a clan island where fishing with nets and driving is restricted for the past five years.
Ms Liberty also wants to involved coral planting, seaweed planting, and clam farming within the MPA where women and young girls and boys should be able to learn and implement skills from experts who will be invited to do training or facilitate future workshops as part of the long term plans of the project.
Ms Betuel wanted to initiate her project from December 2012 to January 2013 (nesting season) but she failed to secure funds. Despite the lack of funding Liberty is not stopping because she believes in positive outcomes. She has a community backing and a link with a women’s association to assist. She currently resides in the nation’s capital and finds the residence a central location for her project to be effected because communication and information gathering is easy and cheap for a start.

Protect our coral reefs

By NALAU BINGEDING

There is now intense debate for and against the deep-sea mining proposed for the Bismarck and Milne Bay waters. Civil societies, the public, customary land owners and sea owners, academics and university students argue that the environmental cost of the deep-sea mining is unknown and could be catastrophic therefore the proposal should be shelved for now.

Nautilus Minerals Limited (Nautilus) on the other hand is adamant that it has spent millions of dollars exploring the sea floor of the Bismarck Sea and will mine the seabed regardless of concerns raised on the environmental consequences of the mining on marine ecosystems. Moreover, Nautilus is determined to see PNG become the first country in the world to use state-of-the-art technology to do deep-sea mining because it has been given the green light to do so by the PNG government.

 Neither side is willing to throw in the towel. Therefore funds are being raised right now by civil societies and the public to take the matter to court so that justice is done and the deep-sea mining proposal is shelved for now. Nautilus on the other hand is organizing public forums to appease public outcry and attempt to find a way forward.

In 2009 the Department of Environment and Conservation on behalf of the PNG government adopted a 10-year Regional Action Plan to protect coral reefs and other marine ecosystems through the Coral Triangle Initiative. The initiative included Indonesia, Malaysia, Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands and PNG. Through the initiative these countries agreed to support people-centered biodiversity conservation, sustainable development, poverty reduction and equitable development. 

However, the very department that signed the Coral Triangle Initiative to protect coral reefs and marine ecosystems has now issued environmental permits for Nautilus to do deep-sea mining in the Bismarck and Milne Bay waters. This action now contradicts what was agreed under the Coral Triangle Initiative and compromises the department’s position as the regulator of the environment in PNG and questions whether the department has the heart to protect the country’s coral reefs and marine ecosystems.

PNG has a coral reef area of some 14,000 km², and ranks second to Australia (48, 000 km²) in terms of coral reef area if we exclude countries like France and others who have colonies with discrete populations of coral reefs.  Much of the coral reefs in PNG occur within the Bismarck and Milne Bay waters and generally remain intact and in good health.

Reef-building corals have a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship - one organism depends on the survival of the other - with a microscopic, one cell algae species called zooxanthellae. The algae species produces oxygen, helps the coral to remove waste, and supplies the coral with carbohydrates for coral reef growth. In return, the coral reef provides the algae a protected environment and other compounds that are necessary for photosynthesis. This symbiotic relationship is so important that sedimentation of the ocean and any changes in the ocean’s temperature and pH (acidity or alkalinity) can adversely affect coral reef growth and health.

It is now known that due to the build-up of man-made greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the world’s oceans now take in one-quarter of the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This is acidifying the world’s oceans and the zooxanthellae populations are being expelled from the coral reefs due to high levels of carbonic acid in seawater. Consequently, the coral reefs cannot survive without the zooxanthellae and many can starve to dead. Dead of large areas of coral reefs, usually exposed skeletons that have a white color, is known as coral bleaching. The impact of ocean acidification is not pronounced at the moment in the Pacific, but this will gradually increase in the near future.

Global warming is also responsible for warming of the world’s atmosphere and the ocean surfaces. Thus the warming of the world’s ocean surfaces has resulted in bleaching of coral reefs in some parts of the world. In the Pacific the warming of the oceans through global warming has not had any profound effect, but it is predicted that these impacts will be more pronounced in the near future.

Mining of the ocean floor in the Bismarck Sea threatens our coral reefs due to the prospect of further acidification of the oceans. It is now known that substantial damage will be done on the ocean floor. Excavation of the ocean floor will involve digging up of volcanic mounts and breaking down of 15 – 20m tall hydrothermal vents. Consequently, tons of rocks and sediments will be pumped up to ships on the sea surface in the form of slurry.

Excavation of the ocean floor will result in a change in the pH of the water column at the excavation site. Chemical elements buried beneath sediments and within rocks will be exposed to the seawater due to the damage that will be done. As a result chemical reactions will take place between the stirred sediments and broken surfaces of the excavated rocks, thus the ocean’s pH will be altered.

From basic science one understands that a diffusion gradient is created when particles move from a high concentration area to a low concentration area. Thus if the excavation on the ocean floor turns the seafloor water column acidic due to the chemical reactions that will take place, a diffusion gradient will be created horizontally, laterally or vertical through the water column. Consequently the Bismarck Sea could turn acidic and endanger our populations of coral reefs.  This combined with the looming threats posed by climate change through warming of the ocean surface and the acidification of the oceans through uptake of excessive made-made greenhouse gases from the atmosphere can cause massive bleaching of our coral reefs. Thus this threatens the survival of all other species (including man) that inhabits the Bismarck Sea and beyond.

One other effect of excavation on the ocean floor is the proliferation of certain microorganisms through change in pH of the water column. Certain microorganisms depend on temperature and pH of the water to be conducive for their exponential growth. At a certain pH and temperature, these organisms exist in small numbers, but once the conditions become conducive for their proliferation they reproduce exponentially for a certain period. Then the population decreases and levels off when food sources are depleted or the environment is no longer conducive for their reproduction.

Such a case occurred with ocean dredging for sand to reclaim land from the sea in Japan a few years ago. In the attempt to reclaim land from the sea in a seaside city in Japan a few years back, the ocean floor was dredged for sand. However, the dredging caused damage to the sea floor and released sediments and chemical elements buried beneath the sand into the ocean water column. This action changed the pH of the seawater column and as a result it created an environment that was conducive to the growth of a certain microorganism. These microorganisms then reproduced exponentially and were dispersed vertically, laterally and horizontally through the sea water column due to underwater currents.

As these microorganisms were swept by underwater currents towards the shoreline, they infected populations of seashells. Consequently, the seashells died and were washed ashore by underwater currents and the waves, with hundreds of tons of seashells littering the shoreline and the smell of rotting seashells could be inhaled some kilometers away. This was an environmental disaster.

Although ocean dredging for sand in Japan was done at depths not comparable to that proposed for the deep-sea mining in the Bismarck Sea, there is a high probability for such an environmental disaster to occur. Excavation on the ocean floor can change the pH of the seawater column and create an environment conducive for certain microorganisms to proliferate. Then these microorganisms will have to be dispersed through the water column due to underwater currents or the effect of a diffusion gradient. Thus these microorganisms can create environmental disasters if they infect higher organisms like seashells.   

Much of PNG’s coral reefs remain intact and in good health at the moment. Therefore, these populations of coral reefs need to be protected at all cost for the livelihood of our coastal populations. Moreover, the PNG government has signed a treaty under the Coral Triangle Initiative and has the obligation to protect these coral reefs and the ecosystems that exist therein. Therefore, any action contrary to supporting people-centered biodiversity conservation, sustainable development, poverty reduction and equitable development can only mean that the government is more interested in money from mining and has no concern for its own people and the very environment that their very lives depend on.

Nalau Bingeding is a Research Fellow in the Land and Economic Division within the Wealth Creation Pillar at the National Research Institutehttp://www.facebook.com/n/?groups%2F210718705711207%2F&mid=6c3525eG20735b4fGb104cdbG15&bcode=LNVAbcrL_1.1348031792.AaSvo9N3YuUm0lzr&n_m=magun.wences%40gmail.com

Turtle tagging and Monitoring, Madang

7-11th November 2012

Report compiled by Job Opu

Background

Many beaches and near shore reefs along the coastal areas of PNG are home to marine turtles. While turtle conservation programs have been initiated in a few parts of PNG, large areas although significant in nature lack turtle conservation programs. It is in these areas that local consumption of turtle for eggs and meat go on without saving some of these turtles and eggs.
Mas Kagin Tapani Inc., a local CBO based in Madang began mobilising communities in Madang in 2007 to save the critical endangered leatherback turtles that were nesting on their beaches. These beaches are situated to the northern side of Madang towards Bogia.
The first Turtle Conservation workshop was organised by the Makata Inc and hosted by the Karkum Community of Madang. The workshop ran from September 19th – September 23rd 2009 and the target audience of the workshop included Madang community members and representatives from Community based organisation. There were 40 participants at this course. This workshop introduced participants to basic marine biology, turtle tagging and monitoring, developing work plans to address turtle conservation and education and awareness on turtle conservation and other marine issues.
A second workshop was undertaken in Magubem Village, Madang with a total of 40 participants and ran from the 1st – 6th of October 2012..
This training workshop was the second of its kind and a follow-up of the activities and interests generated so far in turtle conservation and management with the Madang Communities. The Communities have indicated that they wish to go one step further in turtle conservation and begin to develop action plans to tag and monitor nesting turtles during the nesting season. Hence this training workshop was carried out to meet their requirement.
This follow-up trip was basically to take the theory and put it into practical by patrolling the nesting beaches to tag turtles and document data.


Day 1. 7th November 2012
The marine turtle specialised arrived at Magubem Village at 2.00pm from Port Moresby via Madang. He met with Peter, Chairman of Gildipasi CBO. They arranged to meet with the rest of the beach rangers from the main 4 communities the next morning.
Meanwhile plans were made to begin the exercise later that evening. The specialist then briefed Peter and a few selected field rangers from Magubem Community to start patrolling the nesting beaches that night.
Equipment were then checked and laid out. These included the following:
• Turtle tags and applicators
• Turtle datasheet and clipboards. Pencils.
• Torches and batteries
• Measuring tapes (3 mtr in length)
• Raincoats (in the event of rain)
The Magubem team started the patrol at 8.00pm and ended at 2.00pm. The weather was overcast and there was slight drizzle.
No nesting turtles were encountered. However the team came across the tracks of a green turtle. It seem the green turtle came and did some crawls on the beach but did not nest. We believe the sand substrate was too hard with some small pebbles hence no nesting took place.
Further on down the beach the team came across an old leatherback nest which has been dug up by some locals and eggs taken. The nest seems to be about a month old.
At 1.30pm the drizzle was getting bigger and heavy drops of rain were felt, hence the team had to abandon the patrol at 2.00am and head back to Peter’s hamlet (where the team were housed).

Day 2. 8th November 2012
On day 2 the specialist and the beach rangers gathered at the Magubem Community hall and the specialist went over turtle tagging and monitoring protocols for the team The following topics were covered:
• Sites for beach patrols
• Turtle species to target– Leatherback turtle and green turtles
• Tagging methods and the part of the turtle to tag.
• Demonstration on use of tags and applicator
• Turtle data sheets


The session lasted the whole morning with questions and answers and clarification on all aspects of the turtle research. At the end of the session the team felt that it was ready to undertake beach patrols and start turtle tagging and monitoring program.

After the overview of the above topics the equipment were brought out and divided into the 4 major beach groups corresponding to their area and beach.

The team then left for their respective areas. The teams made a commitment to begin their programs at night.
The Magubem team (with the turtle specialist) were to cover the nesting beaches that came under the Magubem community, However this did not eventuate as there was heavy rains beginning in the afternoon and lasting all night. The heavy rains stopped the team from going out at night to patrol the beaches.


Day 3. 9th November 2012
Early the next day, the sun was shining so the Magubem team including the specialist took a walk along the nesting beaches to check if any turtles came up to nest. After a long two kilometre walk along the beach no signs of nesting were noted on the beach, hence we concluded that no turtle came up to nest on the beach last night.
After checking the beach the team went back to basecamp and went over notes and tagging equipment.
Later on in the afternoon the team prepared for another beach patrol.
After dinner and equipment check the team left for the beaches at about 8.00pm.
The team started at the mouth of River Dibor and walked northwards along the beach. There was almost 100% cloud cover hence no stars were noted. The tide was coming in and huge waves were pounding on the beach
The team spend about 8 hours on the beach patrolling up and down. However no turtles were encountered.
At about 4.00am in the morning the team decided to call it a night and headed back to the base camp.

Day 4. 10th November 2012
On the morning of the fourth day the beach rangers met again and had a review of the past nigh activities.
Plan was again made to coordinate work with the other beach rangers from the other groups so they could patrol in synchrony throughout their own beaches and meet at a central point through the night so that this would ensure all sectors of the long beach was covered.
Turtle information and beach census data from the research work onwards will be collated and sent to the turtle specialist to document and report on.
The specialist then left for the Madang.

Conclusions

In conclusion, expected outputs of this trip were partly achieved.
Material and equipment for the “turtle tagging and monitoring” program for the communities were divided equally among the 4 major communities corresponding to the number of group of beach rangers as well.
The rangers were also taken again through the protocols of tagging and monitoring and documentation of turtle data. The principles were reinforced amongst the beach rangers.
The turtle specialist led patrols at night with the beach rangers to give them experience of observation nesting turtles at night.
The only setback was that the team did not encounter any nesting turtles during the short visit by the specialist. This would have been an opportunity to actually witness tagging as all beach rangers have never witnessed let alone tagged and compiled data on a turtle before.Marine Species Specialist, Job Opu conducting turtle tagging and monitoring exercise in Dibor, Madang. Long term tagging and monitoring exercise can be done if we are adequately supported. We therefore call on relevant government agencies and partner organisations to come to our assistance to make this exercise successful and sustainable.