Existence and utilization of sea turtle by community of Meti Island at North Halmahera Region

Abstract

Sea turtles are one of those protected animals according to government regulation no. 7 1999. Living turtle migrates along area the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Southeast Asia Ocean including Sea of Halmahera. In Indonesia, there are 6 species of 7 species of sea turtle in the world and 3 of them are in The Meti Island namely the green sea turtles (Chelonian mydas), hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) and olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidocheys olivacea). All species of sea turtles in Indonesia categorized as a protected animal, but until now the exploitation of sea turtle still widely practiced by the community of The Meti Island. The objective of this study, therefore, was to analyze the knowledge and community understanding of existence and the utilization of the sea turtle. The data was taken through observation of sea turtle existence and interview with The Meti Island community. The result showed as 68.15 % of respondents knows about the existence of sea turtle, 37.5 % know about the impact of utilization to its sustainability but 43 % still harvesting and using sea turtle as a consumption and trade. This shows the lack of awareness in the community about the sustainability of sea turtle around The Meti Island. The high level of utilization of sea turtle shows the weakness of the function in the monitoring and supervision by the regional government against the utilization of an animal that should have to be protected.