Written by: Mohd Uzair Rusli

The conservation efforts for sea turtles in the country mainly focus on understanding the biology and ecology of these animals in the environment. However, Dr. Long Seh Ling, a terengganu native brings a new dimension to sea turtle conservation efforts in this state, which is famous for its history of leatherback turtles. According to Dr Long, to save sea turtles, we not only need to understand the sea turtles, but we also need to understand the communities who are connected to sea turtles. This dimension is crucial because conservation efforts for sea turtles must be inclusive, so it is inappropriate to ignore the livelihood of the local communities.

In the state of Terengganu, sea turtle conservation efforts along the 244 km coast coexist with a turtle egg tender system. For more than half a century, nesting beaches are divided into lots and exclusive rights to collect turtle eggs on a specified beach are given to the highest bidder. This practice enables the state goverment to monitor nesting beaches and collect turtle eggs during the nesting season. It also provides income to the licensed egg collectors.

Therefore, before amendments to the sea turtle enactment were made to ban public and commercial sales of all turtle eggs, the coexistence of such tender system warrants further research. This issue has led Dr Long to work with her supervisor, Associate Professor Dr Jarina Jani, to unravel the the context of the state’s legislation, the actual implementation in practice, and its implications on local livelihoods.

Born and raised in Kuala Terengganu, Dr Long often heard stories about the leatherback turtles from his parents. She still remembers being taken to Rantau Abang as a child, but her generation has missed the opportunity to witness the leatherback turtles, as their population numbers have decreased dramatically since the early 1990s.

After completing her undergraduate studies at UMT in Conservation and Biodiversity Management, she continued her Master’s degree at the University of Exeter in Conservation and Biodiversity. Before returning to Malaysia, she gained field experience with the Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC) in Tortuguero, Costa Rica as a research assistant. Although she is from Terengganu with the highest sea turtle population in Peninsular Malaysia, she has never witnessed sea turtle laying eggs prior to Costa Rica.

In Tortuguero, conservation efforts in place since the 1950s have resulted in almost 300 sea turtle landings along the 8-km beach in one night during the peak of the nesting season. This experience was significant for her to learn about sea turtle nesting monitoring methods. She also witnessed first-hand how the local community could earn an income through eco-tourism products such as watching sea turtles lay their eggs. To reduce the impact of this eco-tourism activity on nesting turtles, the Turtle Spotter Project was created. Only authorized rangers patrol the beach and inform the tour guides when a turtle is ready to lay eggs. The tour guides then lead the tourists to the nesting turtle. Tour guides are not allowed to crowd the beach with tourists searching for landing turtles, which could disturb the nesting turtles.

This experience abroad inspired her to start the Perhentian Turtle Project with Daniel Quilter in Pulau Perhentian. It has also motivated her to fight for sea turtle conservation while sustaining local livelihoods. With the recent amendment to the Terengganu Turtle Enactment in 2021, Dr Long believes that Terengganu is now more than ready to promote sea turtle-based tourism as a significant attraction.

Dr Long received a Director’s Special Award at the Institute of Oceanography and Environment (INOS) Student Award Ceremony in conjunction with UMT’s 20^th Convocation on December 10, 2022. This award was significant for her to commemorate the challenges she had endured while pursuing her Ph.D.

Throughout her doctoral study at INOS, she was blessed to be surrounded by close friends and researchers who were very supportive. She took the opportunities to participate and volunteer in various programs including those that involved the communities. Dr Long Seh Ling is now the Principal Officer of Lang Tengah Turtle Watch (LTTW), managing all the research, conservation and outreach of the organisation.