Dahdouh-Guebas, F.

Hugé, J.

Long, S.

Mohd Jani, J.

Poti, M.

Ruzli, M.U.

Zakaria, K.

Open Marine Archive

 106 
Local community perceptions on sea turtle egg consumption in 
Redang Island, Malaysia 
Poti Meenakshi
1
, Long Seh Ling
2
, Zakaria Khaulah
3
, Hugé Jean
4
, Mohd Jani Jarina
5
, Ruzli Mohd Uzair
6
 
and Dahdouh-Guebas Farid
1
 
1
  Systems Ecology and Resource Management Research Unit, Université libre de Bruxelles - ULB and 
Vrije Universiteit Brussel - VU, Rue Gillon 63, 1210 Saint Josse ten Noode, Brussels, Belgium 
 E-mail: meenakshipoti@gmail.com 
2
  Institute of Oceanography and Environment (INOS), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu -UMT, T145, 
21300 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia 
3
  Universiti Malaysia Terengganu – UMT, T145, 21300 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia 
4
  Systems Ecology and Resource Management Research Unit, Université libre de Bruxelles – ULB & 
Centre for Sustainable Developmen, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium  
5
  School of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu – UMT, T145, 21300 
Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia 
6
  Sea Turtle Research Unit – SEATRU, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu - UMT, T145, 21300 Kuala 
Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia 
 
Sea turtles are globally recognized as endangered species due to their significant decline in the last 
decade. With growing international pressure to conserve turtles, most decisions to address the decline 
are taken without a comprehensive understanding of the situation on the ground. Conservation 
measures fail when opinions and perspectives at the grassroots level are not taken into consideration. 
Conservation efforts often only include research on the biological aspects, with little or no focus on 
the social-ecological perspective. For effective planning and management of sea turtle conservation, 
it is critical to understand the role of humans. In Malaysia, humans are direct consumers of turtle 
eggs, they depend on turtles for tourism and human activities are a primary cause of habitat loss. In 
areas where sea turtles and local communities coexist, interactions emerge due to the space shared 
on land and sea. Therefore, it is important to include local communities in conservation studies, based 
on local ecological knowledge, perceptions and attitudes towards sea turtle conservation and its 
impact on their livelihoods. 
 
Our on-going study focuses on understanding local community perceptions on sea turtle egg 
consumption in Redang Island. Redang is located in the South China Sea, off the east coast of 
Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia, with a land area of 25 km². The island receives the highest green 
turtle (Chelonia mydas L.) nesting population in Peninsular Malaysia. The Redang Archipelago was 
designated as a Marine Park in 1994 and three turtle nesting beaches on the island were declared as 
sanctuaries in 2005. Redang serves as an interesting field site for community-based conservation 
studies as the local human population has a history of direct dependence on sea turtles for their 
livelihood.  In the past, the islanders followed a tender system for sea turtle egg collection for both 
consumption as well as conservation purposes. However, they no longer follow this system of sharing 
the natural resources. Our study aims at achieving an understanding of the status of egg consumption 
in Redang, the factors that influence consumption behavior across the community, the perceptions 
and attitudes towards sea turtles and finally the impact of awareness and outreach programs on their 
consumption behavior. The sampling method in our research includes household surveys in the 
Redang Island village. The houses were surveyed at random based on the availability of the household 
representative. Open-ended interviews were conducted in 75 houses, which accounts for 32% of the 
houses present on Redang Island. Firstly, demographic data on each member of the family was 
collected i.e., age, gender, place of origin, number of years in Redang, education level, employment 
status, past employment details and a general understanding of their annual income. Secondly, data 
on the status of egg consumption was collected i.e., the frequency and volume of egg consumption 
by each family member. Finally, the respondents were asked about their perceptions on egg 
consumption and sea turtle conservation in Redang. The household surveys act as an effective method 
to study general consumption behavior across the community and helps gather baseline perception 
data from the individuals that represent the houses. The data will be analyzed using a mixed method 
approach involving both quantitative and qualitative methods. 
 
Through this social-ecological approach we hope to influence policy-makers and conservation 
managers to integrate the perspectives of the local community in Redang to strengthen the current 
policies and laws related to turtle egg collection and consumption. 
 
Keywords: sea turtles; turtle egg consumption; mocal communities; social-ecological systems  


Local community perceptions on sea turtle egg consumption in Redang Island, Malaysia

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