Maslim As-Singkily

Developing an effective and well-founded conservation program is hampered by the incomplete and disparate knowledge of basic sea turtle ecology, such as distribution, population demographics, migration patterns, and habitat use in Indonesia. The overarching aim of this project is to provide a solid ecological foundation upon which to base a sound management strategy for leatherback sea turtles in Indonesia. In order to meet the aim, the specific objectives are to; • Review the current regulations and management strategies for the conservation of sea turtles in Indonesia. • Identify nesting and foraging sites of leatherback turtles in Indonesia, based on sighting data and ecological niche modelling. • Identify and map current and future (anthropogenic) threats to leatherback turtle habitats. • Estimate trends of key nesting populations in Sumatra • Estimate the number of local breeding populations and the connectivity among populations within Indonesia. • Based on the acquired data, identify Regional Management Units for leatherback turtles in Indonesia. We will apply approaches in ecology, such as ecological niche modelling and stable isotope analyses, together with state-of-the-art approaches in genomics in an extensive research effort on leatherbacks in Indonesia. The coordinated integration of ecological and genetic data will enable us to provide a rigorous understanding of the status of the leatherback turtle populations in Indonesia.