Yongle Island workers protect green turtles

World Today

Yongle Island workers protect green turtles

Chinese workers on the Yongle Islands are helping to protect sea turtles from poachers. They are collecting eggs spawned on beaches, and breeding the animals before releasing them into the wild. CCTV’s Wu Haojun gave us this report.

These are the Yongle Islands, the west part of the Xisha Islands which lie in the middle of the South China Sea. The area is important habitat for sea turtles. Every year from May to October, sea turtles lumber onto the beaches to spawn and breed. 

In an effort to protect them from poachers, staff on the islands are collecting the eggs for artificial breeding. 

The green turtle population has shrunk globally due to rampant poaching and other natural factors. 

In recent years, a number of research and conservation projects have been carried out in the South China Sea, to protect the local environment. But experts say the region’s ecosystem can be better protected, through the establishment of a national eco-park and turtle habitat conservation zone. 

Professor Wang Yamin of the Marine College of Shandong University believes a national eco-park should be built in Xisha Islands or other surrounding islands.

“In this way to protect the ecosystem and peculiar landforms,” Yamin said. “We should try to find a balance between protection and development.”