Research & Conservation Initiatives
Discover how our projects engage communities and protect marine life, guiding you to get involved and support our mission.
WALAI PENYU CONSERVATION PARK
This award winning sea turtle conservation project has engaged the islanders to work together towards conserving and protecting the sea turtles that land on the shores of Libaran.
Visitors will be able to participate in its activities by staying at the tent accommodation available on the island.
SIGNAGES
When visiting Libaran, visitors will be able to spot signages erected around the beaches of Libaran, stating poaching of sea turtle eggs is illegal under the Wildlife Enactment. These signboards were designed and made in Kota Kinabalu before being transported to Libaran. It is part of FOSTER’s effort in using moral persuasion to engage with the local villagers.
SEA TURTLE HATCHERY
Since starting the project on Libaran island, FOSTER has constructed 3 hatcheries on Libaran:
-the first hatchery was Taman Hadiah. Name as “Garden of Gift”, is has been dismentled when Walai Penyu Conservation Park relocated to current site. The 10 year lease of the land has expired and the land owner wanted the land back
-the second hatchery has been dismantled within 6 months of it been constructed as the land owner did not see any visitors (thus no income from hatchery visit) due to covid-19
-the third and current hatchery is being sponsored by Aquagoat finance and began operation in September 2021.
Tourism Project with villagers and Planeterra
Planeterra of Canada is a foundation of the award winning G Adventures’ (also based in Canada) founder and Planeterra is a leading community tourism organisation working to reduce poverty around the world. It achieves this by working with indigenous and rural communities with a focus on women and youth.
Their website states that:
“By supporting an ever-growing network of community tourism enterprises around the world, Planeterra ensures tourism dollars are increasingly remaining in the hands of local people. As a result, economic opportunities are created, places are protected and cultures are celebrated through travel.
G Adventures has already included Libaran as part of their tour program for Sabah and has been promoting the conservation activities by FOSTER for slightly over a year.
In March of 2019, a Planeterra representative from their Thailand office, contacted us regarding the setting up of community activities that might further attract tourism and at the same time benefit the local people on Libaran Island.
Two inspections were carried out and three activities were selected; pancake making, fish net weaving and plastic flower-making. By September 2019, the three villagers involved in these activities were ready to show-case their skills to visitors brought in by G Adventures. The villagers were paid each time they conduct a demonstration session and extra income was also gained through sales of their merchandises.
Through their demonstrations, international visitors have come to know of Libaran and how the villagers live. The program is still on going.
A Tale Of 30 Thousand Turtles
This book is the story of Walai Penyu Conservation Park, on a secluded island off Sandakan, where I have spent nine years of my life setting up a conservation hatchery for the sea turtles. The book documents the journey of how from a seemingly hopeless situation, the project went on to release more than 30,000 baby turtles and brought a ray of hope to the conservation work in Sabah. It also attempts to record and capture the essence of that endeavor so that those who come after, answering to the call of conservation work, can be encouraged to keep on trying and be assured that they are not alone in the tough journey of their works…” extract of the Preface of the Book
All proceeds from the sales of this book will go to FOSTER, Friends Of Sea Turtles Education & Research, to continue to fund its sea turtle conservation work. For those interested to purchase this book, please click here, https://myfoster.org/contact-us/.
RM35 include postage in Sabah. For outside Sabah, we will inquire postage charges. Click Here to shop
Walai Penyu Conservation Park T-Shirt
We are launching our EXCLUSIVE Walai Penyu Conservation Park T-shirt.
At RM35.00 per piece(postage not included), this exclusive black T-shirt is designed with an eccentric, neon coloured turtle printed on the front and comes in various sizes.
Your purchase will go towards helping to keep us going during this challenging time.
100% of the proceeds will go towards the maintenance of Taman Hadiah turtle hatchery, 3 community beach cleaners and our honorary wildlife warden. It is our commitment to protect and conserve our sea turtles and we can not do it alone any more.
Stand in solidarity with us by making your purchase today. Click to make purchase, https://myfoster.org/contact-us/
COMMUNITY BEACH CLEANING
The community beach cleaning project forms a core part of the conservation work of FOSTER and it is being carried out every year with funds from sponsorship and conservation levy collected by Walai Penyu Conservation Park. A clean beach will promote better hygiene for the villagers and allows the sea turtle to land for nesting unobstructed.
