INDONESIA, Saubeba and Warmandi Villages, Papua - January 2006
Secondary and tertiary scholarships in exchange for the creation of a 2,471-acre no-take Leatherback turtle nesting beach and fringing forest reserve
Saubeba and Warmandi are two tiny coastal villages located on the Birdhead peninsula of the New Guinea land mass. More than sixty percent of the villagers have never had any formal education and less than three percent reach senior high school. The two villages are in close proximity to a globally important strip of beach that is known to host the largest remaining population of the highly endangered leatherback turtle. Seacology will provide scholarship funding to enable five students to attend junior high school, five students to attend senior high school or technical school, and three students to attend teachers college. In exchange for scholarships, with the assistance of WWF Indonesia, Sorong, the villages will fully protect 280 acres of leatherback turtle nesting beach from feral animal predation and all turtle egg harvesting, and create a 160-acre no-take forest reserve bordering the beach (note acreage change in October 2007 update).
UPDATE June 2006 - Community consultations regarding the villages’ agreement of the protected areas, their determination of the distribution of the scholarships, and meetings with schools to set up the scholarship process were to take place April through July 2006. The first of three years of scholarships are scheduled to be distributed in July 2006 to start the 2006-2007 school year.
UPDATE January 2007 - After three months of community-wide consultations and discussions, the first set of scholarships was distributed in July 2006. Thirteen families with students in junior and senior high school and graduate/technical school received scholarships to pay for tuition, books, uniforms and transportation. The recipients’ families provided statements pledging their commitment to protecting the turtle nesting beach and forest habitats. The villages installed demarcation signs in the protected areas in mid 2006 and are now in the process of developing methods to control predators such as wild boars on the beach, and applying for official endorsement of the village protection ordinances.
UPDATE June 2007 - As of April 2007 the local government subsidized a portion of the tuition. The village decided to use the extra funds to pay for the students to take an additional course in Math and English before final exams in June 2007. Since installing demarcation signs in the protected areas, each village elder, landowner and leader has signed a statement, ensuring their commitment to protect the nesting beach and forest reserve.
UPDATE October 2007 - As of August 2007 the village agreed to set aside an additional 2,031 acres of protected area to the original 440 acres (revised above). The larger protected area includes 25 kilometers of turtle nesting beach going 300 meters back into fringing forest. The scholarship committee reported that all students participating in the first year program tested well or exceptional on their annual exams.
UPDATE January 2009 - As of November 2008 final exams showed increased academic performance for scholarship students. One recipient received a teaching certificate and plans to start teaching at a village school. A total of 15 students continue in the scholarship program, ranging from middle school age to students at the university level. Within the protected area reduction in predatory animals continues.
UPDATE June 2009 - As of April 2009 a total of 14 students (5 junior high school, 4 senior high school and 5 at the university) continue in the scholarship program and a final performance evaluation will take place in June 2009. Predator reduction activities continued but were suspended due to a severe earthquake in early January 2009 when communities were focused more on repairing houses. However, the activities resumed again in April. There has been no forest clearing and garden opening in the areas set aside under the Seacology agreement. Unfortunately in both mid-December and mid-January, the Bird's Head was affected by extremely high tides combined with storms, with waves washing up to 5m above normal high tide mark. The high waves scattered turtle eggs all over the beach, the waves caused shore erosion and kept turtles from nesting. The field team estimates that 85% of nests at Warmon and Jamursba Medi were lost due to the high waves. The high waves had also damaged the trial anti-predator enclosures, which aim to protect turtle eggs from predation by feral dogs, wild boar, and monitor lizards. In general, unusual big waves continued until mid-March and made access to the beach by speed boat difficult.
UPDATE October 2009 - As of October 2009 there were remaining funds after 3 years of scholarships had been awarded (13 in 2006, 14 in 2007 and 14 in 2008). In addition to the scholarships, Seacology funds were also able to provide extra private lessons for the students and text books and teaching equipment for the elementary school in Saubeba. Due to the remaining funds, the project will be extended an additional two years and scholarships will be awarded in 2009 and 2010.
