Scubaism

WWF and Papua New Guinea’s national postal service are issuing a new series of postal stamps featuring six species of endangered marine turtles found in the country’s waters — leatherback, green, hawksbill, loggerhead, olive ridley and flatback.

Papua New Guinea has some of the world’s most important nesting beaches, feeding areas and nurseries for leatherback, hawksbill, green and loggerhead turtles. Although internationally protected, the marine turtle populations are on the decline as a result of over-harvesting for meat and egg consumption, accidental capture in fishing nets, coastal development and marine pollution.

Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the Solomon Islands last year agreed to protect the crucially endangered leatherback turtle in the Pacific through joint conservation activities. The tri-national partnership, supported by WWF, will allow the three countries to enhance conservation of leatherback turtles through information sharing, data exchange and cooperative research. It also plans to establish a network of marine protected areas covering critical leatherback habitats throughout parts of the western Pacific Ocean.