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.
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.
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.
Beach cleaners from Libaran are contracted for a year to clean a section of the beach daily. Each section is 100 meter in length and a villager can opt to take up several lots for daily cleaning. The cleaners will also be provided cleaning equipment such as wheel barrows and metal rakes. It is our belief that if you want someone to do a job well, you have to equip them with the skill and equipment.
A sponsor will have their logo displayed on the section of the beach they are sponsoring and will be given quarterly progress report. Do contact us if you want to be involved in this successful activity.
BEACH CLEANING
DATE AREA MONTHLY YEARLY
LAUNCHED CLEANED COST(MYR) COST(MYR)
1st 6th February 2015 1,050 m 1,680 20,160
2nd 8th March 2016 1,350 m 1,350* 16,200
3rd 7th March 2017 950 m 950 11,400
4th 1st February 2018 1,000 m 1,000 12,000
5th 2nd March 2019 1,000 m 1,000 12,000
6th 9th March 2020 1,000 m 1,000 12,000
7th 23rd July 2021 1,000 m 1,000 12,000
*The cost was revised to MYR100 per 100 meters (one lot)
SPONSORS OF BEACH CLEANING
1st Year
ABC Tours Sdn Bhd, Traverse Tours Sdn Bhd, Sepilok Tropical Wildlife Adventure Sdn Bhd, Waja Usaha Enterprise, The Sneak Peek Designs, Bottles and Gifts Sdn Bhd, Ibis Sandakan Style Hotel and the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia.
2nd Year
Traverse Tours Sdn BHd, Sepilok Tropical Wildlife Adventure Sdn Bhd and the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia.
3rd Year
Traverse Tours Sdn Bhd, Sepilok Tropical Wildlife Adventure Sdn Bhd, EXO Travel Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Excel Run Sdn Bhd and Sabah Tourism Board.
4th Year
Traverse Tours Sdn BHd, Sepilok Tropical Wildlife Adventure Sdn Bhd, Sabah Tourism Board, Vino Vino Retails, EXO Travel Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Mr Terry Wong and young Ahmad Iszuddin.
5th Year
Traverse Tours Sdn Bhd, Sepilok Tropical Adventure Sdn Bhd, Sabah Tourism Board, Gamuda Land and young Ahmad Iszuddin.
6th Year
Traverse Tours Sdn Bhd, Sepilok Tropical Adventure Sdn Bhd and Sabah Tourism Board.
7th Year
Aquagoat Finance, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Tourism Malaysia and Sabah Tourism Boarde
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.
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.
“… in Standing on the brightly lighted stage, facing the audience that included the who’s who of the tourism industry, I felt humbled and slightly blinded by the bright spot-lights. For a moment, the scene of the audience darkened and I was transported back to the shore of Libaran, under the stars of that secluded island, where I spent many nights releasing just-hatched baby turtles into the unknown waters of the Sulu seas. I was overwhelmed with emotion and had to hold back my tears.
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://www.myfoster.org/contact-us/.
RM35 include postage in Sabah. For outside Sabah, we will inquire postage charges.
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://www.myfoster.org/contact-us/
F.O.S.T.E.R.
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