KOTA KINABALU: The success story of the Walai Penyu Conservation Park has been documented in a book as a reference for future generations.
Economics academician Dr James Alin, who co-authored the book with Walai Penyu's founder and managing director Alexander Yee, said the book is also a dedication to all the people involved in sea turtle conservation efforts in Sabah and around the world.
"I suggested to Alex that his experience should be recorded and written for the future generations," he said ahead of the book launch tomorrow in conjunction with World Ocean Month.
The 100-page book titled "A Tale of 30 Thousand Turtles" details the journey of the sea turtle conservation work on Libaran island and will be launched at the Sabah State Library Tanjung Aru branch here.
It is also about 30,000 baby sea turtles being released in 10 years from 2010.
The secluded Libaran island is located 45 minutes by speedboat from Sandakan in the east coast of Sabah.
"When I listened to his story, it was a mixture of happy and inspiring tales, which I thought deserved to be put into words.
"In fact, when I first met Alex in Libaran island in 2014, he was about to give up due to much opposition in the village as they were against conservation efforts," said Alin.
However, both Alin and Yee did not give up, and wanted a sign while spending some time chatting at a tent at the beachfront of Libaran island.
Alin said a sea turtle had come up all the way to lay eggs in front of them and in the process it destroyed the tent with a big hole.
Yee said that the incident was very significant as he felt the turtle was sending a message not to give up on the conservation efforts.
He added that the moment was recorded in a photograph which became the back cover of the book, he said.
Meanwhile, Yee said the proceeds from the sale of the 3,000 books, priced at RM30 each during the launch, and RM35 thereafter, will go to conservation programmes.
At the moment, turtle conservation activities are carried out by the Friends of Sea Turtles Education and Research (Foster), he said.
He said they were planning to set up the Foster environment award next year to give recognition to the media and the marine works carried out by Sabah non-governmental organisations (NGOs), individuals and groups.
"We will also set up a platform for marine-based NGOs in Sabah to exchange ideas so that we can have the synergy flowing.
"We will also work together with Tanjung Aru Marine Ecosystem Centre (TAME) to conduct a workshop and study session," said Yee.
The sea turtle conservation efforts also won the Asean Sustainable Tourism Standard Award 2022-2023 for the rural category in March 2022 and the Best Tourism Product 2019, awarded by Sabah Tourism Board.