Love of sea turtles turns Philippine poachers into protectors
By Eloisa Lopez
Filed

Photography and reporting by Eloisa Lopez
Filed: February 03, 2023, 11 p.m. GMT
Armed with a wooden stick, a bucket and a headlamp, Philippine construction worker Johnny Manlugay hunts every night for the eggs of sea turtles on the pristine beaches of the northern province of La Union.
The 55-year-old can easily spot nesting sites, having been trained in his youth by his grandfather how to track the animals and their eggs, which his family traded at the time or ate.
But his egg-stealing days are over. Now Manlugay has turned his skills to helping protect marine turtles on the provincial beaches favoured by the endangered Olive Ridley species to build nesting sites.
“I’ve learned to love this work,” said Manlugay, who was accompanied by his two dogs. “We didn’t know poaching was illegal and that we should not eat turtle eggs and meat.”


He carefully transferred each egg into his pail, along with some sand from the turtle nest, to be turned over to the group spearheading a conservation programme on the beaches, Coastal Underwater Resource Management Actions (CURMA).
All five species of sea turtles found in the Philippine archipelago - Green, Hawksbill, Loggerhead, Leatherback, and Olive Ridley - are endangered.
Slaughtered for their eggs, meat and shells, the turtles, or “pawikan” as they are called, also face threats from trade, hunting, habitat loss and climate change.
But the conservation effort established in 2009 has transformed sea turtle poachers into allies, offering incentives and training to help save thousands of turtles and keep their eggs from ending up in markets and on plates.
“We talked to the poachers, and it turned out poaching was just another means for them to earn a living,” said Carlos Tamayo, the programme’s director of operations. “They had no choice.”

Sea turtles lay 100 eggs to a nest on average, while the numbers of nests range between 35 and 40 each season, which runs from October to February.
Tamayo added that the figure had doubled during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. At a time when disease curbs kept people indoors, there was a rebound in many aspects of animal activity.
“Last season alone, for example, we had 75 nests and we released close to 9,000 hatchlings,” Tamayo said.

Volunteers receive 20 pesos ($0.37) for each egg collected, or four times what they might earn from selling them. The eggs are transferred to the programme's hatchery to be reburied in protected areas.
Former poacher Jessie Cabagbag, who grew up eating turtle meat and eggs, said the extra income from egg collection went a long way for his family, which relies mainly on fishing for its livelihood.
“The incentives help us pay for our food and electricity bill. When I got lucky, I was able to save and use it to buy a tricyle which I use (to ferry passengers) when I could not go out to fish, so that's another source of income,” he added.


Cabagbag, whose wife and seven-year-old son accompany him in patrolling the La Union beach of Bacnotan, has handed more than 1,000 eggs to CURMA since October.
“I stopped poaching when we underwent training and were taught that what we have been doing was illegal, and that these species of turtles are endangered,” said the 40-year-old.
Tourists flock to the spectacle of the blue-grey hatchlings scurrying madly down the sloping beach to reach the water after they are released.
The event inspired overwhelming joy in Cabagbag, he said.
“I am truly proud. Even our neighbours, they appreciate what I do, because it is not easy. I am happy that I get to contribute to the conservation of the ‘pawikan’.”
($1=54.6300 Philippine pesos)


Manlugay looks for tracks and nests to turn them over to CURMA with his dog at the beach in San Juan, La Union, Philippines, December 19, 2022.

The Cabagbag family looks for turtle tracks and nests in the sand during their nightly patrol at the beach in Bacnotan, La Union, Philippines, January 11, 2023.

The Cabagbag family looks for turtle tracks and nests in the sand during their nightly patrol at the beach in Bacnotan, La Union, Philippines, January 11, 2023.

Jessie Cabagbag sails out to fish after his family’s nightly patrol in Bacnotan, La Union, Philippines, January 11, 2023.

Fish caught by Cabagbag are counted by his relative at home in Bacnotan, La Union, Philippines, January 11, 2023.

A baby olive ridley sea turtle emerges from its nest at CURMA’s hatchery, in San Juan, La Union, Philippines, December 20, 2022.

A baby olive ridley sea turtle emerges from its nest at CURMA’s hatchery, in San Juan, La Union, Philippines, December 20, 2022.

Karlo Salazar, 19, CURMA’s field specialist, places a net around a nest of eggs Manlugay turned over to the hatchery, San Juan, La Union, Philippines, December 20, 2022.

Salazar writes down the number of sea turtle eggs turned over by Manlugay in CURMA’s hatchery in San Juan, La Union, Philippines, December 20, 2022.

Manlugay receives money for turning over a nest of over a hundred sea turtle eggs to CURMA’s hatchery, in San Juan, La Union, Philippines, December 20, 2022.

Tamayo looks at the tracks of a mother turtle who failed to lay eggs on the beach, at Bacnotan, La Union, Philippines, December 21, 2022.

A mother turtle heads back to the sea after laying eggs on the beach in Bacnotan, La Union, Philippines, January 12, 2023.

Salazar checks the tagging of a mother turtle before it goes back to the sea, at Bacnotan, La Union, Philippines, December 21, 2022.

Tamayo documents a mother turtle going back to the sea after laying eggs on the beach in Bacnotan, La Union, Philippines, January 12, 2023.

Tamayo prepares to drive back to the hatchery as Salazar holds a bucket full of turtle eggs, in Bacnotan, La Union, Philippines, January 13, 2023.

Spectators wait for olive ridley turtles to emerge from their nest at CURMA’s hatchery, in San Juan, La Union, Philippines, December 20, 2022.

Spectators wait for olive ridley turtles to emerge from their nest at CURMA’s hatchery, in San Juan, La Union, Philippines, December 20, 2022.

Tamayo takes a basin full of baby olive ridley turtles to the beach for its release to the sea in San Juan, La Union, December 20, 2022.

Baby olive ridley sea turtles make their way to the sea, in San Juan, La Union, Philippines, December 20, 2022.

Manlugay transfers cooked rice on a container, as he prepares to go to a construction job, at home in San Juan, La Union, Philippines, January 13, 2023.

Manlugay waits for his coworker outside his home in San Juan, La Union, Philippines, January 13, 2023.

A rescued turtle recovers in a basin at CURMA’s center in San Juan, La Union, Philippines, December 19, 2022.

Nets protect the nests of olive ridley turtles in CURMA’s hatchery in San Juan, La Union, Philippines, December 19, 2022.

Baby olive ridley sea turtles are gathered in a basin minutes after being born at CURMA’s hatchery in San Juan, La Union, Philippines, January 12, 2023.

Spectators watch as olive ridley sea turtle hatchlings make their way to the sea in San Juan, La Union, Philippines, January 12, 2023.

Boats are seen docked along the shore at the beach in Bacnotan, La Union, Philippines, January 12, 2023.

Tourists dine and drink at the restaurants on the beach in San Juan, La Union, Philippines, January 12, 2023.

People walk along the shore at the beach in San Juan, La Union province, Philippines, December 20, 2022.

The Wider Image
Photography and reporting: Eloisa Lopez
Writing: Karen Lema
Photo editing: Kezia Levitas
Text editing: Clarence Fernandez
Design: Marta Montana Gomez