Libaran Island
lies on the north-eastern coast of Sabah, about 45 minutes boat ride from Sandakan and five minutes away from the main islands of Sabah’s Turtle Island Park. Libaran island support about 450 inhabitants whose main livelihood being fishing and boat making. Sea turtles are known to come ashore and lay their eggs on the island.
Through the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Sabah Wildlife Department, a turtle conservation program has been set up on the island. The program includes creating awareness for the locals and visitors on the conservation value of sea turtles, undertaking research projects with the goal of better understanding the life cycle of sea turtles of Libaran island area and to make available research programs on sea turtle for international and local students.
Friend Of Sea Turtles Education and Research (FOSTER) was duly set up with the above objectives.
Since 2011, FOSTER together with Trekkers Lodge Sdn Bhd, has sponsored 12 local villagers to undergo a Honorary Wildlife Warden course and subsequently provided employment to them to take care of the sea turtle hatchery, Taman Hadiah. In 2021, FOSTER moved the hatchery to a new location and constructed a new hatchery, Aquagoat Sea Turtle Hatchery, named after the cryptocurrency company, Aquagoat Finance which sponsored the construction cost.
Turtle landings on the island have seen a marked increased and since November 2011. To-date, the project has released more than 43,000 sea turtles into the Sulu Seas
The sea turtle conservation program has always been inclusive for the residents of Libaran island. FOSTER is working with the villagers to clean up Libaran shore line, bringing the visitors to visit the community and participate in several community initiatives.
For these works, Walai Penyu Conservation Park has won the Best Tourism Product 2019 by Sabah Tourism Board, the ASEAN Sustainable Tourism Awards 2022 by Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia and the Gold Award for Conservation Destination 2022 by Malaysia Tourism Council. Do join us for this conservation journey.
For more information, please contact your reliable tour agent.
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