Turtle population on oceans is alleviating so that it is essential to educate young generation how to preserve turtles. Noticing the circumstance, students of International Program of Governmental Studies of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (IGOV-UMY) and American students visited turtle conservancy in Baru Beach Bantul Yogyakarta on Friday (16/10).

They discussed and learned how to conserve turtles starting from incubation, growing, to releasing to an ocean. “As long as incubating, the turtle will be released to maintain their natural characteristics,” elucidated Mbah Munawir, a supervisor of conservancy community.

In the discussion, an American student Kate queried how to detect whether or not the turtles remain alive when released on an ocean. Mbah Munawir explained that the turtles are marked with Indonesian conservancy code on their wings so that if they go to Australia or East areas of Indonesia, turtle conservancy community will find them. “Although we have never got any confirmation of the condition yet, by the code, the turtles can be detected wherever they move,” stated Mbah Munawir.

The American students looked enthusiastic about touching the turtles. Kate expressed that the turtles must be preserved and must be brought to their habitat. Hence, both Indonesian and American young generation ought to care of them so that the next generation may notice the existence of the turtles.

Additionally, IGOV students were proud of being a facilitator for American students to acquaint how to converse turtle in Indonesia. “This is a good occasion for us to display how to preserve turtles. In fact, the American students live in a city so that they barely notice nature like we have in Jogja and Indonesia,” told Adibah, the fifth semester student of IGOV.