TRACC (Tropical Research And Conservation Centre) Borneo

TRACC (Tropical Research and Conservation Centre) Borneo believes that small actions done by millions can change the world. They know that meaningful actions for our ocean can start with each of us. Their team is filled with international volunteers and scientists working to protect and preserve the waters around the Semporna Northeast Islands, off the coast of Borneo in Malaysia. Specifically, they’re focused on creating baseline data on the local sea turtle population using photo identification and laser photogrammetry.

TRACC (Tropical Research and Conservation Centre) Borneo hopes to successfully conduct 105 surveys across the seven islands listed within one year.

Their PADI AWARE Foundation Community Grant will help, immensely.

TRACC said, "As a completely volunteer funded organization, … [w]e are extremely grateful for the grant. This will allow [us] to fully map in-water turtle population by investigating density, site fidelity and movement amongst seven islands (Semporna Northeast Islands; Pom Pom, Kalapuan, Baturua, Pandanan, Timba Timba, Bohayan, Mataking) which highlights the area as a turtle foraging hotspot requiring conservation investment and enforcement on illegal poaching at-sea.”

What does that look like in the water? The grant will fund an average of two photo identification and laser photogrammetry survey dives a week, with a team of six volunteer divers per survey. The data will be vital to prove how important the waters are to sea turtles and to propose conservation management plans to preserve and increase sea turtle populations.

“Having our volunteers dedicate their time and devotion will be rewarding knowing that they are contributing to the biggest turtle facial identification effort of the North Eastern Semporna Islands!” TRACC said.

They also want to expand their current sea turtle database – which currently contains 400 individual sea turtles – to over 1,000 in the coming year. All this data will be gathered with the intent of creating a project database to be used as a dataset for the proposed area.

“By establishing a database to be used for any management and conservation efforts, [we hope to] influence local government to increase protections due to our findings,” TRACC noted. This will be particularly useful because the region is experiencing a fast increase of tourism and development, so proper management of resources is crucial to long-term sustainability.

Once they establish their findings, TRACC also intends to host public talks on their research and the importance to Sabah. They also would like to share their learnings through articles, printed research and at big diving expos in South East Asia.

They ended with one of their core beliefs, saying, “The Ocean is one of the most beautiful places that everyone should experience. Not only now, but for the generations to come.”

Want to see more of TRACC (Tropical Research And Conservation Centre) in Action?

You can follow along with TRACC and their Population & Identification Study of Green Turtles in Borneo, on their website, Instagram, Facebook, or at https://www.padi.com/aware.