The Turtle Islands, straddling the border between the Philippines and Malaysia, host one of the largest remaining green sea turtle nesting populations in Southeast Asia. For generations, turtle eggs were harvested as a traditional food source and traded commercially, pushing nesting numbers to dangerously low levels.
In a landmark agreement, the Philippines and Malaysia established the Turtle Islands Heritage Protected Area — the world’s first transboundary marine protected area for sea turtle conservation. Local communities were engaged as partners, not adversaries, in the conservation effort.
