MATAKING, Oct 8 — The palm-sized green turtle hatchling flailing through the sand on a Malaysian island may seem vulnerable, but its species has emerged as a symbol of hope for wildlife conservation.
Green turtles have made the rare jump from endangered to “least concern” in global conservation rankings, a remarkable success when many species are declining.
Conservation NGO World Wildlife Fund (WWF), in its biannual Living Planet Report released Thursday, found a 73-per cent decline in the average size of monitored wildlife populations over 53 years.
But around 50 per cent of the thousands of vertebrates monitored for the report are stable or increasing.
That includes green turtles, thanks to decades of efforts including egg relocation, marine protection and trade bans.
