The coastal area of Pantai Trisik in Bantul, Yogyakarta, is renowned for its efforts in conserving the sea turtle species Lepidochelys olivacea through ecotourism. Visitors can release Olive Ridley turtles on the beach while enjoying the coastal scenery and nearby cuisine. However, it should be noted that the conservation site at Banaran village has been damaged by coastal erosion, and not all turtle eggs are achieving hatch rates above 90 percent.
“We are assisting the relocation of the Konservasi Penyu Abadi so that they can improve hatching and thereby improve survival rates, thus preserving the genetic reservoir of the Olive Ridley turtles, which are part of our biodiversity,” said Dr. Yudhi Ratna Nugraheni, a teaching staff member at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Gadjah Mada (FKH UGM), on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
Dr. Nugraheni and a student team from FKH UGM relocated the turtle-conservation site to a fish-auction location farther from the shoreline, where facilities remain inadequate.
In addition to providing infrastructure, Dr. Nugraheni and the team initiated the use of IoT-based thermoregulators.
“So later, the volunteers can monitor the temperature in the hatchery even from home,” she added.
According to Dr. Nugraheni, the facility’s construction was prompted by the community’s limited finances, which relied solely on visitor donations when turtles were released, provided visitors wanted to participate.
“They only receive donations when the turtles are released into the sea. If visitors want to participate, then they hold the donation,” she explained.
Furthermore, the percentage of turtle egg hatching does not reach 90 percent.
This fact motivated Dr. Nugraheni to step in and support the conservation effort.
“Because the handlers were not animal‐health professionals and had no experience in wildlife conservation. So sometimes they don’t even know why suddenly all the hatchlings are sick, then all die,” she explained.
The use of this thermoregulator technology is expected to reduce mortality among the turtles.
“And then for the next year, we hope we will have a device to regulate humidity automatically,” Dr. Nugraheni clarified.
This community-empowerment program also engages two key partners: Konservasi Penyu Abadi Trisik, as the turtle-conservation driver, and the Kelompok Tani Sumber Rejeki farmer group, focusing on the development of organic fertilizers.
The synergy with these partners is expected to strengthen program sustainability while broadening benefits for the Banaran community.
Together with a team from Universitas Tidar, Dr. Nugraheni, as project leader, also developed the economic potential in the Banaran model village by converting livestock manure into compost fertilizer, a low-cost alternative fertilizer accessible to the broader community.
She added that the fertilizer production already exists, but only on a small scale.
Another challenge was that this fertilizer actually caused weed pests around the crops to grow vigorously.
“So yesterday we collaborated with Untidar. We added a decomposer in the form of mycorrhizal fungi. Later, the fertilizer is processed and packaged for distribution. We added mycorrhiza to act as a sort of natural predator of the weeds,” Dr. Nugraheni explained.
According to Dr. Nugraheni, this service program integrates two crucial aspects: environmental conservation through sea turtle protection and community economic improvement through the marketing of organic fertilizer via digital strategies.
She believes these two fields can create a sustainable empowerment model relevant to the needs of coastal society.
Not limited to these two programs, Dr. Nugraheni disclosed that her service team also assists the community in coastal disaster mitigation by planting coastal pandan (Pandanus) as an erosion control measure, which will later collaborate with the UGM Swimming Student Activity Unit for mangrove planting.
Through this program, Banaran village aims to strengthen its identity as a competitive coastal village by integrating conservation, community empowerment, and digital technology to achieve sustainable development.
Author: Jelita Agustine
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Lintang Andwyna
Photographs: Wikipedia and FKH UGM