Conservation efforts should take on an integrated approach to maximize effectiveness. A single approach on its own has its limitations and is unable to be fully effective in conserving sea turtles. As such, conservation efforts need to involve the participation of multiple stakeholders so that different strategies can be utilized. More importantly, conservation efforts need to examine the underlying multi-dimensional root causes of a decline in sea turtle population.

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Community management should ideally be combined with economic inducements such that external barriers to action, for example financial considerations, are lowered and this would also in turn make conservation efforts sustainable in the long term. Education can serve to provide information regarding conservation and this lowers the knowledge barriers within individuals. Since education is unable to influence changes in attitudes and behavior when the induced behavior is incompatible with people’s ethics and religious values, this would then require the intervention of religious leaders to evoke changes in people’s ethics and values. Thus, the approach to conservation requires a comprehensive strategy that addresses all elements which obstruct changes in behavior (Hitipeuw & Pet-Soede, 2004).

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In examining the case study of Tasikmalaya, West Java, it is seen that the conservation of sea turtles takes on the semblance of an integrated approach. The approach to conservation involves both education and community management which is supported through ecotourism. With the aid of ALAMI, a non-governmental organization, a workshop was conducted in October 2001 where information regarding sea turtles and conservation issues was disseminated to the locals. ALAMI has also helped in the establishment of a community-based information centre for sea turtle conservation program. On the part of the local community, the locals have also pledged their commitment to conserving sea turtles, reinforcing the link between information and behavior. These conservation efforts are sustained through ecotourism which generates alternative sources of income for the locals, reducing the external barriers to action. As such, the case study of Tasikmalaya could serve as a successful model of conserving sea turtles for other communities, offering hope for the conservation of sea turtles (Pilcher, 2003).