Morocco

Sea turtle work in Morocco was initiated in 1999 by Manjula Tiwari with surveys of the coastline. Loggerhead Juveniles and sub-adults loggerheads are the most common species and age classes encountered either stranded on the beach or in the fisheries. Sea turtles in Moroccan waters originate from several nesting populations such as North America, Cape Verde, and the Mediterranean, indicating that the accidental capture of sea turtles in the waters of northwestern Africa is likely impacting various nesting populations in the wider Atlantic as well as the Mediterranean. Therefore, evaluating and mitigating the mortality of sea turtles in Morocco and creating greater awareness for their protection are at the heart of this project.  Efforts have been focused on recruiting and training fishermen to collect data on turtles caught in their fishing gear. To further promote these efforts, the NGO, Association pour la protection des Tortues Marines de Maroc (ATOMM) was co-founded in 2008 with colleagues at the Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, Faculty of Science, Tetouan, and is dedicated to sea turtle conservation and research in Morocco.

Local partners: Association pour la Protection des Tortues Marines au Maroc (ATOMM); Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, Faculty of Science, Tetouan; L’Institut National de Recherche Halieutique

Mauritania

This country hosts an important foraging ground for green turtles in the eastern Atlantic at Banc d’Arguin. The French NGO, Chélonée, has indicated that hundreds of turtles are killed every year; many are accidentally captured by the numerous trawlers in these waters while hundreds are intentionally captured by the local fishermen from the Imraguen tribe and by fishermen from other African countries fishing in these waters. Ocean Ecology Network’s role is to provide Chélonée scientific and technical support to address bycatch and intentional take in-water. (Photo: J.Fretey)

Local partner: Chélonée, France

Cabo Verde

The archipelago of Cabo Verde supports one of the largest loggerhead nesting populations in the world and the most significant loggerhead rookery in the eastern Atlantic. We collaborate with local partners to address the exploitation of turtle meat and eggs, sand mining, fisheries bycatch, and intentional take in-water; to conduct education and awareness programs, to effectively monitor and manage the nesting beaches, and to identify and implement research projects.

Manjula Tiwari created the Cape Verde Sea Turtle Network (now known as TAOLA). TAOLA liaises with the government and local authorities and hosts a National Workshop annually that convenes NGOs, local universities, the Ministry of the Environment, and relevant institutions, ministries, and authorities (fisheries, tourism, police, maritime police, and the army) to discuss sea turtle conservation in the country.

Local partners: Projecto Biodiversidade—Sal; Natura 2000—Boa Vista; BIOS-CV—Boa Vista; Turtle Foundation—Boa Vista; Maio Biodiversity Foundation—Maio

Sierra Leone

Award recipient of the Tusk Award 2024 presented by HRH Prince William, the Reptile and Amphibian Program in Sierra Leone has made significant strides in engaging local communities in conservation efforts. Through a community-centered approach, the program has successfully garnered support for various initiatives, including the release of captured turtles and the monitoring and protection of nesting beaches.

Key elements of this initiative include providing essential resources such as a reliable water supply, establishing an education center, and creating facilities for local fishermen, including an office and generator. These efforts not only promote conservation but also enhance the livelihoods of local stakeholders.

The program has been actively intensifying its conservation initiatives and expanding its outreach along the coastline and nearby offshore islands to reduce the exploitation of sea turtles. Among its goals are training workshops for local residents, who are employed to safeguard the turtles and oversee crucial nesting areas. Additionally, the project focuses on assessing accidental captures of sea turtles within artisanal fisheries, thus ensuring a comprehensive strategy for the protection of these vulnerable species.

Local partner: Reptile and Amphibian Program-Sierra Leone (RAP-SL)

Liberia

As in Sierra Leone, the objectives of these projects are also to train and hire locals to monitor the beaches and safeguard the females and nests, and to provide benefits to the local communities in return for their conservation efforts. Community members are also trained to evaluate sea turtle bycatch in the local fisheries.

Local partners:
— Save My Future (SAMFU) Foundation 
— Sea Turtle Watch

São Tomé

The goal of the project in São Tomé is to protect and monitor important nesting beaches, engage local communities in sea turtle conservation, help create alternative, non-consumptive uses of sea turtles, build the capacity of the local stakeholders to manage their sea turtle population, and to promote the social, economic and ecological value and benefits of sea turtles locally.

Local partner: Programa Tâto

Watch Hipólito Lima Tusk Conservation Award video

Gabon

Gabon supports one of the largest leatherback nesting beaches in the world. We are working with the  Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership to monitor sand temperatures over time at the different beaches to look at the impacts of climate change on sex ratios. Manjula Tiwari initiated discussions and workshops about Turtle Excluder Devices and Onboard Observer Programs with the government of Gabon. These initiatives have now grown into established national programs.

Local partner: Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership

Angola

Angola is considered the southernmost nesting limit for leatherbacks, olive ridleys, and green turtles in the eastern Atlantic. Projeto Kitabanga has undertaken extensive monitoring of the coastline through aerial and ground surveys and has established several permanent nesting beach monitoring sites along the coast. Manjula Tiwari participated in some of the aerial surveys of the coastline using military helicopters and provides scientific and technical support to the project.

Local partner: Projeto Kitabanga

Namibia

Nesting is assumed to be rare along the Namibian coastline. In recent years, there has been growing evidence that leatherbacks from several globally significant nesting populations in the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean use Namibian waters as important foraging grounds and migratory routes probably because of the abundance of jellyfish in these waters. Juvenile green turtles found in Namibian waters and in the Cunene River are suspected to originate from beaches in the Indian Ocean. The impact on sea turtles by longlines and mid-water trawls in Namibian waters is assumed to be relatively high. Projects to better understand and conserve leatherbacks and green turtles in Namibian waters are in development.

Local partner: The Namibian Dolphin Project

Oman

Masirah Island, Oman, supports one of the largest loggerhead nesting beaches in the world. The objective of this project is to help promote an effective nesting beach monitoring program and provide continued scientific support to understand and quantify loggerhead bycatch in the waters around Masirah Island. Additionally, inter-nesting movements and habitats, post-nesting movements and habitats and foraging grounds of these loggerheads, and potential interaction zones with fisheries activities are studied by deploying satellite transmitters on nesting loggerheads on Masirah and Al-Hallaniyat Islands. A study to evaluate and increase hatchling production on Masirah’s beaches is being developed.

Local partners: Environment Society of Oman; The Environment Authority in Oman; Five Oceans Environmental Services

Bangladesh

The Marine Alliance Project was visited in 2018. The trip focused on the Cox’s Bazar region where most of the nesting takes place in the country. Several project sites were visited along the mainland coast from Cox’s Bazar town to Teknaf, as well as on St. Martin Island, Cherra Islands, and Sonadia and Hasirchar Islands to survey the beaches and review the hatcheries and in-situ nest protection. At meetings with community members and fishermen, the nesting beach and bycatch work was discussed.

Local partner: Marinelife Alliance

India

In 2016, five sea turtle projects were visited on behalf of USFWS:
— Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra—Maharashtra
— Prakuti Nature Club—Gujarat
— Dakshin Foundation—Odisha
— TREE Foundation—Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu
— Students Sea Turtle Network—Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Indonesia – Papua

Leatherback populations in the Pacific are designated as critically endangered, and the two index beaches in the Abun region of Papua Barat, Indonesia, Jamursba-Medi and Wermon, are considered to host the most robust leatherback nesting population remaining in the Pacific and 75% of the nesting in the Western Pacific. However, this population has also declined significantly. The overarching goal of this project is to provide scientific and technical support to local colleagues to develop and implement effective management strategies to maximize hatchling production in collaboration with the local communities that own the beaches. (watch the video)

Local partner: Abun Leatherback Project – State University of Papua

Cambodia

Surveys of the mainland coastline from the Vietnam border to the Thai border by Cambodia by Flora and Fauna International-Cambodia (FFI) colleagues and Manjula Tiwari revealed that nesting is either very rare or non-existent on the mainland today. Nevertheless, in-water accidentally captures by fishermen continue to occur. Therefore, the goal of the project has been to evaluate and minimize bycatch, increase local and national awareness and understanding about sea turtles, continue surveying potential beaches for signs of nesting, and improve coordination and efforts to implement the National Sea Turtle Action Plan. A first regional training workshop was organized in Cambodia in October-November 2018 to build local capacity and strengthen trans-boundary collaborations among sea turtle projects funded by the USFWS in Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

Local partner: Flora and Fauna International - Cambodia

Myanmar

Green turtle and olive ridley nesting numbers have declined from thousands of nesting females per year to a few nesting females per year and hawksbill that once nested in the hundreds are now considered near extinction on Myanmar’s beaches. Training workshops are organized throughout Myanmar to help build an effective national network for sea turtle projects and partners in collaboration with NGOs and the government.

Local partner: Flora and Fauna International - Myanmar

Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands support some of the most important leatherback nesting sites remaining in the Western Pacific. Local consumption of turtles and eggs is believed to have drastically reduced nesting populations over the last few decades. Working with local partners, the goal is to protect leatherbacks and promote leatherback nesting beach conservation and management through the engagement of the local communities near these beaches.

Local partners: The Nature Conservancy; Solomon Islands Community Conservation Partnership; Conservation International; Wildlife Conservation Society