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Africa’s sea turtles were once among the least studied in the world, and mounting threats to their survival, such as fishing, poaching, coastal development, and pollution, still require further study and urgent attention. Today, a growing number of institutions and individuals are shedding new light on sea turtle science, and they are helping find solutions to the continent’s sea turtle and ocean conservation challenges.
Read MoreDuring more than a decade of conservation, Vamizi’s 1,500 native residents have entirely turned away from their longstanding tradition of daily turtle consumption. Though researchers celebrated the shift as a conservation success, Interviews with local residents revealed some unsettling motivations for the change in behavior…
Read MoreGlobal concern is growing about the current and future impacts of sea-level rise that will likely affect coastal property owners, beach-based economies, and sea turtle nesting beaches. Coastal erosion is bad for all those factions, yet effective long-term solutions to confront the rising tide of beach erosion are few and far between.
Read MoreMarine megafauna, such as sea turtles and manatees, provide valuable ecosystem services, and the absence of those creatures in an ecological community can lead to severe imbalance. Up to the minute data on megafauna presence and abundance are often hard to acquire. To confront that challenge, in 2015 the African Marine Mammal Conservation Organization (AMMCO)—a Cameroon-based nongovernmental organization—created the first mobile phone application, SIREN, dedicated specifically to marine megafauna data collection in West Africa.
Read MorePeople living on temperate shores are familiar with phenomena such as the salmon run, in which entire ecosystems emerge from winter hibernation, starving for nutrition and desperately waiting for the salmon to arrive. Sea turtle nesting is no different; it creates a massive nutrient pulse into otherwise nutrient-poor beach ecosystems.
Read MoreOne of the most insidious threats to sea turtles in West-Central Africa is the impact of coastal development. Two coastal towns that illustrate this phenomenon well are the megacities of Lagos, Nigeria, and Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo. More adult sea turtles and nests have been lost to direct take as urban expansion and coastal settlement in those cities have brought increased light, ocean pollution and vessel traffic.
Read MoreGhanaians are extremely proud of their country and show their infectious passion for tradition through their music and dance, their festivals, and even their livelihoods. Fishing communities in Ghana also respect a taboo against touching, harming, killing, or eating sea turtles.
Read MoreIt is no secret that the Hawaiian green turtle population is recovering. The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List classified the population as “least concern” in 2012, and the 2015 Endangered Species Act global status review concluded that Hawaii’s population of approximately 4,000 nesting females per year was increasing at a rate of 5.4 percent annually. The success of the Hawaiian green turtle, however, means that local human communities now face some new and unexpected challenges.
Read MoreThe invention of small, durable, low-cost satellite transmitters in the 1980s enabled scientists to accurately track the movements of sea turtles worldwide. Since then, the use of satellite transmitters has proliferated, and they generate data that have revolutionized our understanding of sea turtle ecology and played a vital role in conservation efforts. We have reaped many benefits from using satellite transmitters; however, their potentially detrimental effects often remain overlooked.
Read MoreThe recent collapse of a tailings dam at a Samarco ore mine in the municipality of Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil, is now being called the worst environmental disaster in the country’s history. In the state of Espírito Santo at the mouth of the Rio Doce, pollutants ultimately despoiled globally important leatherback and loggerhead nesting beaches.
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