Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 1

Marine Turtle Conservation Act

Activities Report for the Wildlife Without Borders - Species Programs

Six Year Report FY 2005-FY 2010

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Working with People to Conserve Nature 2

In Memoriam

Sam D. Hamilton, 

Former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director

Sam D. Hamilton worked for the U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) 

for more than 30 years, beginning 

when he was 15 years old working as a 

Youth Conservation Corps member on 

the Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge 

in Mississippi. 

In 1998, when Sam was serving as 

regional director of the Southeast 

Region, responsibility for USFWS 

international marine turtle activities 

was transferred from the Southwest 

Region to the Southeast Region. 

At the time, the program involved 

three projects in Mexico with limited 

funding, and Sam was eager to visit the Mexican Pacific Coast firsthand to learn 

about critical leatherback and black turtle nesting populations and the conservation 

issues facing these charismatic species. Within the first year of assuming this new 

responsibility, he was on the ground in Mexico where he quickly came to appreciate the 

difficult logistical and practical challenges faced when carrying out conservation work 

in remote areas with impoverished local communities living on the land. 

Sam saw how much could be accomplished to conserve globally important marine 

turtle populations with very little funding, and immediately got behind an effort to 

promote an international marine turtle funding initiative in subsequent years. When 

that failed to get support through the budget process, he supported efforts to create a 

dedicated fund for international marine turtle conservation. 

Thanks to his unfailing support, and that of many others, the Marine Turtle 

Conservation Act (MTCA) of 2004 was signed into law in July 2004. Nurturing the 

development of an international marine turtle program that began in one country 

with just three projects and has today grown to 40 MTCA projects for critical nesting 

populations in more than 30 countries is testimony to Sam’s broad vision and concern 

for the planet. 

Right: Former 

USFWS Director Sam 

Hamilton and a nesting 

leatherback turtle at St. 

Croix NWR, USVI.

Credit: USFWS
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 3

Working with People to

Conserve Nature 

The USFWS Wildlife Without Borders programs promote, facilitate, and support 

vital conservation efforts across the globe in order to preserve the planet’s rich 

diversity of wildlife for all the citizens of the Earth and for generations to come. In 

recognition of the unprecedented threats to wildlife of global significance, our species 

programs save some of the world’s fastest disappearing and most treasured animals in 

their natural habitats. 

On behalf of the American people, the U.S. Congress passed the Marine Turtle

Conservation Act (MTCA) in 2004. The legislation was enacted to ensure the long-term 

survival of these endangered species by assisting in the conservation of marine turtles 

and their nesting habitats in other countries.

The USFWS has the privilege of administering and implementing the MTCA to 

support on-the-ground conservation initiatives on behalf of the world’s imperiled 

marine turtles. This report highlights the Wildlife Without Borders Marine Turtle 

Conservation Fund, emphasizing fiscal years 2005-2010.

The following pages provide an overview of the many successes of the MTCA as well 

as the remaining challenges to marine turtle conservation. The report includes project 

highlights to demonstrate how USFWS and its partners are making a lasting impact 

on marine turtle conservation. By protecting nesting beaches and nesting populations, 

building capacity and working closely with local communities and governments, 

USFWS is implementing conservation initiatives on behalf of the world’s endangered 

marine turtles. It is a responsibility that USFWS and its many conservation partners 

take very seriously to help save these ancient mariners of the sea. 

Herb Raffaele

Chief, Division of International 

Conservation

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Below: Soldiers are trained 

to patrol and monitor 

beaches in Cape Verde to 

prevent poaching.

Credit: Turtle Foundation-USA
Working with People to Conserve Nature 4

Table of Contents

In Memoriam 2

Working with People to Conserve Nature 

Foreword 3 

Status of Marine Turtle Conservation 5 

How It Works: Marine Turtle Conservation Act 7

Global Status and Threats to Marine Turtles 8 

Marine Turtle Conservation Projects by Species 9

Status and Conservation Challenges by Species 10

Marine Turtle Conservation Act (MTCA) Success Stories 16

Central America 16

West Africa 19

Capacity Building 23

Training and Exchanges 23

Networks 26 

Governments, NGOs, Community Based Organizations, Universities 27

Civil Society, Communities 29

Policy, Frameworks, Processes 30 

 

Appendix I: Program Partners 2005-2010 32

Appendix II: List of Projects 2005-2010 35

Acknowledgements 50

Cover Photos (Left to Right): Loggerhead returns to the Arabian sea by USFWS, Hawksbill turtle 

on Chiriquí beach, Panama, by Sea Turtle Conservancy, Olive ridley nesting on beach by Marinelife 

Alliance, Green turtle nesting on at Ras al Hadd in Oman by USFWS and Leatherback turtle 

nesting on a beach by Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership. 
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 5

For more than 120 million years, marine 

turtles roamed the seas fulfilling their 

ecological roles and evolutionary destinies unimpeded by any serious threats 

to their existence. They survived and 

flourished even when the great dinosaurs 

were vanishing from the earth about 65 

million years ago. 

As recently as 3 million years ago, marine 

turtles were still diverging into the seven 

species we now recognize during our 

relatively short human history. Archaeological evidence demonstrates that our 

earliest interactions with and use of these 

marine species for food was in Kwazulu, 

South Africa, in the Middle Stone Age, 

between 49,000 and 50,000 BP. We were 

one of many predator species during most 

of human history posing little overall 

threat to marine turtle populations. 

This began to change in the 1400s, when 

European exploration brought large 

fleets of ships and their crews to the 

Western Hemisphere. Nesting turtles 

in the Caribbean were easy sources of 

fresh meat and, even better, the turtles 

could be kept alive on deck for months to 

ensure the availability of fresh meat for 

the fleets while they traveled the seas in 

search of new lands and treasures. The 

first evidence of overexploitation was the 

decimation of green turtle nesting populations in the Cayman Islands, the largest 

known nesting site in the Caribbean at 

that time. 

In the 21st century, the threats to marine 

turtle survival are even greater because 

of the harvesting of nesting populations 

by coastal inhabitants around the world. 

Six of the seven marine turtles species 

are listed in threatened categories by the 

World Conservation Union: the green 

turtle (Chelonia mydas), the leatherback 

(Dermochelys coriacea), the loggerhead 

(Caretta caretta), the hawksbill (Eret

mochelys imbricata), the Kemp’s ridley 

(Lepidochelys kempii) and the olive 

ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea).

Marine turtles today face a variety of 

conservation challenges, including overexploitation for meat and eggs, targeted 

fisheries, global demand for exquisite 

jewelry made from the shells of species 

such as the hawksbill, and an everincreasing trawl, long-line and gill-net 

(stationary entanglement nets) fisheries 

that accidentally capture and kill tens of 

thousands of marine turtles each year. 

The Kemp’s ridley was nearly driven to 

extinction in the past century, and now 

the leatherback is in imminent danger 

of being eliminated from the Pacific. 

Recognizing the severe threats to marine 

turtle species, six of the seven species 

were listed as either Endangered or 

Threatened in 1978 under the authority 

of the U.S. Endangered Species Act by 

USFWS and National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), who share responsibility for the conservation of marine turtles. 

USFWS is responsible for conservation 

actions on nesting beaches while NMFS 

is reponsible for conservation in the marine environment (i.e. fisheries by-catch).

USFWS has demonstrated that with 

international collaboration and long-term 

commitment to address threats both on 

the nesting beaches and in the marine 

environment, species and nesting populations at the brink of extinction can be 

recovered. 

Status of Marine Turtle

Conservation

Credit: Sea Turtle Conservancy

The three largest global green 

turtle nesting colonies occur at 

Tortuquero, Costa Rica, Raine 

Island, Australia and Ras al Hadd, 

Oman.
Working with People to Conserve Nature 6

For example, USFWS established 

a partnership with the Government 

of Mexico in the late 1970s at a time 

when the Kemp’s ridley had only a 

few hundred nesting females. After 

nearly three decades of sustained effort between both countries to protect 

nesting females and eggs from poaching 

as well as the implementation of Turtle 

Excluder Devices in shrimp trawl fisheries, this species has made a remarkable 

comeback, with more than 21,000 nests 

documented in Mexico in 2009. 

In recognition of the growing threats to 

marine turtles, their migratory nature 

(which requires multinational conservation efforts) and the need for a dedicated 

funding source for international marine 

turtle conservation efforts, Congress 

passed the Marine Turtle Conservation 

Act in 2004. Prior to then, a lack of longterm dedicated marine turtle conservation funding constrained USFWS’ 

international efforts to Mexico. As part 

of Wildlife Without Borders, the MTCA 

has enabled USFWS to take an international leadership role and support more 

than 40 projects in over 30 countries. 

Marine turtles know no political boundaries and do not consider the nuances 

of international politics. However, their 

cause brings countries together to 

address issues like marine fisheries 

exploitation, oceanic pollution and coastal 

development. These issues directly affect 

not only marine turtle populations but 

also the well-being of human populations. 

USFWS is deeply committed to longterm international marine turtle conservation efforts where it provides 

leadership and facilitation to the public, 

governmental, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private partnerships 

to recover marine turtle populations for 

their own intrinsic value, as well as for 

their important contributions to healthy, 

functioning marine ecosystems.

This report highlights the range and 

significance of these projects since the 

inception of the program in 2005 and 

demonstrates the many successes and 

future possibilities to save these truly 

magnificent creatures. 

Right: Green marine 

turtle swims along 

seagrass bed, its primary 

foraging habitat.

Credit: Chelonee
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 7

Congressional Mandate 

and Program Mission

Assist in the conservation of 

marine turtles and the nesting 

habitats of marine turtles in 

foreign countries. 

Goal 

Provide leadership and support for 

conservation efforts to ensure existence 

of all marine turtle species, viability of 

major nesting populations and genetic 

diversity of nesting populations in the 

Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

Objectives

We will accomplish the overall goal 

through support of the following objectives:

1. Develop regional capacity building 

programs to train a cadre of regional, 

national and local conservationists and 

community members to carry out nesting 

beach monitoring and nest protection 

programs.

2. Provide technical support for MTCAfunded on-the-ground conservation 

projects to ensure local implementers 

conduct the most scientifically sound and 

effective nesting beach programs.

3. Support development and implementation of standardized surveys of nesting 

populations to monitor long-term population trends of index populations for each 

species within each ocean basin.

How It Works: Marine 

Turtle Conservation Act

4. Provide support for scientific studies 

including genetics, telemetry and tagging 

to examine distinct nesting populations 

for each species within each ocean basin 

as well as their relationship to mixed 

populations on foraging grounds. 

5. Support long-term studies to assess 

potential effects of climate change on 

nesting habitats, hatchling sex ratios, 

hatching success, and hatchling and juvenile dispersal to developmental habitats.

6. Support cooperation and capacity 

building of regional and international 

bodies such as the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles, the Indian Ocean 

South East Asia Marine Turtle Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and 

the International Sea Turtle Society. 

7. Partner with governmental marine 

resource institutions to develop their 

capacity and motivation to engage with 

and create marine turtle conservation 

programs within their respective 

countries, as well as develop and implement policies addressing threats to 

marine turtle populations within their 

country.

Six of the seven species of 

marine turtles are listed as 

Critically Endangered, 

Endangered or Threatened by 

the World Conservation Union 

for the Conservation of Nature. 

Only the flatback turtle is listed 

Credit: Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership

as data deficient.
Working with People to Conserve Nature 8

8. Support national and regional outreach 

programs to increase awareness and 

support for marine turtle conservation 

tailored to specific local, national and 

regional issues. 

9. Support nascent marine turtle projects 

and programs in developing countries, 

with special attention paid to community 

development dimensions and requirements for successful on-the-ground 

conservation.

10. Identify and nurture potential conservation leaders within countries and 

regions through training opportunities 

and project support. 

11. Continually assess and prioritize 

funding support to focus on the most 

important global and regional important 

nesting populations and those nesting 

populations most at risk.

12. Support development and expansion 

of community-based nesting beach 

projects linking conservation programs 

with near-shore fisheries bycatch issues 

that affect local and regional nesting 

populations.

Global Status and 

Threats:

How is the MTCA used to 

strategically address and 

maximize conservation 

impact?

Fisheries bycatch from long-line, gill-net 

and trawl fisheries is the number one 

threat to marine turtle populations in the 

world’s oceans and seas. It is the most 

complex and difficult threat to address 

because of the vast numbers of artisanal 

fishermen and the proliferation of industrial fisheries fleets in the past several 

decades. 

In addition, poaching of nesting turtles 

and their eggs is an ubiquitous threat on 

undeveloped nesting beaches. In many 

countries, 100 percent egg harvest often 

occurs on beaches if conservation 

projects are not in place with local 

communities. 

Furthermore, coastal development and 

the associated light pollution, sea walls 

and other structures to protect property 

degrade or destroy marine turtle nesting 

habitat. Predation from native and feral 

predators can cause high levels of nest 

loss on many nesting beaches. Marine 

debris can also cause accidental injuries 

and mortality with turtles in the marine 

environment. 

$0

$500,000

$1,000,000

$1,500,000

$2,000,000

$2,500,000

$3,000,000

$3,500,000

$4,000,000

$4,500,000

 FY

2005

 FY

2006

 FY

2007

FY

2008

FY

2009

FY

2010

$ Requested

$ Awarded

MTCA Project 

Proposal 

Requests 

Fiscal Years (FY) 

2005-2010

$5,654.00

$8,610.00

Grant Funds

Matching Funds

Grant and Matching 

Funds Fiscal Years (FY) 

2006-2010*

*Please note that FY 2005 grant and matching 

funds data was unavailable.
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 9

All marine turtle species are under 

threat, but because each species has its 

own unique life history, adaptations to 

particular habitats and value for human 

use, the degree of threat and population status vary among species and even 

among populations of the same species in 

different ocean basins. Given the limited 

funding, USFWS weighs these factors to 

ensure conservation efforts are focused 

on the most globally significant and 

threatened populations such as those 

important to breeding and migration

as well as those populations facing the 

greatest threats from poaching, overharvesting of eggs, beach degradation, light 

pollution and fisheries bycatch. 

Other important elements of the MTCA 

program include: education; outreach; 

integration of conservation efforts to 

address coastal bycatch off and near 

nesting beaches; identification and 

support of emerging conservation 

leaders and cross-fertilization between 

regions and projects.

Marine Turtle Conservation Projects by Species

 FY 2005-FY 2010 
Working with People to Conserve Nature 10

Loggerhead Turtles 

Nine discrete nesting populations of 

loggerheads occur globally in temperate and subtropical latitudes of all three 

ocean basins. The two largest populations 

in the world nest in the southeastern 

United States and in Oman. 

Together, these populations make up 

80 to 90 percent of the global population. Both are in decline and face major 

threats from fisheries bycatch and development on nesting beaches.

The loggerhead may be the most globally 

endangered marine turtle species because of its natural behavior, which places 

every life stage of the turtle in direct 

contact with commercial fisheries in the 

open ocean and in the coastal habitats.

Five of the remaining seven populations, 

while much smaller, are also in decline 

and face severe threats to its nesting 

beaches from the direct slaughter of 

nesting females on the beaches of Cape 

Verde to the beach armoring and degradation of the most important nesting 

beaches in Japan.

Below: Loggerhead 

marine turtle nesting

 in Oman.

Credit: USFWS

United States and in Oman. 

Loggerhead Marine Turtle Range and Globally 

Significant Nesting Populations
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 11

Hawksbill Turtles

Hawksbill turtles are distributed 

throughout tropical waters in all ocean 

basins, nesting on island pocket beaches 

or longer mainland beaches, generally 

high on the beach and often under scrub 

vegetation. Foraging on sponges and 

other invertebrates on hard bottoms or 

coral reefs, hawksbills are most noted 

for their beautiful shells, which are used 

to craft exquisite jewelry. Demand for 

these products resulted in the depletion 

and collapse of many nesting populations 

throughout Asia and the Caribbean in 

the 19th century, and it wasn’t until 1993 

that a ban on international trade was 

finally honored by all members of the 

Convention on the International Trade in 

Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and 

Flora (CITES). While legal international 

trade has been curtailed, illegal trade 

continues on a smaller scale and most 

populations in the Pacific and Caribbean 

are greatly depleted from historic levels. 

Climate change poses a particularly difficult and large-scale threat to coral reefs, 

which are hawksbills’ primary foraging 

grounds, and to island nesting beaches 

as a result of sea level rise. Long-term 

sustained conservation programs on key 

nesting beaches in the Caribbean, along 

with the ban on international trade, are 

paying off and a slow but steady recovery 

of some nesting populations is evident. 

Until recently, hawkbills were thought to 

be wiped out as a nesting population in 

the East Pacific, but small nesting populations have been discovered in Mexico, 

El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, 

resulting in an urgent need for focused 

conservation.

Below: Hawksbill 

 turtle nesting on 

Chiriquí Beach in 

Panama. 

Credit: Sea Turtle Conservancy

Hawksbill Marine Turtle Range and Globally 

Significant Nesting Populations
Working with People to Conserve Nature 12

Olive Ridley Turtles

Olive ridley marine turtles are the smallest marine turtle species with the shortest known age to sexual maturity (11-12 

years). They nest around the world in 

low densities on mostly mainland nesting 

beaches within tropical latitudes. 

However, several nesting beaches in 

India, Panama, Nicaragua, Pacific Mexico 

and Costa Rica have synchronous nesting 

events called arribadas (arrivals), where 

tens of thousands of females can nest on 

several kilometers of beach over

the course of a few days. These arribada 

beaches account for over 90 percent of 

the olive ridley nesting population globally. The largest known arribadas are in 

the Mexican Pacific and are estimated to 

include up to 500,000 nesting females in a 

single event. 

While the olive ridley may be the most 

abundant marine turtle in the world, 

it faces widespread threats of bycatch 

deaths from gill-net and trawl fisheries 

throughout much of its range. It was only 

as recently as the 1990s that large arribadas from the Mexican Pacific crashed or 

were extirpated because of their unsustainable harvest for leather and meat. 

Fortunately, Mexico now fully protects 

turtles, but only one of the arribada 

nesting beaches is showing any signs of 

recovery. 

Below: Olive ridley 

nests on beach in 

Bangladesh.

Credit: Marinelife Alliance

Olive Ridley Marine Turtle Range and Globally 

Significant Nesting Populations
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 13

Green Turtles

Green turtles nest extensively throughout tropical and subtropical regions. As 

herbivores, they are dependent on sea 

grass beds and algae, a diet that also 

makes them the most favored marine 

turtle for eating. Consequently, they 

have been heavily exploited historically 

for meat and eggs, and they continue to 

be hunted for meat in the South Pacific, 

Asia, Africa and Nicaragua. The East Pacific green turtle, also known as the black 

turtle because of its darker shell color, 

was once considered a separate species 

but is now considered to be simply a distinct nesting population of green turtle. 

Due to the large number of green turtle 

nesting populations relative to other 

marine turtle species, the USFWS determined that it would dedicate the limited 

resources of the MTCA to support the 

recovery of the East Pacific green turtle, 

specifically the nesting population in 

Mexico.

This population historically numbered in 

the tens of thousands on two main nesting beaches of Colola and Maruata, but it 

was reduced to 2,000-3,000 nests annually in the 1980s from overexploitation 

of eggs and nesting turtles as well as the 

harvesting of immature and adult turtles 

on their foraging grounds. 

Below Green turtle 

nesting at Ras al Hadd 

in Oman. 

Credit: USFWS

Green Marine Turtle Range and Globally 

Significant Nesting Populations
Working with People to Conserve Nature 14

Leatherback Turtles

Leatherbacks are primarily tropical 

beach nesters that require beaches 

with deep-water approaches because of 

their massive size (nesting females can 

weigh over 500 lbs). They feed almost 

exclusively on jellyfish and embark 

on long-distance migrations between 

nesting beaches and foraging grounds 

where they feed on jellyfish 

concentrations in colder-water 

latitudes. The largest nesting population in the world 

once occurred on Mexico’s 

Pacific coast, with an estimated 

150,000 nests laid annually in 

the early 1980s.

Unfortunately, a combination 

of killing nesting females, harvesting of eggs, and bycatch in 

drift-net and long-line fisheries 

decimated the population. Now 

fewer than 1,000 nests remain 

in Mexico.

There are three remaining large nesting 

assemblages in the world. One occurs 

in the Wider Caribbean predominantly 

in French Guiana, Trinidad, Panama and 

Costa Rica with an estimated 55,000 to 

110,000 nests annually.

The second popoulation in the Western 

Pacific has also been greatly reduced due 

to exploitation of eggs and commercial 

fisheries bycatch. Fewer than 10,000 to 

12,000 nests are laid annually on their 

main nesting beaches in Indonesia, Papua 

New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. 

The other large nesting assemblage

occurs in West Africa, centered in 

Mayumba National Park, Gabon (see 

Success Stories on Page 19). This nesting 

population ranges from Sierra Leone 

south to Angola, with an estimated 36,000 

to 126,000 nests annually in Gabon alone 

based on aerial surveys between 2002 

and 2007.

Below: A leatherback 

turtle nesting on a beach. 

Credit: Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership

Leatherback Marine Turtle Range and Globally 

Significant Nesting Populations
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 15

Project Partners 

Forging multi-faceted projects with committed and competent partners is the 

underpinning for the success of MTCA 

conservation projects. The MTCA has 

enabled USFWS to link up with and expand the global network of governmental, non-governmental and community 

partners engaged in marine turtle 

conservation at the local, national, 

regional and international scales. MTCA 

partners range from locally based 

marine turtle conservation organizations 

to global wildlife conservation organizations working in multiple countries. 

Appendix I lists the many partners we 

work with on specific country 

conservation efforts and regional 

programs.

Above: Taking 

measurements of nesting 

leatherbacks on Gabon 

nesting beach. 

Credit: Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership

Left: Community 

members at work at a 

turtle hatchery in Gabon. 

Credit: Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership
Working with People to Conserve Nature 16

Success Stories

The following section highlights some of the successes achieved in marine turtle 

conservation under the MTCA from FY 2005- FY2010. This section serves as a mere 

sampling of some of the success stories achieved at a variety of geographic locations.

Recovering the 

Caribbean’s Largest 

Historic Hawksbill 

Nesting Population 

Chiriquí Beach, Panama

Background and Problem 

The tropical beaches and coral reefs 

of the Caribbean provide habitat 

for about 20 percent of the global 

hawksbill population. The current 

Caribbean population is estimated to 

include 5,000 nesting females annually. 

However, hawksbills in the Caribbean 

are greatly depleted from decades of 

overexploitation for meat and especially 

for shells, which are used to craft jewelry 

and many other ornamental products. 

Hawksbills typically nest in low densities 

on small, scattered island pocket beaches 

– often under shrub vegetation at the 

beach forest edge. Hawksbills also nest 

along long stretches of beaches on the 

mainland Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, and 

Chiriquí Beach, Panama. 

The 18 miles of Chiriquí Beach are recognized as having once hosted the largest historic nesting colony of hawksbills 

in the Caribbean, with nesting density so 

high the beach was partitioned by local 

communities into one-mile sectors where 

individual veladors (“stayers awake”) 

were given exclusive rights to harvest 

the turtles. Former veladors interviewed 

in the 1980s reported capturing as many 

as 35 to 50 hawksbills per night per mile 

in the early 1960s. Aerial and ground 

surveys in the 1980s revealed a drastic 

decline in the nesting population of up 

to 98 percent compared with nesting 

estimates in the 1950s. 

The 1960s through the 1980s were 

times of especially massive harvests of 

hawksbills for trade in turtle shells to 

meet the demand for the Bekko (turtle 

shell) industry in Japan. An estimated 

15 tons of shells per year were imported 

into Japan from the Caribbean alone 

during the period of 1970 to 1994. Even 

though hawksbill trade was forbidden 

among members of CITES during this 

period, Japan and Cuba maintained an 

exception to this ban until 1993. The 

impact of this sustained harvest on 

Caribbean hawksbills was so severe 

that just a couple hundred nests were 

being laid each year at Chiriquí Beach 

– compared to more than 10,000 annual 

nests being laid just three or four 

decades ago. Poaching of nesting females 

and eggs by local communities, poaching 

of adults and juveniles by fishermen, and 

depredation of nests by dogs continued 

as threats to the population and further 

weakened the recovery of this remnant 

nesting population.

In 2002, marine turtle experts from 

USFWS, Sea Turtle Conservancy 

(formerly Caribbean Conservation 

Corporation), Florida Fish And Wildlife 

Conservation Commission, Smithsonian 

Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and

Below: Map of Chiriquí

project sites. 

Credit: Sea Turtle Conservancy
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 17

Below: Local Ngöbe 

children line up to 

watch a satellite-tagged 

hawksbill as she returns 

to the sea. 

Credit: Sea Turtle Conservancy

Eckerd College met to discuss the 

obstacles to recovery of the Caribbean’s 

premier hawksbill nesting colony and to 

develop a coordinated plan to reverse 

the decline of this globally important 

hawksbill colony. 

This proposal was presented to 

the National Authority of Panama 

(ANAM) and the Association for the 

Conservation of the Ngöbe-Buglé 

Natural Resources (APRORENANB) 

to gain their approval and support for 

a long- term conservation program. 

A central problem was developing a 

dependable, long-term source of funding 

to support a sustained conservation 

effort. It was recognized that on-again, 

off-again conservation effort would 

undermine any hope of building support 

and involvement of the local NgöbeBuglé Indian communities, which is 

essential for a sustained recovery of 

this remote nesting colony. The project 

was spearheaded by the Sea Turtle 

Conservancy, and initial funding was 

pulled together by the USFWS and 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

On-the-Ground Impact

With passage of the MTCA, the 

project gained hope for long-term 

funding, upon which the coalition of 

NGOs, government agencies and local 

community partners could build their 

shared vision for marine turtle recovery. 

Chiriquí Beach and an associated group 

of keys and pocket nesting beaches in 

Bocas del Toro Province are remote 

and nesting is spread over a wide area. 

These geographic realities pose various 

logistical challenges to conducting 

important, standardized nesting surveys 

that allow the project to accurately 

determine nesting population trends 

and assess nesting and hatching success. 

These monitoring activities are also 

critical to identifying threats on the 

nesting beach and determining the 

success of management interventions. 

Near-shore waters can be rough, and 

project personnel take measured risks to 

carry out field operations and maintain 

the vital working partnership with local 

Ngöbe-Buglé Indian communities. 
Working with People to Conserve Nature 18

As a result of these monitoring 

activities, the project has documented 

an immediate and impressive increase in 

the number of hawksbill nests laid over 

the past seven years. This extremely 

encouraging trend is most likely because 

fewer adult turtles are being poached as 

a result of the project. Public outreach 

and engagement with the local NgöbeBuglé Indian communities has been 

measurably successful in reducing the 

poaching of nests and turtles on the 

beaches, as well as reducing the capture 

of juvenile and adult turtles at sea by 

local fishermen. The project has worked 

to address the depredation of nests by 

dogs. However, dogs raiding turtle nests 

continues to be a problem with up to 25 

percent of hawksbill clutches destroyed. 

This is not an easy issue to resolve, 

since dogs are important to community 

members for hunting and there are also 

free-roaming dogs within the community. 

The first step has been building 

awareness among the communities of the 

problem, and progress is being made on 

that front.

Results

The Chiriquí hawksbill recovery 

project exemplifies virtually all the 

components of a sustainable and 

successful conservation effort. This 

includes: collecting the best scientific 

information upon which to base 

management decisions; engaging a broad 

coalition of partners from governments, 

communities and NGOs; involving 

local stakeholders to build community 

support; using proven techniques to 

monitor the target population in order 

to measure progress and evaluate 

management interventions; and 

implementing educational awareness 

programs targeting local schools as well 

as interested members of the public at 

a national and international level. For 

these reasons, the project is not only 

making considerable headway toward its 

goals, it has also become a model marine 

turtle conservation effort that can be 

used to help build capacity and inspire 

other conservationists. 

Hawksbill turtle nests on Chiriquí beach 

have more than doubled since 2004 with 

over 900 nests recorded in 2010. This 

substantial increase is due to the in-situ 

conservation efforts and community 

outreach made possible by the MTCA. 

Right: Chiquirí Beach, 

Panama looking south. 

Credit: Sea Turtle Conservancy 

Below: Predation by 

village dogs is significant 

and is an important 

problem being addressed 

through working with 

communities. 

Credit: Sea Turtle Conservancy
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 19

Establishing a 

Conservation Program 

for the Largest Global 

Leatherback Population, 

West Africa

Background and Problem 

Four large leatherback populations 

existed in the Pacific and the Atlantic 

until the last quarter of the 20th century. 

Unfortunately, in the past three decades, 

the Pacific nesting populations have 

been decimated by poaching on nesting 

beaches and fisheries bycatch deaths in 

the marine environment.

A population that once boasted tens 

of thousands of nesting females is 

now reduced to a few hundred in the 

Eastern Pacific and a few thousand in 

the Western Pacific with limited data on 

their current conservation status. 

Fortunately, the large leatherback 

population in the Caribbean and 

Western Atlantic is robust after decades 

of conservation on the nesting beaches 

and marine environment. 

The status of the leatherback nesting 

population in West Africa is less certain, 

and before MTCA assistance there was 

mostly speculation about its size and 

status with no real population estimates 

or conservation programs in place.

Leatherbacks are the deepest diving sea turtles and 

have been recorded going as 

deep as 1.3 km in the Atlantic 

Ocean.

Credit: Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership

Below: Children 

 participate in a parade 

to raise awareness of 

turtles and the necessity 

of protecting local 

species in Gabon. 

Credit: Gabon Sea Turtle 

Partnership
Working with People to Conserve Nature 20

Leatherbacks have nested along much of 

the West Africa coast from Sierra Leone 

south to Angola, with highest nesting 

rates occurring in Gabon. However, the 

total nesting population and the impact 

of poaching and beach development 

on the turtles was not known. A few 

groups independently carried out limited 

conservation projects with sparse and 

unreliable funding, but there was little or 

no collaboration and no comprehensive 

effort to measure and document the 

size of the West Africa leatherback 

population, evaluate threats and its 

status, or develop a comprehensive 

on-the-ground effort to protect the 

species throughout its nesting range. 

On the Ground Impact

Recognizing the need to conserve 

marine turtles in the critical West 

Africa leatherback habitat, the first 

year of MTCA funding devoted $30,000 

of a $100,000 total budget to a West 

Africa leatherback initiative. The 

funding brought together NGOs and 

governmental institutions in Gabon 

to determine current on-the-ground 

initiatives, identify gaps in conservation 

and priorities, and develop a coordinated 

and comprehensive conservation 

program for leatherbacks in Gabon. 

The two-day meeting included: 

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS); 

World Wildlife Fund (WWF); Gabon 

Environment; Adventures 

Sans Frontieres; Ibonga; IUCN; Gabon 

Agency for National Parks (ANPN); 

park managers from Mayumba; Pongara 

and Loango National Parks and Gamba 

Complex; and the Gabon National 

Centre for Oceanographic Data and 

Information (CNDIO). 

The meeting established the Gabon 

Sea Turtle Partnership and a steering 

committee with responsibilities 

for assessing priorities, increasing 

communication and coordination, 

evaluating project outcomes, 

standardizing survey protocols and 

data collection, data sharing and data 

management. Additionally, working 

groups were established to focus 

on specific issues of concern such 

as health/pathologies/strandings, 

industrial fisheries and bycatch, aerial 

monitoring surveys, oil exploitation, 

pollution and logs, awareness-raising 

and environmental education, database 

management, genetics and satellite 

tracking studies. 

Right: A youngster 

participates in marine 

turtle conservation 

outreach activity. 

Below: Illegal fishing 

vesssel off the coast of 

West Africa. 

Credit both photos: Gabon Sea 

Turtle Partnership
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 21

Results

The Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership is 

part of a broader effort to conserve 

West Africa leatherbacks. As a result 

of MTCA support, aerial surveys of 

the entire Gabon coast are now flown 

annually and have documented the 

fact that Gabon hosts the largest 

nesting leatherback population in the 

world, with more than 126,000 clutches 

being recorded in peak nesting years. 

Many years of data will be required 

to establish population trends, but the 

partnership has put a program in place 

to monitor the population, assess nesting 

and hatching success on key nesting 

beaches, analyze threats, provide data 

for government action for log removal 

and expand education and outreach. 

Using MTCA funding, the USFWS has 

been able to support a regionally focused 

leatherback conservation initiative that 

also includes projects in Sierra Leone, 

Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial 

Guinea, Republic of Congo and Angola. 

As a result of substantial MTCA support 

in West Africa, the long-term fate of the 

West Africa leatherback population is 

more promising and a generation of

Above: Gabonese children 

show their work aimed 

at raising marine turtle 

awareness. 

Below: Public outreach 

poster on leatherback 

turtle conservation. 

Credit both photos: Gabon Sea Turtle 

Partnership

new African conservationists is being 

trained and prepared to lead marine 

turtle conservation efforts within their 

own countries.
Working with People to Conserve Nature 22

Stopping the 

Slaughter of the 

Third Largest 

Global 

Loggerhead 

Nesting 

Population, 

Cape Verde

Loggerhead marine turtles 

have faced significant conservation challenges in Cape Verde 

with an estimated 1,100 nesting turtles killed in 2007 alone. 

These clearly unsustainable 

losses account for nearly 35% of 

the total nesting population and 

required an urgent conservation 

response.

Conservation efforts were 

mounted to help protect the 

loggerhead nesting population 

in Boa Vista, Cape Verde where 

90 percent of the world’s third 

largest loggerhead population 

nests. In 2007, three NGOs 

and a university were each 

conducting nesting beach 

surveys and protection on the 

islands of Boa Vista, Sal and 

Santiago. However, the funds 

were limited and there were 

several challenges limiting the 

effort’s effectiveness, including: 

little coordination among 

the four groups; coverage of 

only a small portion of the 

nesting beaches; and little or 

no government support or 

involvement. 

The illegal slaughter of marine 

turtles was brought to the 

attention of the international 

conservation community at the 

Annual Sea Turtle Symposium 

in Loreto, Mexico in 2008. 

Following the 2008 Sea Turtle 

Symposium in Mexico, USFWS 

coordinated a meeting to expand efforts 

to prevent the killing of nesting turtles. 

A grant for $40,000 was provided to 

the Turtle Foundation on behalf of the 

working coalition, with about $12,000 

dedicated to support the coordination 

meeting and the remaining funds to 

support the highest priority activities 

agreed to by the working group and to 

be implemented by three of the NGOs. 

These expanded efforts resulted in a 

significant decrease in poaching during 

the 2009 nesting season. 

For the 2010 nesting season, the MTCA 

provided grants totaling $195,000 to 

Turtle Foundation, SOS Tartarugas 

and Cape Verde Natura 2000 to further 

expand nesting beach protection and 

help train field staff. The end goal of 

this program is to eliminate the killing 

of nesting females. As such the program 

incorporates outreach and community 

engagement to encourage marine turtle 

conservation. 

The efforts fostered by the MTCA 

have been a huge success in rapidly 

diminishing the killing threat and 

galvanizing NGOs, municipalities and 

the national government to become 

engaged in developing a more robust 

and long-term conservation program. 

Unfortunately, while the dramatic 

wholesale slaughter of nesting females 

is decreasing, increased development 

on nesting beaches on Sal and Boa 

Vista in Cape Verde poses a growing 

threat, by worsening already serious 

light pollution problems. Beach driving, 

litter on beaches and in the marine 

environment, and turtle bycatch issues 

with local and industrial fisheries are 

cumulative threats yet to be addressed. 

A sustained partnership between Cape 

Verdian municipalities, communities, 

NGOs and USFWS is needed to ensure 

that program successes are transformed 

into a long-term recovery effort.

Above: A hatchling begins 

its journey into the world. 

Credit: Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 23

Capacity Building

The USFWS Division of International 

Conservation (DIC) defines capacity 

building as “strengthening the ability of 

individuals and organizations to conserve 

biodiversity.” DIC programs such as the 

MTCA provide capacity building through 

training, facilitating dialogue, program 

development and provision of resources. 

•ability refers to enhancing knowledge, 

skills, attitudes, empowerment, and 

enabling environments 

•organizations include government 

agencies, non-governmental 

organizations, community-based 

organizations, universities, and other 

entities 

• conserve refers to use and non-use, 

with the purpose of maintaining or 

increasing the resource base over time

• training is the process of planned 

learning, both formal and informal, to 

improve human and institutional abilities

• resources refers to funds, appropriate 

equipment, technologies, and other 

support

Capacity building elements develop 

local, national and regional capabilities 

to conduct a variety of essential 

conservation activities. Capacity 

building initiatives under the MTCA 

have also worked to create robust 

scientific databases from monitoring 

populations. These results are used to 

guide management, strengthen and 

guide policies and regulations, support 

international and intergovernmental 

collaboration and meetings, and engage 

communities as conservation partners. 

The following examples illustrate ways 

in which the MTCA facilitates capacity 

building to improve marine turtle 

conservation efforts. 

Training and Exchanges

Caribbean Conservation 

Corporation (CCC) 

Tortuguero, Costa Rica

The 22-mile, black-sand beach of 

Tortuguero, Costa Rica, hosts the largest 

green turtle rookery in the Western 

Hemisphere and supports one of the two 

largest green turtle nesting populations 

in the world. In the mid-1950s, CCC 

launched the world’s first continuous 

turtle monitoring and protection initiative 

at this beach. During the past five 

decades, CCC has worked successfully 

with community leaders, government 

enforcement agencies, local business 

leaders and international marine turtle 

conservationists toward the common goal 

of protecting and restoring Tortuguero’s 

marine turtle populations.

Hatchling sea turtles find the 

ocean by moving towards the 

brightest horizon. This worked 

well for millions of years before 

human beachfront development 

brought lights behind nesting 

beaches.

Credit:USFWS/Earl Possardt

Below: The Sea Turtle 

Conservancy conducts an 

outreach activity in 

Tortuguero, Costa Rica. 

Credit: Sea Turtle Conservancy
Working with People to Conserve Nature 24

The Costa Rican legislature, with CCC’s 

strong urging, established Tortuguero 

National Park in 1975. The national 

parks’ primary objective is to protect 

nesting turtles, the beach and adjacent 

terrestrial and freshwater habitats. In 

1999, largely because of data collected 

and presented by CCC, the Costa Rican 

court system banned the harvest of 

turtles at Tortuguero and throughout the 

country.

CCC’s sustained efforts at Tortuguero 

can be seen in the increasing numbers 

of green turtles returning each year 

to nest at this famed beach, where 

CCC has documented a 493 percent 

increase in annual nesting since the 

1970s. In addition, the robust marine 

turtle population now fuels a productive 

ecotourism industry that provides 

financial stability to the local community. 

Strategies developed by CCC at 

Tortuguero are now being applied to 

ambitious turtle conservation programs 

throughout the world.

For 50 years now, many of the world’s 

leading marine turtle biologists and 

regulators have gained their first 

marine turtle experience as participants 

in the Tortuguero program. This 

important aspect continues today, 

producing future leaders in the fields 

of marine turtle research and natural 

resource management. Tortuguero’s 

marine turtles migrate to the waters of 

countries throughout the Caribbean, 

Gulf of Mexico and the North Atlantic. 

Capacity building through the training 

of professionals from many of these 

countries is vitally important. 

Each year, CCC receives applications 

from qualified young scientists eager 

to gain the quality, hands-on field 

experience offered at Tortuguero. 

Because of financial limitations, CCC is 

able to accommodate only a small portion 

of qualified applicants in the program. 

Fortunately, with funding provided by 

the MTCA, CCC has continued and been 

able to expand its research assistantship 

program to incorporate more local 

participants.

Right: Community 

member training session 

on turtle conservation in 

Costa Rica. 

Credit: Sea Turtle Conservancy
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 25

This expansion directly benefits other 

conservation efforts throughout Latin 

America and the Caribbean, as trained 

biologists apply their skills at other 

important nesting sites in the region. 

While hunting and egg collection 

have been reduced at Tortuguero and 

key sections of the nesting beach are 

incorporated into the national park, the 

illegal capture of marine turtles and 

eggs persists in Tortuguero and includes 

capturing adults in near-shore waters 

during the mating period at the start of 

the season. 

In addition, large numbers of marine 

turtles from Tortuguero populations are 

killed each year in nearby countries. 

Individual marine turtle conservation 

capacity in these countries must 

be strengthened through training 

workshops and information exchanges. 

A successful turtle conservation 

program at Tortuguero requires the 

support and involvement of the local 

community. New generations of local 

residents and immigrants to the region 

need to be made aware of the vital role 

they play in the recovery and continued 

existence of Tortuguero’s marine turtle 

populations. 

As part of this project, CCC implements 

an extensive environmental education 

and outreach program for members 

of the community of Tortuguero 

and visitors to the area. Central to 

this endeavor will be the further 

development of the successful Junior 

Research Assistant Program for 

students at the local high school. 

Through this program, students learn 

the importance of conservation and 

research. 

Students have direct participation in 

CCC’s monitoring protocol, assist in 

education events at the local schools 

and conduct independent study. The 

hope is to foster a greater appreciation 

for nature and conservation among the 

younger generation, while inspiring them 

to pursue careers in conservation biology. 

Loggerhead hatchlings from U.S. 

nesting beaches drift passively 

along the Gulf Stream to the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean 

where they grow as juveniles for 

up to 15 years before returning to 

Credit: USFWS/Earl Possardt

the Western Atlantic.

Below: Course participants at youth focused 

marine turtle outreach 

event in Costa Rica.

Credit: Sea Turtle Conservancy
Working with People to Conserve Nature 26

Networks

International Sea Turtle 

Society (ISTS) and Marine 

Turtle Newsletter

The primary purpose and mission of 

the ISTS is to organize the Annual 

Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and 

Conservation, which brings together 

people from more than 80 countries 

annually to share information and build 

the technical and scientific capacity 

of the international marine turtle 

conservation effort. The Annual Sea 

Turtle Symposium brings together the 

latest science, updated practices and 

efforts in the fields of marine turtle 

management and conservation. Between 

2006 and 2010 the MTCA supported 

more than 140 travel grants for marine 

turtle conservationists outside the 

United States who otherwise would 

not have benefited from attendance 

or enriched the international marine 

turtle conservation community with the 

knowledge and information they have 

gained in their respective countries. 

 

It is through these MTCA grants to the 

ISTS that MTCA plays an important role 

in substantially expanding the scope and 

rate of capacity building in every region 

of the world. 

The Symposium began in Florida in 1981 

and brought together the early marine 

turtle conservationists, who numbered 

fewer than 40 and were mostly from 

the U.S. The event grew each year in 

numbers and international participants, 

and in 1996 the organizing committee 

and attendees voted to establish and 

incorporate the Sea Turtle Symposium 

in 1996 and voted to change the name to 

the ISTS in 2003. 

The first international meeting was 

in Mexico in 1998, and subsequent 

international meetings have been held in 

Malaysia, Costa Rica, Greece, Australia, 

and India. The International Sea 

Turtle Symposium provides excellent 

opportunities for sharing, learning and 

forging partnerships that have resulted 

in effective conservation practices 

worldwide. 

Participation at these meetings has 

grown by tremendous proportions, 

reaching 1,000 people at recent 

annual gatherings. The demographic 

distribution of participants has also 

widened to include government 

officials, students, teachers, the general 

public, NGOs, biologists, researchers, 

oceanographers, geo-morphologists, 

veterinarians, policy-makers, community 

leaders, indigenous stakeholders and 

others to form an ever-increasing 

Below: East Pacific 

Green turtle nests along 

the coast of Mexico. 

Credit: University of Michoacan 

Right: Local woman 

participates in marine 

turtle community outreach event. 

Credit: Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 27

diversity of people with a matching 

variety of ideas, with the common 

goal of studying and protecting these 

endangered animals. 

Translation and audiovisual services 

help transmit research and conservation 

ideas in the most effective manner at 

the Symposium and help to overcome 

language and cultural barriers. The 

ISTS is coordinated by an Executive 

Committee, Board of Directors and 

Nominating Committee and provides 

travel grants to students and those 

engaged in marine turtle conservation 

around the world that would otherwise 

not be able to attend. 

It is through international travel grants 

and the Marine Turtle Newsletter (MTN) 

that the MTCA supports the ISTS and 

its capacity-building goals. 

The ISTS supports the publication and 

distribution of the MTN, which publishes 

peer-reviewed research papers and 

provides timely news items and field 

reports that are relevant to marine turtle 

conservation. The MTCA plays a vital 

role building capacity in publishing by 

individuals or groups that would not 

normally have an opportunity to do so. 

This process helps young professionals 

gain valuable writing and publishing 

experience to share the results of marine 

turtle research projects with colleagues 

from across the globe.

The MTN website provides quarterly 

information on the biology, conservation, 

management, legal status and survival 

prospects of all species of endangered 

and threatened sea turtles. The MTN 

website has been accessed more than 6 

million times from 179 countries since 

its inception in 1998. However, print 

subscriptions remain in demand, with 

more than half sent at no charge to 

subscribers in developing countries. 

Distribution of the MTN has increased 

over time. About 1,700 print copies are 

distributed four times a year. 

Governments, NGOs, 

Community Based 

Organizations (CBOs), 

Universities

Oman Sea Turtle Project – 

Environment Society of 

Oman

Nowhere in the world is there a better 

example of the vital role that NGOs can 

play in partnering with the government 

to facilitate marine turtle conservation 

than in the Sultanate of Oman. Oman 

hosts the single largest nesting 

loggerhead population in the world and 

along with the United States shares more 

than 80 percent of all loggerhead nesting 

on the planet.

©K.Eckert

Below: Combining 

loggerhead research

 and community 

outreach activities on 

Masirah I sland, Oman. 

Credit: Environment Society of 

Oman

Sea jellies are the primary dietary 

source for leatherback turtles. 

Leatherbacks migrate thousands of 

miles each year in search of prime 

feeding grounds. 
Working with People to Conserve Nature 28

Oman’s unique responsibility for the 

global well-being of this species led to a 

special collaboration between USFWS 

and the government of Oman beginning 

in 2003 and expanding with the inception 

of the MTCA in 2005. The Environment 

Society of Oman (ESO) was established 

in 2004 and is the only environmental 

NGO operating in Oman. It has a unique 

and close working relationship with 

the Ministry of Environment in Oman 

(MECA) and broad responsibilities for 

implementing marine turtle conservation 

activities supported by the MTCA.

MECA manages two protected areas of 

global significance for green turtles and 

hawksbills and is developing a proposal 

for a protected area for the loggerhead 

turtles nesting on Masirah Island. Royal 

decrees established protected areas and 

environmental laws to protect natural 

resources, but ultimately understanding, 

respect, compliance and community 

support require environmental education 

and outreach. Trained professional 

resource personnel are needed to 

conduct the population monitoring 

surveys, assess nesting and bycatch 

data to determine required management 

interventions, conduct law enforcement

patrols and perform community 

outreach. With support from MTCA, 

the ESO has been able to develop its 

expertise and capacity in the area of 

marine turtle conservation and work 

more closely and effectively with MECA, 

USFWS and the Florida Fish and 

Wildlife Commission to develop and 

implement standardized nest surveys at 

Masirah Island. These surveys are vital 

to assess population trends of the world’s 

largest loggerhead nesting population.

Similarly, ESO has been able to take on 

a larger role in monitoring the hawksbill 

population on the Damaniyat Islands 

and is taking the lead to establish a 

central electronic database for the many 

decades of nesting and tagging data for 

loggerheads at Masirah Island and green 

turtles at Ras al Hadd and Ras al Jinz. 

MTCA funds have also provided support 

for equipment, assistant ranger salaries, 

technical support, annual ranger training 

workshops and environmental outreach. 

This infusion of MTCA support for 

Oman’s marine turtle program is 

needed as Oman seeks to diversify its 

economy by expanding tourism without 

compromising its environment and 

turtles.

Right: Olive ridley 

arribada nesting. 

Credit: Southeastern Louisianna 

University
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 29

Civil Society, 

Communities

Junquillal, Costa Rica 

Community Based 

Leatherback Project

Most MTCA projects engage or involve 

local communities in conservation. The 

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Junquillal project in Costa Rica is a shining 

example demonstrating the conservation 

benefits to be derived from full engagement with local communities. 

Junquillal beach is one of the top‐five 

leatherback nesting sites in Costa 

Rica. Although the focus of this project 

is the conservation of nesting Pacific 

leatherbacks, the Junquillal beach 

in Costa Rica supports nesting olive 

ridley and eastern pacific green turtles. 

Capacity building and community 

engagement activities are implemented 

throughout the year. The general 

objective of this project is for local 

communities in the area of Junquillal 

to maintain their beaches in adequate 

conditions (including climate change 

adaptation measures) for nesting and 

hatching of leatherbacks, olive ridley and 

eastern pacific green turtles.

Before this project was initiated by 

WWF in 2005, poaching of eggs was 

widespread. In this zone of Costa Rica, 

consumption of eggs by families or 

in bars as bocas (appetizers that are 

eaten with a beverage) is a common 

tradition that has been around for at 

least two generations. Many people 

collected turtle eggs during the 2001-

2002 season in Junquillal. According to 

interviews carried out in 2001-2003, the 

eggs were collected for (illegal) personal 

consumption and sale to individuals and 

bars, bringing 12 to 15 dollars per clutch. 

Through MTCA funding, the project has 

trained community-based field teams to 

conduct nightly beach patrols to reduce 

poaching and improve data on nesting 

turtle populations. The project has 

also undertaken extensive outreach 

and education campaigns to the local 

community, schools and the media. In 

addition, the project has supported 

habitat restoration of deforested sections 

of nesting beaches. 

Within a year of initiating this project, 

plundering of leatherback, eastern 

pacific green turtle and olive ridley nests 

at Junquillal was virtually eliminated. 

Zero egg collection is a historic 

achievement for nest survivorship 

of these species. Hatching has gone 

from almost none to 9,000-12,000 

leatherbacks, eastern pacific green and 

olive ridleys per year. 

Initially, the local community regarded 

the project with distrust. Heads of 

families and teachers were invited to 

an environmental education workshop 

to stimulate their curiosity and critical 

thinking about natural resources of the 

schoolyards and beaches. The positive 

response to this activity led to the 

establishment of the environmental 

education program, which has involved 

schools from Junquillal and the nearby 

communities of Pargos and Paraíso. 

Most recently, this program included the 

design and implementation of a recycling 

scheme for beach logs and garbage in 

Junquillal and Paraíso. After visits to 

community ecotourism experiences in 

Monteverde and Tortuguero, two worldclass tourism destinations, several youth 

from Junquillal began working on beach 

monitoring. These became the Baula 

Boys (“Leatherback Boys”), the core 

patrol team. 

Below: 

Environmental 

education at local 

schools is an important 

component of marine 

turtle conservation. 

Credit: WWF
Working with People to Conserve Nature 30

The Baula Boys are trained in all 

aspects of project management, research 

and outreach. Four years later, the 

commitment and “project ownership” 

of these young men is remarkable. 

Recently, the Ministry of the 

Environment proposed the creation of 

a protected area under co-management 

with the Junquillal community, as a 

result of this project’s success.

Policy, Frameworks, 

Processes

Inter-American 

Convention for the 

Protection and 

Conservation of Sea 

Turtles The Inter-American Convention for 

the Protection and Conservation of 

Sea Turtles (IAC) attends to the need 

for implementation of harmonious 

measures between nations, multilateral 

coordination of conservation and 

protection actions, and oversight of the 

implementation of a regional agenda that 

will enable the recovery of these species.

The IAC entered into force in May 2001 

and currently has fifteen Contracting 

Parties. (See map below). 

The Convention promotes the protection, 

conservation and recovery of marine 

turtles and those habitats on which 

they depend. Decisions are made on 

the basis of the best available scientific 

information as well as taking into 

consideration the environmental, 

socioeconomic and cultural 

characteristics of the Parties. These 

actions cover both nesting beaches and 

the Parties’ territorial waters. 

The U.S. ratified the Convention on 

September 20, 2000. The convention 

held its first Conference of the Parties 

(COP) in San Jose, Costa Rica, in 2002 

and has held five subsequent COP 

meetings and several Scientific and 

Consultative Committee meetings. 

Initial COP meetings worked on 

important administrative issues such 

as terms of reference, party funding 

contributions and the establishment of a 

permanent secretariat. These essential 

issues will help build the foundation upon 

which member countries can effectively 

engage in the important conservation 

issues in the region, such as hawksbill 

conservation in the Caribbean, long-line 

fisheries turtle bycatch in the Eastern 

Pacific and Turtle Excluder Device 

(TED) compliance, to name a few. 

One of the recent initiatives of the 

IAC Secretariat, with support from 

Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife 

(SPAW) and CITES, was to convene and 

chair a regional Caribbean workshop 

in Puerto Morelos, Mexico, to review 

threats to hawksbills in the region and to 

identify priority actions for recovery of 

Caribbean populations. 

The MTCA is now supporting a grant 

to the IAC that will enable it to conduct 

more outreach in the region to boost 

compliance with laws, regulations and 

policy affecting hawksbill status as well 

as to increase membership of countries 

in the Western Hemisphere and in 

particular the Caribbean. The InterimSecretariat’s office is temporarily 

Below: Parties to the 

Inter-American 

Convention for the 

Protection and 

Conservation of Sea 

turtles. 

©IAC
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 31

hosted by USFWS in Arlington, Virginia, 

until a permanent home is located more 

centrally within the Americas. The IAC 

can provide a crucial role in engaging 

governments on policy and management 

issues that affect marine turtles. It can 

also foster a synergy among the Parties 

to address critical conservation issues, 

and be a central distribution point 

for the latest and best information on 

marine turtle conservation issues in the 

region.

Indian Ocean Southeast 

Asia Marine Turtle 

Agreement (IOSEA)

The Memorandum of Understanding 

(MOU) on the Conservation and 

Management of Marine Turtles and 

their Habitats of the Indian Ocean 

and Southeast Asia is a specialized 

intergovernmental agreement concluded 

under the auspices of the Convention 

on Migratory Species. It puts in place a 

framework through which nations of the 

Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia region, 

as well as other concerned nations, can 

work together to conserve and replenish 

depleted marine turtle populations. 

This objective will be achieved 

through the collective implementation 

of an associated Conservation and 

Management Plan. 

The MOU applies to the waters and 

coastal nations of the Indian Ocean 

and Southeast Asia and adjacent seas, 

extending eastward to the Torres Strait. 

For implementation purposes, the area is 

divided into four sub-regions: Southeast 

Asia and Australia, Northern Indian 

Ocean, Northwestern Indian Ocean and 

Western Indian Ocean. All species of 

marine turtles are covered by the MOU.

The MOU and its associated 

Conservation and Management Plan 

were developed during a series of 

intergovernmental negotiations between 

October 1999 and June 2001. The MOU 

came into effect in September 2001 at 

which time the United States officially 

signed the MOU. The signatory 

countries held their first meeting in 

Bangkok in January 2003. 

A small regional secretariat was 

established in April 2003, initially 

through voluntary funding, to coordinate 

activities under the MOU. The IOSEA 

Marine Turtle MOU Secretariat is 

co-located with the United Nations 

Environment Progrm (UNEP) Regional 

Office for Asia and the Pacific (UNEP/

ROAP) in Bangkok, Thailand. The 

MTCA has provided three grants to 

the IOSEA to support Conference 

of the Parties meetings and for the 

Secretariat’s Office to provide targeted 

capacity-building workshops and special 

training missions to member countries 

for priority conservation actions within 

the region.

IOSEA Signatory Nations as of December 

2010: 

 Australia

 Bahrain

 Bangladesh

 Cambodia

 Comores

 Eritrea

 France

 India

 Indonesia

 Islamic Republic of Iran

 Jordan 

 Kenya

 Madagascar

 Mauritius

 Mozambique

 Myanmar

 Oman

 Pakistan

 Philippines

 Saudi Arabia

 Seychelles

 South Africa

 Sri Lanka

 Thailand

 United Arab Emirates

 United Kingdom

 United Rep. of Tanzania

 United States of America

 Vietnam

 Yemen

Above and left: Community turtle conservation 

in India. 

©Tree Foundation
Working with People to Conserve Nature 32

Conservation International 

www.conservation.org

Conservation Society of Sierra Leone

www.conservationsl.org

Dr. Jeanne A. Mortimer

mortimer@.ufl.edu

Environment Society of Oman

www.environment.org.om

Fauna and Flora International

www.fauna-flora.org

Fundacao Pro-Tamar 

www.tamar.org.br

Fundación para el Equilibrio entre la 

Conservación y el Desarrollo (FUNDECODES)

Instituto Nacional Desarrollo Forestal y 

Manejo del Sistema de Áreas Protegidas 

Agostinho Neto University, Sea Turtle 

Research Program 

www.uan-angola.org

Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology 

and the Environment (ATREE)

www.atree.org

Association Pour la Protection des Tortues Marines au Maroc (ATOMM)

www.atomm.org

Cabo Verde Natura 2000

www.turtle-foundation.org

Centro de Investigación para el Manejo 

Ambiental y el Desarrollo (Investigative 

Center for Environment Management 

and Development Fundacion CIMAD)

Chelonee

College of Ocean, Shandong UniversityWeihai 

www.sdu.edu.cn 

The following list includes all organizations, individuals and institutions 

that have received conservation funding support from the Marine Turtle 

Conservation Act during fiscal years 2005-2010. For more information on how to 

become a grantee, please check the website, http://www.fws.gov/international.

Appendix I: Program Partners 

2005-2010

Right: Mayor of 

Gabonese town congratulates school 

children involved in 

marine turtle conservation. 

Credit: Gabon Sea Turtle 

Partnership

Below: Turtle patrol 

staff pose for the 

 camera. 

Credit: Gabon Sea Turtle 

Partnership
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 33

Ocean Spirits

www.oceanspirits.org

Pronatura Peninsula de Yucatan, A.C. 

(Pro-nature in the Yucatan Pennisula)

www.pronatura-ppy.org.mx

Programa Restauración de Tortugas 

Marinas (PRETOMA)

www.pretoma.org

Pro Peninsula

www.propeninsula.org

Registered Trustees of the Marine Research Foundation

www.mrf-asia.org

Renatura

Save My Future Foundation

www.samfu.org

Sea Sense

www.seasense.org

Sea Turtle Conservancy

www.conserveturtles.org

Smithsonian Institution

www.si.edu

SOS Forets

(National Institute for Forest Development and Protected Area Systems 

INDEFOR)

Inter-American Sea Turtle Convention 

Secretariat

www.iacseaturtle.org

International Sea Turtle Society

www.seaturtlesociety.org

Indian Ocean Southeast Asian (IOSEA) 

Marine Turtle Memorandum of 

Understanding Secretariat

www.ioseaturtles.org

Institute of Marine Resources, University of the South Pacific

www.uspac.fj

Kutzari, Asociación para el Estudio y 

Conservación de las Tortugas Marinas, 

A.C. (Marine Turtle Research and Conservation Association)

Loma Linda University

www.llu.edu

Marinelife Alliance

www.marine.org

Ocean Ecology Network

www. oceanecology.org

Above: A Loggerhead 

turtle returns to the sea 

after nesting on Boa 

Vista Island. 

Credit: Turtle Foundation - USA 

Left: Beach clean-up 

not only helps the beach 

aesthetically, but is 

essential to preserve 

marine turtle nests.

Credit: Turtle Foundation - USA
Working with People to Conserve Nature 34

TRAFFIC

http://www.traffic.org

Tree Foundation

www.treeefoundation.org

Turtle Conservation Project Sri Lanka

www.tcpsrilanka.org

Turtle Foundation-USA

www. turtle-foundation.org

University of Algarve

www.ualg.pt

University of Canberra

www.canberra.edu.au

Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolas 

de Hidalgo 

www.umich.mx

University of the West Indies

www.uwi.edu

Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST)

www.widecast.org

Wildlife Conservation Society

www.wcs.org

World Wildlife Fund

www.worldwildlife.org

SOS Tartarugas

www.sostartarugas.org

Southeastern Louisiana University

www.selu.edu

State University of Papua

www.unipa.ac.id

The Leatherback Trust

www.leatherback.org

The Nature Conservancy

www.nature.org

The Ocean Foundation

www.oceanfdn.org

The World Conservation Union (IUCN)

www.iucn.org 

Above: Nesting olive 

ridley turtle in Bagladesh. 

Credit: Marinelife Alliance

Below: Olive ridley 

arribada event at 

Ostinal, Costa Rica. 

Credit: Southeastern Louisiana 

University
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 35

Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST), FY 2006

Amount Awarded: $38,900, Leveraged 

Funds: $60,274

Assemble all available data on the distribution and abundance of annual nesting 

for 43 Western Atlantic countries and 

create a spatially comprehensive database on the annual nesting and distribution of the hawksbill turtle. Produce 

comprehensive national-level maps of annual nesting efforts for each of the Wider 

Caribbean marine turtles.

Capacity building for the Inter-American Sea Turtle Convention (IAC) with 

a focus on hawksbill conservation, 

Secretariat, Inter-American Convention for the Conservation and Protection of Sea Turtles, FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $52,635, Leveraged 

Funds: $13,000

1. Barbados

Monitoring and Conservation Program 

for Hawksbill Turtles in Barbados 

University of the West Indies, FY 2006, 

FY 2007, FY 2008, FY 2009 & FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $166,700, Leveraged 

Funds: $335,400

Conduct an extensive marine turtle 

outreach and education program at local 

schools and institutions; involve international tourists in the observation of 

hatchlings and nests; set up a call center 

and website to report marine turtle nesting, poaching and hatchling disorientation. Carry out patrols on main nesting 

beaches to document nesting hawksbills 

and provide overall protection from 

poaching and other threats. 

2. Brazil

Conservation and Management of 

Hawksbill Turtles in Northeast Bahia, 

Brazil

Fundacao Pro-Tamar, FY 2006

Amount Awarded: $17,946, Leveraged 

Funds: $26,434

Support community-based survey 

teams to monitor and protect nests on 

important hawksbill nesting beaches, 

train interns and local trainees in nest 

monitoring, and conduct environmental 

educational programs at local elementary 

schools. 

3. Caribbean Wide

Assessing Long-Term Trends in Depleted Sea Turtle Populations: Creating a 

Framework for a Caribbean Network 

of Index Sites, Wider Caribbean Sea 

Appendix II: Projects by Region

2005-2010

Western Atlantic and Carribean
Working with People to Conserve Nature 36

5. Dominican Republic

Hawksbill Turtle Trade Mitigation in 

the Dominican Republic 

World Widlife Fund-TRAFFIC North 

America, FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $25,000, Leveraged 

Funds: $8,316

Support market surveys in the Dominican public to understand supply chain 

and market dynamics for the illegal trade 

in turtle parts, build capacity and motivation of local and national law enforcement 

officials, and promote a tourism awareness campaign to address demand.

6. Grenada

Hawksbill and Leatherback Index 

Site Monitoring, Grenada Eastern 

Caribbean

Ocean Spirits, Inc., FY 2006 & FY 2009

Amount Awarded: $27,977, Leveraged 

Funds: $31,925

Expand survey work to offshore island nesting sites to monitor remote 

hawksbill nesting beaches. Conduct nest 

surveys and protection activities on the 

primary leatherback nesting beach in 

Grenada. Conduct summer environmental camps for students and develop local 

capacity through direct employment, 

internships and voluntary work. 

7. Honduras

Hawksbill Nesting Beach Reconnaissance Project on Roatan, Honduras

Loma Linda University, FY 2007

Amount Awarded: $5,700, Leveraged 

Funds: $53,316

Survey hawksbill nesting sites in the 

Bay Islands and conduct nesting surveys 

on several beaches on Roatan Island. 

Conduct aerial surveys and work with 

local communities, dive shops, volunteer 

groups and other local stakeholders to 

implement more expansive nesting beach 

and foraging ground conservation efforts 

in subsequent seasons.

Below: Green turtle 

hatchlings emerging 

from nests. 

© Sebastian Troëng /Conservation 

International

Support capacity building of the IAC 

– Secretariat and support Secretariat 

efforts to conduct outreach visits in the 

Western Hemisphere to expand membership of Parties, as well as provide leadership to harmonize regulations, laws, and 

management policies among Caribbean 

nations affecting hawksbill conservation 

efforts.

4. Costa Rica

Sea Turtle Research, Conservation 

and Capacity Building at Tortuguero, 

Costa Rica

Sea Turtle Conservancy, FY 2009 & FY 

2010 Amount Awarded: $80,000, 

Leveraged Funds: $718,808

Support capacity building throughout Latin America and the Caribbean 

through the Tortuguero training program. Train biologists, resource managers and community leaders in marine 

turtle biology, management techniques 

and ecotourism programs. 
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 37

Restore the Chiriquí Beach nesting population of hawksbills which was historically the largest in the Wider Carribean. 

Conduct daily nest surveys throughout 

hawksbill and leatherback nesting seasons to record trends and threats from 

poaching, predation and erosion events to 

inform management decisions. Implement appropriate management interventions to enhance nesting and hatching 

success. Form partnerships with the local 

community and Nögbe-Bugle indigenous 

communities, and secure their participation and involvement in marine turtle 

conservation efforts. 

8. Mexico

Sea Turtle Conservation Program on 

the North Coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico 

Pronatura Peninsula de Yucatan, FY 

2006, FY 2007, FY 2008, FY 2009 & FY 

2010 Amount Awarded: $102,633, Leveraged Funds: $214,032

Conduct daily surveys of the three most 

important hawksbill nesting beaches 

along the north coast of the Yucatan 

Peninsula and collect geospatial nesting 

beach data for a GIS database. 

9. Nicaragua

Conservation of the Pearl Cays Hawksbill Rookery and Community Ecotourism Project, Nicaragua

Wildlife Conservation Society, FY 2005, 

FY 2006, FY 2007, FY 2008, FY 2009 & 

FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $282,504, Leveraged 

Funds: $329,059

Train field teams composed of local 

community residents and Wildlife Conservation Society biologists; survey 12 of 

the 18 Pearl Keys, Pearl Lagoon, Nicaragua throughout the hawksbill nesting 

season. Conduct day and night patrols to 

protect nests from poaching and predation. Conduct extensive outreach activities with Nicaraguan authorities, communities and local radio stations. Assist 

local communities to develop and expand 

conservation of hawksbill turtles through 

ecotourism-based turtle watching including a workshop on sustainable ecotourism 

with leaders from 12 communities. 

10. Panama

Leatherback and Hawksbill Turtle 

Research and Population Recovery 

Project, Panama

Sea Turtle Conservancy, FY 2006, FY 

2007, FY 2008, FY 2009 & FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $245,628, Leveraged 

Funds: $494,541

Above: Community 

education tour in India.

©Tree Foundation
Working with People to Conserve Nature 38

of the remote Chagos Archipelago and 

Chagos Island. Train an island resident 

to conduct year-round surveys on two 

index beaches of 2-3 km each to enable 

long-term monitoring of nesting population trends on the island of Diego Garcia.

13. India 

Developing a Conservation and Monitoring Network for Sea Turtles in India

Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology 

and the Environment (ATREE), FY 

2006, FY 2008 & FY 2009 & Madras 

Crocodile Bank Trust FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $78,030, Leveraged 

Funds: $124,350

Organize workshops to establish and 

maintain a network of NGOs and groups 

working toward marine turtle conservation in India, to facilitate informationsharing and greater collaboration 

between and among groups and with 

state governmental agencies. The Turtle 

Action group (TAG) was formed as a 

result of this workshop and includes 

more than 20 NGOs working to develop 

standardized monitoring protocols and 

monitor nesting turtles at key sites. 

Community Engagement for Sea Turtle 

Conservation Program, 

Tree Foundation, FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $19,460, Leveraged 

Funds: $27,560

Work with local fishermen and community members to protect olive ridley 

sea turtle nests along 100 km of nesting 

beach and to reduce sea turtle bycatch 

from local fisheries that impacts migrating olive ridleys from the large Orissa 

arribada nesting populations. 

14. Regional – Indian 

Ocean 

Population Genetic Studies in Support 

of Conservation and Management of 

Hawksbill Turtles in the Indian Ocean 

University of Canberra, Australia, FY 

2007 Amount Awarded: $18,270, 

Leveraged Funds: $25,115

Research to identify hawksbill nesting 

management units within the Indian 

11. Bangladesh

Community-Based Sea Turtle Conservation Project in Cox’s Bazar, 

Bangladesh 

Marinelife Alliance, FY 2008 & FY 

2009 Amount Awarded: $29,640, 

Leveraged Funds: $38,180

Conduct community-based conservation 

programs to protect olive ridleys’ nesting habitat. Train community members 

to survey and relocate nests to five 

hatcheries; conduct extensive public 

outreach and education program to sensitize people living in and around turtle 

nesting sites. 

12. Chagos Islands, 

British Indian Ocean 

Territory

Status and Conservation of Nesting 

in the Chagos Islands, British Indian 

Ocean Territory in a Regional Context, 

Dr. Jeanne A. Mortimer, FY 2006

Amount Awarded: $10,000, Leveraged 

Funds: $35,200

Conduct a rapid assessment of marine 

turtle nesting sites on the outer islands 

Indian Ocean
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 39

Conduct comprehensive and standardized nest surveys of the world’s largest 

loggerhead nesting assemblage on Masirah Island. Provide material, personnel 

and logistical support and training for 

the Ministry of Environment rangers to 

conduct standardized and more comprehensive loggerhead nesting surveys at 

Masirah Island, as well as hawksbill nesting surveys at Damaniyat Islands. Deploy ten satellite transmitters on nesting 

loggerheads to determine post-nesting 

movements in order to identify potential areas of interaction or conflict with 

fisheries or other anthropogenic activities. Conduct public outreach for marine 

turtle conservation issues in Oman. 

17. Tanzania

Community-Based Marine Turtle Conservation Program, Tanzania

World Wildlife Fund FY 2005 and Sea 

Sense FY 2006 

Amount Awarded: $29,586, Leveraged 

Funds: $72,737 

Train community turtle officers to 

conduct daily nest surveys and protection on key green sea turtle nesting sites 

and report illegal fishing activity in eight 

coastal districts. Conduct public awareness and outreach efforts about the status and threats to sea turtles in Tanzania.

Ocean region and the composition of 

the mixed stocks on important foraging 

grounds, critical information that will 

foster the collaboration of countries with 

shared stocks in the Indian Ocean region.

15. Sri Lanka

Community-Based In-Situ Marine 

Turtle Nest Protection, Research and 

Community Education Program, 

Turtle Conservation Project of Sri 

Lanka, FY 2005 & FY 2010 Amount 

Awarded: $29,965, Leveraged Funds: 

$52,525

Organize 16 educational workshops 

in schools and coastal villages regarding marine turtles, coral reefs and 

mangroves to protect several hundred 

marine turtle nests on Rekawa Beach in 

Sri Lanka. Train community members 

to conduct patrols, monitoring and nest 

protection. 

16. Sultanate of Oman

Training and Capacity Building for 

Turtle Conservation, Oman

Marine Research Foundation, FY 2005 

& FY 2006 Amount Awarded: $29,000, 

Leveraged Funds: $24,900

Conduct a training workshop for 18 

park rangers from the Oman Ministry of 

Environment working at Masirah Island, 

Ra Al-Hadd, Halaniyat Islands, and the 

Damaniyat Islands. The workshop covers 

biology of marine turtles, management 

and field techniques, data collection and 

analysis, and also introduces a standardized nesting survey methodology to be 

implemented for long-term population 

monitoring. Purchase two ATV motorcycles and trailers to enhance data 

collection and turtle rescue efforts, and 

provide technical support to improve 

population-monitoring methodology at 

Masirah Island. 

Strategic Development of Initiatives 

for Marine Turtle Conservation, Oman

Environment Society of Oman, FY 

2006, FY 2007, FY 2008, FY 2009 & FY 

2010 Amount Awarded: $309,662, 

Leveraged Funds: $293,910

Above: Community 

education project in Cape 

Verde. 

Credit: Turtle Foundation - USA 
Working with People to Conserve Nature 40

19. Cape Verde

A Coalition Task Force to effectively 

protect loggerhead nesting females on 

the Archipelago of Cape Verde

Turtle Foundation, Cabo Verde Natura 

2000 and SOS Tartarugas, FY 2009 & 

FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $240,180, Leveraged 

Funds: $618,249

Support field staff and provide material 

support for two field camps that effectively protect about 75 percent of the 

sea turtle nesting on the island of Boa 

Vista accounting for 90 percent of the 

Cape Verde loggerhead nesting. Conduct 

pre-nesting season meetings to coordinate efforts of NGOs and government 

institutions to protect nesting loggerhead 

females from rampant illegal slaughter 

throughout the Cape Verde Island. Support night time patrols on beaches and 

conduct public awareness campaigns in 

schools and communities throughout the 

island.

20. Republic of Congo

Leatherback Conservation Program, 

Republic of Congo, 

Wildlife Conservation Society, FY 2009 

& FY 2010 Amount Awarded: $113,532, 

Leveraged Funds: $30,939

Support a leatherback conservation 

program along 30 km of high-density 

leatherback nesting beach within Conkouati-Douli National Park. Nest poaching 

is 100 % without continuous patrolling. 

Conkouati-Douli National Park borders 

Mayumba National Park in Gabon which 

is the epicenter of the second largest 

leatherback nesting assemblage in the 

world. 

Marine Turtle Monitoring and Protection in Congo, 

Renatura, FY 2010 Amount Awarded: 

$30,026, Leveraged Funds: $10,041

Support efforts to protect nesting leatherback and olive ridley sea turtles along 

20 km of nesting beach adjacent to Conkouati-Douli National Park and continue a 

turtle bycatch release program with local 

18. Angola

The Marine Turtles of Rio Longa: A 

Community Conservation and Ecology 

Project, Angola

Conservation International, FY 2006

Amount Awarded: $24,960, Leveraged 

Funds: $40,000

Establish a sustainable marine turtle 

conservation program at Rio Longa, Angola, launch community awareness and 

education programs, recruit and train 

conservation guards from local communities, and establish a small conservation 

base at Rio Longa. Develop a conservation and management plan for Rio 

Longa; a nesting site for at least four 

species of marine turtles. 

Development of a Conservation 

Program for Leatherbacks Nesting, 

Agostinho Neto University Sea Turtle 

Research Program, FY 2010 

Amount Awarded: $56,308, Leveraged 

Funds: $59,651

Support efforts to determine the status of leatherback sea turtle nesting in 

Angola and to conduct nesting beach 

conservation efforts for leatherback and 

olive ridely sea turtles along 150 km of 

beach that includes Quicama National 

Park and Rio Longa Beach.

Eastern Atlantic
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 41

23. Guinea Bissau

Conservation of Hawksbills on the 

Bijagos Archipelago islands in the 

Guineas West Africa, 

Chelonee, FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $23,890, Leveraged 

Funds: $61,940

In partnership with the Institute for 

Biodiverssity and Protected Areas in 

Guinea Bissau to conduct field surveys of 

hawksbill marine turtle nesting beaches, 

carry out a workshop to train 20 local 

people to conduct these surveys, and support environmental outreach activities 

with local communities.

24. Ivory Coast

Conservation of Marine Turtles at 

Mani Beach Nesting Site, 

SOS Forets, FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $28,371, Leveraged 

Funds: $38,000

Involve local communities and university 

students to monitor and protect nests 

from poaching along an 18 km stretch of 

beach with an estimated 700 sea turtle 

nests annually, and conduct an environmental education outreach with local 

communities. 

fisherman and an environmental outreach 

program with local communities.

21. Equatorial Guinea

Research and Conservation of Major 

Sea Turtle Nesting Populations in West 

Africa, Equatorial Guinea 

Instituto Nacional Desarrollo Forestal y 

Manejo del Sistema de Áreas Protegidas 

(INDEFOR) 

FY 2007, FY 2008, FY 2009 & FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $109,640, Leveraged 

Funds: $90,075

Support nest monitoring and protection programs with local communities to 

conserve the major leatherback nesting population on the island of Bioko 

and leatherback and olive ridley nesting 

beaches at Rio Campo on the mainland. 

Promote outreach and environmental 

education nationwide and strengthen the 

marine turtle conservation network. 

22. Gabon

The Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership for 

Leatherback research and Conservation, Gabon

Wildlife Conservation Society, FY2005, 

FY 2006, FY 2007, FY 2008, FY 2009 & 

FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $679,764, Leveraged 

Funds: $408,121

Gabon is the epicenter for the world’s 

largest leatherback nesting assemblage. 

The grant supports the formation and 

operation of the Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership, coordinates meetings of all NGOs 

and government entities that conduct marine turtle conservation in Gabon, expands 

nest survey and protection on leatherback 

beaches, conducts aerial surveys to monitor population trends, carries out training workshops for individuals involved in 

surveys and data collection, and conducts 

a nationwide public outreach campaign 

to the general public, school children and 

coastal communities.

Above: Community based 

turtle conservation project in Sierra Leone. 

Credit: Conservation Society of 

Sierra Leone
Working with People to Conserve Nature 42

27. Morocco

Building Capacity for an Effective 

Marine Turtle Research and 

Conservation Program in the Kingdom 

of Morocco Association Pour la 

Protection des Tortues Marines au 

Maroc (ATOMM) FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $35,000, Leveraged 

Funds: $5,700

Conduct interviews and ground surveys 

to determine the status of sea turtle nesting in Morocco, conduct training workshops to assist with data collection of sea 

turtle bycatch, and develop educational 

outreach materials for coastal communities and the general public. 

28. Sao Tome and 

Principe

Last Call to Save the Principe Island 

Hawksbill Rookery, 

University of Algarve, FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $25,289, Leveraged 

Funds: $29,400

Provide support for local community members to conduct monitoring 

of hawksbill sea turtle populations on 

nesting beaches and foraging grounds 

at Principe, as well as providing material support for environmental education 

improvements at the local visitors’ 

reception center.

29. Regional – West Africa

Scientific and Technical Support for 

Capacity Building in West Africa – 

Sierra Leone, Liberia, Angola, Morroco, 

Principe and Cape Verde, 

Ocean Ecology Network FY 2009 & FY 

2010 Amount Awarded: $96,054, 

Leveraged Funds: $27,600

Provide critical technical and scientific 

support for community-based marine 

turtle conservation projects in Liberia, 

Sierra Leone, Principe, Morocco and 

Cape Verde being implemented by national and international NGOs, as well as 

provide support to develop and coordinate a country wide aerial survey plan 

25. Liberia

Borgor Point Sea Turtle Monitoring 

and Conservation Program, Liberia

Save My Future Foundation, FY 2005, 

FY 2006, FY 2007, FY 2008, FY 2009 & 

FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $136,516, Leveraged 

Funds: $31,620

 

Train village members on marine turtle 

nest monitoring to conduct daily beach 

patrols along a 13 km nesting beach for 

leatherbacks, hawksbills and olive ridley 

sea turtles. Conduct education outreach and workshops with Borgor Point 

communities and assist communities to 

develop alternative livelihood sources to 

traditional consumption of turtles and 

eggs. 

26. Mauritania

Knowledge and Conservation of 

Loggerheads and Green Turtles 

on the Coast of Mauritania 

Chelonee, FY 2009 Amount Awarded: 

$15,266, Leveraged Funds: $55,383

Support surveys of the Mauritanian coast 

to verify reports of nesting loggerheads 

and green turtles, conduct awareness 

campaigns in coastal villages, and involve 

local communities in the development of 

subsequent community-based conservation programs in accordance with survey 

findings. 

Above: Satellite tracking 

leatherbacks in West Africa. 

Credit: Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 43

for leatherback and other marine turtle 

nesting with Agostinho Neto University 

Angola on the extensive and unchartered 

beaches in Angola. 

Technical Assistance for Sea Turtle 

Research and Conservation in the Gulf 

of Guinea, 

Wildlife Conservation Society, FY 2007, 

FY 2008, FY 2009 & FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $138,779, 

Leveraged Funds: $87,640

Provide technical training and support 

for high-priority marine turtle projects 

in Republic of Congo, Gabon, Sao Tome 

and Equatorial Guinea, as well as facilitate and coordinate activities within the 

Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership, including 

its annual meeting. Carry out training 

workshops for individuals conducting 

surveys, and conduct nest protection 

activities on high-priority leatherback 

nesting beaches in all countries. Conduct 

research on the human/turtle conflict in 

the Corisco Bay area between Gabon and 

Equatorial Guinea. 

Below: A leatherback 

hatchling makes its way 

to the ocean. 

Credit: Gabon Sea Turtle 

Partnership

Center: Outreach and 

education project on marine turtle conservation 

in West Africa. 

Credit: Gabon Sea Turtle 

Partnership

30. Sierra Leone

Development of a Marine Turtle 

Conservation Program for Sierra Leone and Leatherback Conservation 

Programs at Hamilton, the Turtle 

and Sherbro Islands, 

Conservation Society of Sierra Leone, FY 2006, FY 2007, FY 2008, FY 

2009 & FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $195,988, Leveraged Funds: $42,076

Conduct community-based marine 

turtle conservation projects to gather 

nesting data and protect nests with a 

special focus on Sherbro and Turtle 

Islands. Establish turtle task force 

groups with local fishermen to release 

accidentally captured turtles. Conduct extensive educational outreach 

activities and community meetings, 

and produce brochures, calendars and 

billboards at strategic sites for community viewing.
Working with People to Conserve Nature 44

ing. Hold a leatherback festival in which 

92 children from five schools participate, 

and conduct a training workshop for 

eight national park rangers and managers at Las Baulas National Park and 

Caletas National Park. 

Conservation and Research Project 

for Black Turtle Nesting at Playas 

Nombre de Jesus and Zapotillal, and 

Leatherback Turtle Nesting at Playa 

Langosta, Las Baulas National Park, 

Costa Rica 

Fundación para el Equilibrio entre la 

Conservación y el Desarrollo (FUNDECODES) FY 2008 & FY 2009

Amount Awarded: $67,464, Leveraged 

Funds: $17,200

Support nesting beach conservation 

programs for Playa Langosta, one of the 

two key East Pacific leatherback nesting beaches in Costa Rica. Also provide 

support to Playas Nombre de Jesus and 

Zapotillal, two key black turtle nesting 

beaches in Costa Rica. 

Conservation of Pacific Leatherbacks 

and Other Marine Turtles in Junquillal Beach, Costa Rica – Adapting to 

Climate Change and Strenghening 

Community Livelihoods, 

World Wildlife Fund, Inc., FY 2007 & 

FY 2010 Amount Awarded: $47,001, 

Leveraged Funds: $78,608

Conduct nightly beach patrols with 

community-based and trained field teams 

during the leatherback nesting season. 

Undertake extensive environmental outreach to the community, local schools and 

media. Support nesting habitat restoration through reforestation of deforested 

sections of nesting beach. The community 

will initiate steps for legal declaration of 

the Junquillal leatherback nesting beach 

as a wildlife refuge.

32. Colombia

Development of a Conservation Program for Pacific Hawksbill Populations with Special Focus on Establishing Index Sites, Colombia, 

Fundación Centro de Investigación 

31. Costa Rica

Initiative to Create the Southern 

Nicoya Peninsula Sea Turtle Network, 

of Costa Rica

Programa Restauración de Tortugas 

Marinas (PRETOMA), FY 2006

Amount Awarded: $25,000, Leveraged 

Funds: $57,050

Monitor and protect olive ridley, leatherback and east pacific green turtle nesting 

at seven beaches; organize a volunteer 

program to conduct beach surveys and 

nest protection; and assist local authorities to create a national wildlife refuge to 

protect 313 terrestrial acres of nesting 

beaches and almost 20,000 hectares of 

marine habitat.

Research and Protection of Leatherback Turtle Nesting at Playa Langosta, Las Baulas National Marine Park, 

Costa Rica, 

The Leatherback Trust, FY 2007

Amount Awarded: $28,800, Leveraged 

Funds: $17,960

Conduct nightly surveys of Langosta 

Beach to assess leatherback nesting and 

protect leatherback nests from poachEastern Pacific
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 45

Field teams of NGO, government and 

community members survey and protect 

leatherback nests deposited on the four 

most important nesting beaches in Pacific 

Mexico which account for over 40 % of 

leatherback nesting. 

34. Nicaragua

Leatherback Conservation on the 

Pacific Coast of Nicaragua 

Fauna and Flora International, FY 

2009 

Amount Awarded: $41,109, Leveraged 

Funds: $84,005

Support community conservation efforts 

at the three most important leatherback nesting beaches in Nicaragua for 

the critically endangered East Pacific 

leatherback nesting population. Conduct 

outreach to local stakeholders to improve 

awareness of status and conservation 

needs for sea turtles.

35. Regional – East Pacific

The Eastern Pacific Hawksbill Initiative Phases I-III 

Pro Peninsula, FY 2008 & FY 2009 and 

The Ocean Foundation FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $80,737, Leveraged 

Funds: $131,150

para el Manejo Ambiental y el Desarrollo, Fundación CIMAD, FY 2009

Amount Awarded: $29,000, Leveraged 

Funds: $35,000

Identify index sites in Pacific Colombia 

to monitor the hawksbill population and 

build capacity within communities and 

National Parks for marine turtle conservation. Launch a public education 

campaign on the status and conservation needs of East Pacific hawksbill in 

Colombian National Parks and adjacent 

communities.

33. Mexico

Population Recovery of the Black 

Turtle of Michoacán, Mexico 

Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo, FY 2008, FY 2009 & FY 

2010

Amount Awarded: $75,000, Leveraged 

Funds: $60,000

Work with local Colola and Mauta communities to survey and protect black 

turtles (East Pacific green turtles) along 

the two major nesting beaches of the 

East Pacific. Protect turtles and nests 

from natural predators, dogs and 

poachers.

Conservation of Pacific Leatherbacks 

on Secondary Beaches, Mexico 

World Wildlife Fund, FY 2005

Amount Awarded: $15,000, Leveraged 

Funds: $11,993

Protect 67 percent of the estimated 

leatherback clutches on Playa Ventura, 

Mexico, and train local community 

members in marine turtle protection and 

management techniques.

Conservation of the Leatherback 

Turtle in the Mexican Pacific 

Kutzari, Asociación para el Estudio y 

Conservación de las Tortugas Marinas, 

FY 2006, 2007 FY 2008, FY 2009 & FY 

2010

Amount Awarded: $224,934, Leveraged 

Funds: $1,158,402

Support nesting beach conservation in 

Mexico for the East Pacific leatherback, 

survey beaches and release hatchlings. 

Above: Hawksbill turtle 

in Panama. 

Credit: Sea Turtle Conservancy 
Working with People to Conserve Nature 46

36. Cambodia

Rapid assessment to determine the 

status of marine turtle nesting in 

Cambodia, 

Fauna and Flora International, FY 

2010

Amount Awarded: $19,070, Leveraged 

Funds: $26,040

Carry out the collection of information 

on the status and distribution of marine 

turtles along the 440 km coast and 60 

islands of Cambodia. Support academic 

and technical capacity building of Cambo-

dian researchers at the Royal University 

of Phnom Penh. 

37. China

Sea Turtle Monitoring and Local Community Awareness Project, China

College of Ocean, Shandong University 

Weihai, FY 2008 

Amount Awarded: $29,410, Leveraged 

Funds: $21,775

Conduct daily surveys at Huidong 

Gangkou Sea Turtle Reserve, which hosts 

the only remaining marine turtle nesting 

population on the 180 km coast of mainland China. Conduct an extensive public 

awareness campaign targeting tourists 

and fishermen in major markets for illegal trade in marine turtle products.

38. Indonesia

Monitoring and Management of Leatherbacks Nesting at Jamursba Medi and 

Warmon Beaches in the Bird’s Head 

Region, Papua, Indonesia

State University of Papua (UNIPA), 

Indonesia FY 2007, FY 2008, FY 2009 & 

FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $232,146, Leveraged 

Funds: $401,680

Survey high-density leatherback nesting 

beaches with field teams composed of 

UNIPA students and village members. 

Conduct daily nest counts, tag nesting 

females, implement nest protection measures and determine hatching success 

in collaboration with local communities. 

Train monitoring teams from local villages, build and set out pig traps, capture 

Support the assessment of current and 

historic hawksbill nesting and foraging 

populations in the Gulf of California, 

Mexico. Evaluate the current status and 

abundance of hawksbills through nest 

surveys, water sampling and fisherman 

interviews, and conduct local outreach 

and participation to raise awareness of 

local communities. Organize a workshop 

in El Salvador bringing together marine 

turtle biologists in the region to share 

information about the status and distribution of the hawksbill in the Eastern 

Pacific and to develop a network for 

regional conservation of the species. 

Support a partnership of NGOs in East 

Pacific Mexico and Central America to 

protect nests from poaching and maximize hatchling production at key hawksbill sea turtle rookeries in Pacific Mexico, 

Costa Rica and Nicaragua, as well as 

conduct local and international outreach 

programs about the critical conservation 

status of the hawksbill in the East Pacific 

region.

Western Pacific
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 47

feral dogs to reduce predation of nests, 

and conduct a public outreach and education campaign. 

39. Japan

Implementation of an Integrated Conservation Strategy for the Japanese 

Nesting Population of the Loggerhead 

Turtle, Japan/Mexico

Pro Península, FY 2008 & FY 2009

Amount Awarded: $158,000, Leveraged 

Funds: $195,950

Support loggerhead conservation activities on Japanese nesting beaches and 

Japanese/Mexican foraging grounds, 

build capacity of nesting beach conservation programs on main nesting beaches 

in Japan, and work with fishermen to 

reduce bycatch mortality. 

Implementation of an Integrated 

Conservation Strategy for the Japanese Nesting Population of Loggerhead 

Turtles

The Ocean Foundation FY 2010 

Amount Awarded: $47,300, Leveraged 

Funds: $50,900

Work with Sea Turtle Association of 

Japan to support supports efforts to 

protect and manage sea turtle nesting 

populations on key nesting beaches in 

Japan, and strengthen capacity for conservation of loggerhead nesting populations in Japan and foraging populations 

in Mexico and Japan.

40. New Caledonia

Determine the Distribution and Population Sizes of Nesting Marine Turtles 

in New Caledonia and Enhance

Capac ity of Local Governments to 

Protect and Manage These Species 

World Wildlife Fund-France, FY 2006 

Amount Awarded: $24,700, Leveraged 

Funds: $86,650

Identify all marine turtle nesting sites in 

New Caledonia, assess nesting population sizes for hawksbills, loggerheads and 

green turtles, and provide nest survey 

training to provincial marine technical 

representatives.

41. Papua New Guinea

Community Based Capacity Building 

to Conserve Leatherback Sea Turtles, 

Papua New Guinea Marine Research 

Foundation, FY 2006, FY 2009 & FY 

2010 Amount Awarded: $49,363, Leveraged Funds: $296,127

Conduct community based nesting beach 

conservation of the most important leatherback nesting populations in Papua New 

Guinea and the second most important in 

the West Pacific. Work with local communities to protect turtle nests, collect 

nesting data and conduct education and 

outreach activities.

42. Regional West Pacific

Capacity Building and Technical Support for an MTCA funded projects in 

Japan and Vietnam to Augment Sea 

Turtle Nesting Protection and 

Conservation, 

The Ocean Foundation, FY 2010 

Amount Awarded: $16,060, Leveraged 

Funds: $22,193 

Provide technical support to the Sea 

Turtle Association of Japan to assist them 

with their loggerhead sea turtle nesting beach conservation activities, and to 

develop solutions for loggerhead bycatch 

mortality with pound net fishermen. 

Above: Marine Turtle 

Expert Earl Possardt 

visits a project in 

Vietnam. 

Credit: USFWS
Working with People to Conserve Nature 48

44. Vietnam

Community-Based Marine Turtle 

Nesting Beach Conservation, Vietnam

The World Conservation Union 

(IUCN), FY 2007, FY 2008, FY 2009 & 

FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $179,222, Leveraged 

Funds: $111,200

Survey and protect nesting beach populations, with a special focus on leatherback and hawksbill nesting populations 

in Quang Tri Province, Quang Ninh and 

Bai Tu Long National Park respectively, 

collect marine turtle bycatch data from 

local fishermen, carry out extensive 

outreach to school children and community members, and conduct training 

workshops. 

Global Scope/

Capacity Building

Global Assessment of Arribada Olive 

Ridley Sea Turtles, 

Southeastern Louisiana University, 

FY 2006, FY 2007, FY 2008, FY 2009 & 

FY 2010 

Amount Awarded: $219,926 Leveraged 

Funds: $138,728

Conduct training workshops for surveyors at major olive ridley arribada nesting 

beaches to develop capacity of surveyors 

in Costa Rica, Mexico and India. Conduct 

a simultaneous global estimate of the 

olive ridley arribada nesting populations 

and hatching rates in Mexico, Nicaragua, 

Costa Rica and India using standardized 

survey methodology. 

Support for Capacity Building and 

International Instruments for the Conservation of Marine Turtles and Their 

Habitats, Smithsonian Institution, FY 

2006, FY 2007 & FY 2008 

Amount Awarded: $44,116, Leveraged 

Funds: $17,500

Research to Support Community 

Marine Turtle Conservation in Fiji, 

Solomon Islands and Vanuatu

Institute of Marine Resources 

University of the South Pacific, FY 

2006 

Amount Awarded: $11,424, Leveraged 

Funds: $33,000

Monitor marine turtle populations to 

assess abundance and trends, and implement conservation activities to reduce 

the impact of exploitation and coastal 

development.

43. Solomon Islands

Sasakolo and Litoghahira community 

based leatherback turtle monitoring 

and conservation, Solomon Islands, 

The Nature Conservancy, FY 2006 & 

FY 2009 

Amount Awarded: $36,483, Leveraged 

Funds: $62,039

Support community based nesting beach 

conservation programs for the two most 

important leatherback nesting beaches

in the Solomon Islands which are part 

of the critically endangered West Pacific Below: East Pacific Green leatherback nesting population. turtle completes nesting on 

Colola beach in Mexico. 

Credit: University of Michoacan
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 49

Provide technical support to scientific 

committees of the Inter-American Sea 

Turtle Convention and the Indian Ocean 

and Southeast Asia MOU during the 

Conference of the Parties meetings and 

inter-sessionally. Build capacity of marine 

turtle specialists and organizations, and 

provide scientific support to the Secretariat-Indian Ocean Southeast Asian Marine 

Turtle Agreement. 

International Collaboration through 

Information Exchange: The 26th-30th 

Annual Symposia on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation and Marine 

Turtle Newsletter, International Sea 

Turtle Society, FY 2006, FY 2007, FY 

2008, FY 2009 & FY 2010 

Amount Awarded: $220,000, Leveraged 

Funds: $574,588

Strengthen international cooperation and 

collaboration on marine turtle research, 

management practices and conservation 

efforts by bringing together specialists, 

emerging sea turtle conservations, and 

students working on marine turtles from 

around the world for the 26th through 

30th Annual Symposia. Support to develop and diseminate the marine turtle 

newsletter.

Promoting Economic Alternatives for 

Sea Turtle Conservation, The Ocean 

Foundation, FY 2009

Amount Awarded: $25,000, Leveraged 

Funds: $125,000

Assist in the development of alternatives 

to unsustainable use of marine turtles 

and develop partnerships with local tour 

operators, promote partner sites to key 

tourist audiences, organize initial tours to 

partner sites, support efforts to build local capacity in Baja Mexico, Trinidad, and 

Costa Rica, and expand to new partner 

sites. 

Support of the Indian Ocean-South 

East Asian (IOSEA) Marine Turtle 

Memorandum of Understanding Meeting and Technical Capacity Building 

Program IOSEA Marine Turtle MOU 

Secretariat, United Nation 

Environment Programme, FY 2006, FY 

2008, FY 2009 & FY 2010

Amount Awarded: $158,500, Leveraged 

Funds: $179,093

Support capacity building in the IOSEA 

region by supporting members of the 

Scientific Advisory Committee to conduct 

short IOSEA sponsored missions for 

training workshops and on the ground 

technical support for parties and projects 

of member countries based on critical 

needs and regional priorities. Provide

travel support for focal points and advisory committee members from member 

countries to participate in the Fourth and 

Sixth Conference of the Parties. Support 

the organization and implementation of a 

meeting of signatory states to the IOSEA 

MOU. Review the implementation of the 

MOU, address the previous year’s work 

program, and prioritize national level 

activities.
Working with People to Conserve Nature 50

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our deep appreciation to our many grantees and partners in conservation 

who so willingly shared their insights, images, and expertise. Without their dedication and on-theground conservation successes, this report would not have been possible. A special thank you to 

Earl Possardt for his dedication to the Marine Turtle Conservation Fund and his insights into the 

many accomplishments of the MTCA during the first six years of the program. 

This report was developed by Earl Possardt and Tracy O’Toole of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, with assistance from Joshua Toboga who worked extensively on the selection of images 

and assisted with the layout and design. Graphic design and map creation was provided by the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and editing services were provided by ThisAbled. For invaluable 

review, thanks to Herb Raffaele, Richard Ruggiero, Cyndi Perry, Megan Hill, Rachel Penrod and 

Derek Litchfield. 
Wildlife Without Borders - Marine Turtle Conservation Act 51

For more information, please visit us at:

 

 www.fws.gov/international

 Facebook@USFWSInternational Affairs 

 Twitter@USFWSInternatl

Large Back Cover Photo: Nesting green 

turtle returning to Arabian Sea from Ras al 

Jinz nesting beach, Oman by USFWS. 
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 

International Affairs 

Division of International Conservation 

4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 100 

Arlington, VA 22203 

(703) 358-1754 

(703) 358-2115/fax 

www.fws.gov/international 

Facebook@USFWSInternational Affairs

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December 2011

Printed on recycled paper with vegetable based inks.