Sea turtle protection
What we are doing
We don’t stop at cleaning the ocean and upcycling the plastic taken from it. We also want to help protect the lives and habitats of ocean animals. This is why we have teamed up with: The Turtle Foundation. For every pair of Oceano’s made, we will start & protect the lives of a baby sea turtle.
Where we are doing it
The program is located on Boa Vista, an island belonging to Cape Verde. The local nesting population of Loggerhead turtles is the 3rd largest in the world.
Why we are doing it
The threat to sea turtles is always increasing. Next to their habitats being polluted with plastic, and their nests being looted, a large number of adult turtles continue to be slaughtered for their meat. The increase in tourism leads to nesting beach destruction, the pollution of beaches, and other damages through poorly managed tourist activities.
It is estimated that up to 90% of the nesting in Cape Verde occurs on the island of Boa Vista. In 2007, over 1.100 female turtles were slaughtered as they came ashore to nest. This number has been estimated to be over 35% of the nesting females population.
This resulted in the United Nations Environment Program identifying Cape Verde as the conservation priority for Loggerhead turtles (UNEP, 2002).
How we are doing it
The main aspect of the program is monitoring and protecting the beaches where adult turtles nest. Rangers and volunteers patrol the beaches throughout the night, on the look out for poachers. The presence of these patrols has decreased poaching incidents by more than 90% since 2017. To help out the physical patrols by humans, a drone team has been formed in 2018. The night vision drones patrol the coastlines, and rangers or police who are connected to the drone operaters by radio, can intervene if necessary.
Additionally, the rangers have the support of specially trained ‘Conservation Dogs’. These dogs are trained to detect turtle carcasses, and can track down poachers and poaching hot-spots.
The result
With these activities, the Turtle Foundation makes the nesting beaches a safe place for the adult turtles to nest, and for the baby turtles to hatch, and crawl their way into the ocean!