Mozambique turtle conservation
Cabo Delgado in northern Mozambique is one of the last places along the East African Coast where marine habitats remain largely unexplored and unspoilt.
The Cabo Delgado Biodiversity and Tourism Project was initiated in 1998, as a partnership between ZSL and a group of private individuals, in order to ensure the conservation of most diverse and pristine coastal areas in the northern Querimbas.
Within the marine environment our main project aimed to protect and monitor the endangered green and hawksbill turtles, read more.
There is a critical need to gather data and understand the movements and populations of the threatened green and hawksbill turtles. By understanding, how, why and where the turtles use the marine environment, we are able to set up the appropriate management tools to protect them, read more.
Of the seven global species of marine turtles, five are found in the Western Indian Ocean and two use the beaches of Vamizi and Rogui islands to nest. They are the green turtle and hawksbill turtle.
Hawksbill Eretmochelys imbricata
IUCN Red Listed as Critically Endangered
Named for its sharp, pointed beak, the hawksbill’s Latin name refers to the overlapping arrangement of scutes on its shell. These turtles are omnivorous, feeding on both invertebrates and algae. The hawksbill turtle in the Indian Ocean has recently been identified by the IUCN/Species Survival Commission Marine Turtle Specialist Group as being in the top ten priorities for conservation. Trade statistics indicate that there have been massive declines of up to 95% of hawksbill populations in countries neighbouring Mozambique (Madagascar and Seychelles). This is due to the historic international trade in the shell for jewellery and the direct take of meat, eggs. Less is known about hawksbill turtles than about green turtles. This project has therefore been essential in developing this satellite tagging work to find out more about them. However, this was not an easy task because the turtles are so much rarer than the green turtle. This must therefore be a longer-term plan.
Green Chelonia mydas
IUCN Red Listed as Endangered
The most widespread of the seven species, the green sea turtle earns its name from the colour of its body fat, called calipee, which is the main ingredient in green turtle soup and was once highly sought after in Europe. Although now illegal to trade in many areas of the world, the green sea turtle and its eggs continue to be consumed by many coastal peoples. Adult green turtles are herbivorous, feeding on seagrasses, and are therefore found in relatively shallow water, although some populations migrate long distances in the open sea. Green turtles frequently nest hundreds of kilometres or more from where they feed. Despite the huge distances involved, they generally return to exactly the same beach, or nearby, to the beach where they hatched. To protect a green turtle that nests in Mozambique, it is therefore necessary to protect their feeding sites. Unfortunately, green turtle populations have declined up to 67% over three generation through overexploitation for their meat and eggs, coastal development and partially through marine fishery activities.
Acknowledgements and collaborations
The project has been kindly supported through the expert assistance of Dr Brendan Godley, Marine Turtle Research Group .
Financial support has been provided by:
Michael and Claudia Langdon
European Zoos and Aquaria - Shellshock
Richard and Marianne Atterburys
Willem Van Aalst
In 2009 one turtle was tagged after laying nests on Vamizi Island. Her name wass Tily and many were able to follow Tily's journey using our satellite map. The map updated itself every time Tily came up to breathe as she swam across the Western Indian Ocean. You can view the map online here.
All donations will be used by our turtle conservation team to help us understand how turtles use the coastal areas of Mozambique. Your money could fund:
£5 Electronic tags to identify the nesting turtles.
£10 turtle monitoring handbook.
£25 Analysis of a genetic sample.
£50 Salary of the turtle monitor for a month.
£75 resin to attach the satellite tag to the turtle.
£2,000 A student to participate in the Turtle conservation project.
£5,000 A satellite tag and satellite time.
Sponsor a tag and get to name the turtle.
Hazards to Sea Turtles
The decline in the numbers of turtles is as a direct result of human activities. It is therefore in our direct control to change behaviour and prevent the further collapse of numbers.
In the 2005 “Burning Issues Assessment” undertaken by the Marine Turtle Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union-IUCN, human behaviours that threaten sea turtles were identified, categorised, and prioritised. These are described below.
Sea turtles virtually everywhere are impacted by fisheries—especially by longlines, gill nets, and trawls. Bycatch mortality, habitat destruction, and food web changes are the most severe of these impacts.
Sea turtle habitats are degraded and destroyed by coastal development. This includes both shoreline and seafloor alterations such as nesting beach degradation, seafloor dredging, vessel traffic, construction, and alteration of vegetation.
Throughout the world, people kill sea turtles and consume their eggs for food and for products such as oil, leather, and shell. In some cases, local communities experiencing extreme poverty rely on the protein from turtles. This creates an extremely difficult conservation situation, where conservationists must work closely with local communities. Hawksbill turtles are so endangered principally because of their value in supplying the luxury market with tortoiseshell for combs and jewellery.
Pollution and Pathogens
Marine pollution: plastics, discarded fishing gear, petroleum by products, and other debris—directly impact sea turtles through ingestion and entanglement. Light pollution disrupts nesting behaviour and hatchling orientation, leading to hatchling mortality.
Chemical pollutants can weaken sea turtles’ immune systems, making them susceptible to pathogens.
Global warming may impact natural sex ratios of hatchlings; escalate the frequency of extreme weather events; increase the likelihood of disease outbreaks among sea turtles; and result in loss of nesting beaches, destruction of coral reefs, and other alterations critical to sea turtle habitats and basic oceanographic processes.