The Resilience of Sea Turtles: A Conservation Success Story

A growing body of studies in recent years has shown that, thanks in part to decades of diligent conservation work, turtles are not just holding on — their populations are, in many cases, exploding. 

Researchers led by Professor Graeme Hays of Deakin University in Melbourne this year compiled 61 datasets of nesting locations from around the world. They found just five sites where populations were declining. In 28, they were increasing — often dramatically. Cabo Verde’s Sal Island, off the northwest coast of Africa, the number of loggerhead nests has increased to 35,000 in 2020 from 500 in 2008 — a 70-fold improvement.

Since turtle conservation took off in the 1970s, moreover, humans have in many cases turned from aggressors into protectors. A 1975 treaty banning trade in endangered species shut down global commerce in meat, shells and leather. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers fan out each year across beaches on six continents to count nests and the tracks that mothers and hatchlings leave on the sand

Source: The Malaysian Reserve

https://themalaysianreserve.com/2025/01/03/sea-turtles-arent-vanishing-in-fact-theyre-thriving/

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