Global Conservation
Priorities

Global Conservation Priorities is a 2011 report that was co-authored by more than 30 MTSG members from 6 continents and more than 20 countries with diverse expertise in all aspects of sea turtle biology and conservation. The work is a product of the MTSG’s “Burning Issues” initiative, and was supported by Conservation International (CI) and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). The study, designed to provide a blueprint for marine turtle conservation and research, evaluated the risk and status of each of the 58 marine turtle “Regional Management Units” and determined the 11 most threatened populations (listed below), as well as the 12 healthiest populations, and 12 “critical data needs.” To determine the most threatened RMUs, we scored traits like population size, population trends, rookery vulnerability, and genetic diversity as well as threats of fisheries bycatch, human consumption of turtles and their eggs, coastal development, pollution and pathogens, and climate change for each RMU.

The full paper is available here.

The 11 Most Threatened Sea Turtle Populations are:

  • Olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) in the West Indian Ocean

    • Key nesting sites: India and Oman

  • Loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) in the Northeast Indian Ocean

    • Key nesting sites: Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar

  • Olive ridley turtles  (Lepidochelys olivacea) arribada population in the Northeast Indian Ocean

    • Key nesting sites: India

  • Olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) in the Northeast Indian Ocean

    • Key nesting sites: India and Sri Lanka

  • Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in the Northeast Indian Ocean

    • Key nesting sites: India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh

  • Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in the East Atlantic Ocean

    • Key nesting sites: Congo and Sao Tome et Principe

  • Loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean

    • Key nesting sites:  Cape Verde

  • Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in the East Pacific Ocean

    • Key nesting sites:  El Salvador, Nicaragua; Ecuador

  • Leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in the East Pacific Ocean

    • Key nesting sites:  Mexico, Nicaragua and Costa Rica

  • Loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) in the North Pacific Ocean

    • Key nesting sites:  Japan

  • Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in the West Pacific Ocean

    • Key nesting sites: Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines

We found that four of the seven sea turtle species have populations among the world’s 11 most threatened. Almost half (five) of these populations are found in the northern Indian Ocean, specifically on nesting beaches and in waters within Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of countries like India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Other areas that proved to be the most dangerous places for sea turtles were the East Pacific Ocean (from the U.S. to South America) and East Atlantic Ocean (off the coast of west Africa).

The most significant threats across all of the threatened populations are fisheries bycatch, the accidental catch of sea turtles by fishermen targeting other species, and direct harvest of turtles or their eggs for food or turtle shell material for commercial use.

The study also highlights the twelve healthiest sea turtle populations in the world, which are generally large populations with increasing trends under relatively low threats, as well as twelve “critical data needs” where more research is urgently needed.