Sea turtles have lived in the world’s oceans for over 150 million years. Sadly, these ancient reptiles are now globally threatened with extinction. Mamanuca Environment Society together with its member resorts and community stakeholders are leading the conservation of the critically endangered sea turtle inhabiting the Mamanuca group of islands.
The Mamanuca Islands are one of the major nesting sites for Green turtle and Hawksbill turtle and are being overexploited for traditional use in the Mamanuca Group and the Fiji Islands in general. The Mamanuca Turtle Conservation Project is funded by UNDP – GEF Small grant programme implements conservation work conducted to member resorts, local communities as well as targeting schools in the Mamanuca Region.
Turtle nesting period is from October to April while peak nesting season is from January to April. The team are now in preparation again for this nesting season. Communities, resorts and schools are also engaging programmes such as beach & underwater clean up, coastal tree planting, to help in restoring nesting and feeding grounds for marine turtles.
Together with that, MES also distributed nesting season posters with information on best practices for sea turtles during this season. Information highlighted is as follows:
Do not:
- Litter or leave items on the beach
- Disturb nesters, turtle crawls, turtle eggs, hatchlings
- Use artificial lights or light bonfires on the beach
- Disturb turtles during feeding, sleeping
Further information on assisting the team in reporting cases such as nesting turtles, injured or stray hatchlings, and illegal trade of turtle products was also shared. The team is expecting more nesters in this nesting season.
The team continues to collate signboards for schools, nesting sites and other form of spreading awareness on nesting season.
