Volunteering for Sea Turtle Conservation

Sea turtles are majestic and incredible creatures facing extinction and to truly protect these beautiful animals around the world, many different countries must cooperate and share responsibility.

Everybody can play a part and long-term protection of sea turtles involved the development of solutions that reduce reliance on management method that require human involvement. As such, their feeding and nesting grounds must be protected, and a new conservation ethic must be created that can withstand gaps in governmental regulations, pressure from private interests and changes in the political climate.

The threats that face sea turtles are many, and for the most part, are caused by humans. For those striving to protect the species, the fact that the majority of threats are human caused is a mixed blessing. On one hand, it is difficult to change human behavior. On the other, there is hope these threats can be eliminated.

There are a few immediate goals for protecting sea turtles. For starters, the international trade in sea turtles and their products needs to be cracked down upon through proper enforcement of laws and agreements. Additionally, turtle deaths caused by commercial fishing can be reduced by enforcing net regulations.

Nesting beaches can be protected through the establishment of parks and sea turtle refuges, and disturbances at these beaches can be reduced through decreasing artificial lighting and human impact on the beach itself. Laws that minimize the dumping of pollutants and solid waste into the ocean need to be regulated as well.

Overall, increasing public interest in sea turtle conservation can help aid the research and monitoring activities required so sea turtle populations can be monitored and efforts can be focused where they are needed the most. If you would like to get involved, here is a great list of ways to get started.