Top Ten Burning Issues in Global Sea Turtle Conservation

Burning Issues in Global Sea Turtle Conservation

Hazards and Urgent Priorities

- An Assessment by the IUCN/SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group, August 2005 -

The World Conservation Union (IUCN), through its Red List of Threatened Species, provides a global overview of the degree to which species of plants and animals are at risk of extinction.  All seven species of sea turtles are listed on the Red List as either Endangered or Critically Endangered, with the exception of the flatback turtle (listed as Data Deficient).  The Burning Issues described herein endeavor to go a step further than the global-scale Red List, with the intent to encourage on-the-ground conservation action in the places where experts agree they are most urgent and can have the largest impact in preventing extinctions.  This document was prepared by an international group of sea turtle authorities, members of the IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group (MTSG).  These experts, hailing from several countries and representing knowledge of all the world’s major sea turtle stocks, gathered in Washington, DC in August 2005.  The MTSG is a group of over 300 experts from 70+ countries that work to assure a vision of “marine turtles fulfilling their ecological roles on a healthy Planet where all peoples value and celebrate their continued survival.”  The Burning Issues Assessment is one of many communications tools used to muster global-scale support to achieve the MTSG’s vision. 

The Top Ten List draws attention to some of the sea turtle populations that are most in need of urgent conservation attention, considering one or more of the following criteria: recent precipitous declines, small population size, high degree of threat, or irreplaceability.  It is a dynamic assessment that attempts to include all the major regions where sea turtles live, and it is based on best-available data and expert opinion as its principle resources.  The Top Ten List is reviewed annually to assure its accuracy and timeliness.  It is part of a larger priority-setting process for sea turtle research and conservation that also includes a list of Critical Research Needs in recognition that for many areas of the world and populations of sea turtles, we simply do not have enough data to accurately assess urgency and degree of threat.  Moreover, the Burning Issues Assessment identifies herein the five primary hazards to sea turtles worldwide.

All conservation efforts for sea turtles are worthy ones, yet what the Burning Issues Assessment provides is one snapshot of the world today and a reminder that while we must work toward conserving sea turtles and their habitats everywhere on Earth, there are certain sites and populations that are in need of immediate attention.  We must ensure that extinction does not occur on our watch.

The Top Ten List

• Leatherbacks in the Pacific
• Olive Ridleys in Orissa, India
• Kemp’s Ridleys throughout their range (Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic)
• Loggerheads in the Pacific
• Green turtles in the Mediterranean
• All Sea Turtles throughout Southeast Asia
• Loggerheads in the Atlantic
• Hawksbill and green turtles in the Caribbean
• Greens and Leatherbacks in the Eastern Atlantic (and their SW Atlantic foraging grounds)
• Hawksbills in the Indian Ocean

Hazards to Sea Turtles

The following are the broad hazards that are presently resulting in declines and local extinctions of sea turtles, or are in one way or another slowing or preventing sea turtle recovery. 

Fisheries Impacts: Fisheries—especially longlines, gill nets and trawls—impact sea turtles virtually everywhere.  Bycatch mortality, habitat destruction and food web changes are the most severe of these impacts.

Coastal Development: Coastal development alters, damages and destroys sea turtle habitats through nesting beach degradation, seafloor dredging, vessel traffic, construction, and alteration of vegetation.

Direct Take: Throughout the world, people kill sea turtles and consume their eggs for food and for products such as oil, leather and shell.

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 behavior and hatchling orientation, leading to hatchling mortality.  Chemical pollutants can weaken sea turtles’ immune systems, making them susceptible to pathogens.   

Global Warming: 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.   

Critical Research Needs

Recognizing that the aforementioned “Top Ten” is based on best-available information and drawn from expert opinion, it must be noted that there are many areas of the world for which very little data exist.  As such, it is critical that greater attention also be paid to research on little known sea turtle populations and regions, including (but not limited to):

• African loggerheads, hawksbills, olive ridleys
• Kemp’s ridleys in the Atlantic
• Leatherbacks and hawksbills in the southeast Pacific
• Loggerheads and green turtles in Oman
• Hawksbills in Iran
• Loggerheads in Libya
• Hawksbills in the eastern Pacific
• Leatherbacks in the southern Indian Ocean
• Olive ridleys in the western Atlantic
• Flatbacks, throughout their range
• Greens turtles in the eastern Pacific
• Hawksbills in the eastern Pacific