Turtle Foundation
The Turtle Foundation is an international charitable non-profit organization represented in Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Cape Verde, Indoneesia, the United States and the United Kingdom.
It is their goal to prevent the extinction of endangered sea turtles, to protect their habitats, to allow a healthy sustainable population growth and to end cruelty and abusive activites against sea turtles.
Harms to turtles include:
- Natural threats such as fungus infections
- Natural or man-made erosion
- Predators: dogs, crabs, cats, fish, sharks, orcas, marine mammals
- Hunting, poaching and brutal slaughter and illegal sale of turtle for their meat, eggs and shells, as they are a delicacy in many parts of the world
- Tourism poses serious threats, as nesting sites are destroyed due to construction works where houses, hotels and roads are being built
- Beaches are resting and nesting sites for turtles, but people using those beaches could block the turtles way onto the beach, destroy eggs with sharp and spiky objects or confuse hatchlings with unnatural vibrations which can lead to early or day-time hatching
- Hatchlings can also be confused by artificial light from restaurants, street lights and others, leading them not to the ocean but to the opposite direction
- Boat propellors injure turtles
- Ocean pollution (plastic, oil, fuel): turtles could entangle themselves in plastic lines and nets and also mistake plastic bags with their favourite food jellyfish. Many dead turtles are found with plastic inside their intestines. There exist videos on the internet where plastic straws are being pulled out of sea turtle's noses.
Protection measures by the Turtle Foundation include:
- Conservations projects in Cape Verde and Indonesia
- Constant observation of nesting beaches
- Providing human resources and infrastructure, errecting ranger stations and supplying protection stations with boats and other equipment
- Collecting data and reigstrating turtles
- Education about the life of turtles and how to protect them in schools and communities
- Creating alternative income opportunities for locals
- Organizing beach clean ups
- Nationwide Anti Turtle Shell Capaign in Indonesia
Achieved Successes
- 9 million hatchlings rescued
- 48.000 nests and 9.600 nesting females were saved
- 7.000 students educated about turtle shells
Future Goals
- Further extension of conservations projects to unprotected areas
- Protection of all sea turtle habitats including nesting sites, coral reef and seaweed fields
- Promote environmentally compatible and sustainable use of coastal and marine habitats
- Improve scientific knowledge concerning the biology of sea turtles by acquiring data and publishing papers
Vision and Mission Statement
"OUR VISION: A future where sea turtles and their habitats are sustainably protected, healthy, and safe from threat of extinction and destruction."
"OUR MISSION: To contribute to sea turtle conservation at our own project sites by cooperating with local communities to create a future where both sea turtles and people can thrive."
(Quelle: https://www.turtle-foundation.org/, Annual Report 2019; Logo provided by Turtle Foundation)