Field education programs for local fishermen at fish landing sites to encourage sea turtle disentanglement from fishing nets in Kenya
Despite government legislation to protect marine turtles, they are still extensively exploited throughout Kenya for their eggs, meat and shells. Habitats are being destroyed by a growing human population and hundreds of turtles drown annually in fishermen’s nets.
IFAW has partnered with Watamu Turtle Watch (WTW), a marine conservation organization located within the Malindi and Watamu Marine parks on Kenya’s Coastline, to the protect sea turtles and their marine environment. They have been successful in setting up community based programs to protect nesting sites and a net release program which offers financial incentives to fishermen who free turtles from their nets. The turtles coming through the centre have data collected on them and are tagged to allow important ongoing research into their lifestyle and behaviour which it is hoped will ultimately assist in their preservation.
The WTW is hoping to expand its facilities to allow the rehabilitation and release of more seriously injured turtles and have a further positive impact on the wild population. The WTW is planning on using IFAW's grant to purchase additional scales to assist with the monitoring of the populations condition.
In 2005, IFAW assisted WTW in initiating an immediate clean-up effort when a sailing vessel sank off the Watamu shoreline. Tons of plastic bags floated ashore affecting vital sea turtle nesting habitat. A tremendous amount of support was given by the community.
