Safeguarding coastal ecosystems in Kenya
Conserving Kenya’s marine lifeKenya's coastal communities are helping sea turtles survive, one egg at a time
Kenya's coastal communities are helping sea turtles survive, one egg at a time
4 September 2026
Every sea turtle nest matters when the survival of a species is on the line.
But, along Kenya’s coastline, the odds are stacked against every hatchling. That’s where local communities have stepped up.
From the moment eggs are laid, sea turtles face a barrage of threats, from predators and flooding to human disturbance and coastal development. Scientists estimate that only one in every 1,000 hatchlings survives long enough to reproduce. For species already listed as endangered or threatened, protecting every nest has become critical.
This is why IFAW is working alongside community conservation groups to protect vulnerable nests and give hatchlings a fighting chance.
‘We are supporting turtle conservation groups in moving sea turtle nests laid in areas where they are at risk,’ says Lillian Mulupi, manager of IFAW’s Marine Conservation program in East Africa. ‘Community members regularly patrol nesting beaches to monitor where female turtles lay their eggs. When a nest is at risk, they carefully relocate it to a safer location, giving the hatchlings a better chance of survival.’
A delicate process
Relocating a sea turtle nest is meticulous work that requires skill, patience, and care.
Once a vulnerable nest has been identified, trained community members carefully excavate each egg by hand.
‘Translocating a nest is a delicate process,’ explains Michael Mwarua Ali, Chairman of the Mtwapa-Maweni Turtle Conservation project. ‘The eggs must be removed one by one and placed in a bucket filled with sand while keeping their original position.’ Even a slight rotation of an egg can damage a developing embryo and reduce its chance of hatching.
The team then recreates the nest in a safer location, carefully placing each egg exactly as it was found before covering it with sand. Every nest is marked, recorded, and monitored until hatchlings emerge. With each egg relocated, they are saving a species, one individual at a time.
‘We are conserving turtles for future generations because we know they are endangered, and every nest we protect gives them another chance,’ Michael says.
Guardians of Kenya's coastline
Kenya's 600-kilometre coastline supports extraordinary marine biodiversity and sustains the livelihoods of an estimated 2.7 million people. Its waters are home to five of the world's seven sea turtle species, including the green turtle, the critically endangered Hawksbill turtle, and the vulnerable loggerhead, leatherback, and olive ridley turtles.
These ancient mariners have navigated the world's oceans for millions of years, helping maintain healthy seagrass meadows and coral reefs while cycling nutrients through marine ecosystems. Yet today they face mounting threats from poaching, accidental capture in fishing gear, plastic pollution, habitat loss, climate change, and unsustainable coastal development.
Female sea turtles do not begin breeding until they are between 20 and 30 years old. They return every two to three years to the same beaches where they hatched, often laying several clutches of eggs—each with up to 120 eggs each—during a single nesting season. With so few hatchlings surviving to adulthood, every protected nest becomes an investment in the future of the species.
By combining scientific knowledge with local expertise, IFAW and our community partners are helping change the tides for sea turtles. Along Kenya's coast, protecting turtle nests is about more than saving individual hatchlings—it is helping secure healthier oceans where marine life and coastal communities can thrive together into the future.
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