Why Turtle Conservation Needs Support
Help protect sea turtles before bycatch, plastic pollution and habitat loss reduce their chances of survival.
If you want to support marine conservation, turtles offer a clear way to make a difference. They travel huge distances and depend on both healthy oceans and protected nesting habitats.
Co-Exist Projects helps direct support toward the people and projects creating measurable protection for turtles.
Each sea turtle species uniquely affects the diversity, habitat and functionality of its environment. Whether by grazing on seagrass, controlling sponge distribution, feasting on jellyfish, transporting nutrients or supporting other marine life, sea turtles play vital roles in maintaining the health of the oceans.
Unfortunately, over the past few centuries, sea turtle populations have experienced significant declines. Before a species goes physically extinct, it can become ecologically extinct. Ecological extinction, which occurs when the number of individuals in a species becomes so small that it is unable to perform its ecological role
Sea turtle populations around the world have dwindled in recent centuries and in many places, continue to decline.
For some populations, there is risk not only of ecological extinction, but of physical extinction as well. Natural resource managers are moving towards an “ecosystem approach” to managing the oceans. The first step in taking an ecosystem approach is to ensure the survival of the key components of the ecosystems, which includes sea turtles.
The next step is to ensure their populations actually recover. Increased populations of sea turtles are a key step in restoring the balance among ocean species, an essential step toward restoring healthy ocean ecosystems. What we do know is that sea turtles-even at diminished population levels-play an important role in ocean ecosystems by maintaining healthy seagrass beds and coral reefs, providing key habitat for other marine life, helping to balance marine food webs and facilitating nutrient cycling from water to land.
WHY ARE RAYS SO IMPORTANT?
What we do know is that sea turtles-even at diminished population levels-play an important role in ocean ecosystems by maintaining healthy seagrass beds and coral reefs, providing key habitat for other marine life, helping to balance marine food webs and facilitating nutrient cycling from water to land. Pollution: Plastics, discarded fishing gear, petroleum by-products, and other debris harm and kill sea turtles through ingestion and entanglement. Light pollution disrupts nesting behavior and causes hatchling death by leading them away from the sea. Nearly all species of sea turtle are now classified as endangered, with three of the seven existing species being critically endangered.
CO-EXIST PURCHASES CONTRIBUTE TO PROTECTING THE WORLDS SEA TURTLE POPULATION!
Dr. Christopher Clarke
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
Why do turtles need support?
Sea turtles face bycatch, habitat loss and plastic pollution across the oceans they travel through.
How can I help?
Visit Marine Conservation Issues, About Us and Donate.
