Kei Islands cut the number of leatherback turtles and nests taken for food by 85 per cent

In the Kei Islands of Indonesia, the number of leatherback turtles and turtle nests taken for consumption has fallen by 85 per cent. The reduction is credited to a partnership between NOAA, WWF-US and WWF-Indonesia, which has worked on leatherback conservation in the Indo-Pacific since 2017. The approach has been driven locally, with community monitoring on the nesting beaches as a central part of the work. Leatherbacks are the largest living sea turtles and are classed as vulnerable to extinction, so protecting nesting females and their eggs matters for the whole population. The result shows what can happen when the people who live beside the beaches are part of the plan. It is set out in NOAA Fisheries' Endangered Species Day roundup.