You can help the conservation of endangered marine turtles found in the seas of the UK, the UK Overseas Territories and West Africa simply by sending a letter to the UK Government. CLICK HERE to download a template letter.
Marine turtles are protected in the UK and in the UK Overseas Territories of Ascension Island and St Helena, but marine turtles do not recognise national boundaries. The UK and UK Overseas Territories share populations of endangered turtles with West African countries, because the turtles swim freely through their territorial waters.
The endangered turtles that we protect in the UK and UK Overseas Territories face many threats in West African waters, particularly from accidental entanglement and drowning in fishing gear (bycatch). Some West African countries have agreed a regional plan of action to address these threats, but they desperately need EU and UK support.
You can help by writing to Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, to urge the UK Government to sign a special, international agreement to help protect marine turtles in West Africa's waters.
Please support this campaign and send your letter today. Read on for more info...
Why we need to help turtles in West Africa now!
Marine turtles in West Africa: All seven remaining species of marine turtle are listed in the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and five of these are regularly found in West African waters. There are considerable threats to marine turtles along the Atlantic coast of Africa and adjacent waters, including bycatch in artisanal and foreign industrial fisheries, habitat disturbance and destruction due to development, as well as the directed take of turtles and their eggs for food. But West African countries are trying to do something to help under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), and we can help too!
Memorandum of Understanding: In 1999, the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) agreed a Memorandum of Understanding concerning Conservation Measures for Marine Turtles of the Atlantic Coast of Africa (MoU). This MoU requires those that sign it, including West African countries and countries who share turtle populations with West African countries, to take action to protect these shared turtle populations. In 2002 the MoU signatory countries adopted a Conservation and Management Plan, which comprehensively outlines the conservation action needed to reduce threats to marine turtles in West African waters.
Why is this relevant to the UK Government? The United Kingdom, Ascension Island and St Helena (both UK Overseas Territories) share range state status with the countries along the Atlantic coast of Africa for populations and aggregations of endangered or critically endangered green, leatherback and possibly hawksbill turtles, but the UK Government has not signed the MoU. MCS believes that there is now overwhelming scientific evidence to support the UK's signature of and participation in the development of the MoU on the grounds that available data suggest:
- the Atlantic Coast of Africa provides developmental habitat for Ascension Island's globally important green turtle population
- ongoing research indicates that leatherbacks nesting in West Africa use Ascension Island's territorial waters
- leatherback populations foraging in UK waters in the summer also forage in West African waters during the winter
- UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) in the Caribbean may provide foraging habitat for green turtles originating from West Africa
- there is evidence of illegal marine turtle trade links between West Africa and the UK
As one of the most politically influential Governments in the world and a member of the European Union, as well as a regionally important English-speaking state in the East Atlantic, we believe the UK, by signing the MoU and facilitating financial, political and scientific support, would provide much needed momentum in the development and implementation of this MoU and associated Conservation and Management Plan. Such support would provide significant benefits to the conservation of globally significant and highly threatened marine turtle populations found along the Atlantic coast of Africa and throughout the region, including those populations and aggregations found in UK and UK Overseas Territorial waters.
Please join us by writing to Secretary of State Hilary Benn to urge the UK Government to sign the MoU as soon as possible.
The facts
Threats: West African waters currently support extensive artisanal and international fishing effort that poses a direct and significant threat to marine turtles in the area, with trawlers and longline fisheries in particular incurring significant marine turtle bycatch (see Lewison et al, 2004, Carranza et al, 2005, Zeeberg et al, 2006). Distant water long-line fleets operating in St Helena's Exclusive Fishing Zone (EFZ) appear to incur significant leatherback turtle bycatch (see Carranza et al, 2005). Marine turtles in West African countries and their territorial waters are also threatened by pollution, development and disturbance of important habitats, as well as direct exploitation for meat and eggs, and for their shells, which are sold as tourist souvenirs (see Formia et al, 2003).
The MoU acknowledges these threats and the associated Conservation and Management Plan (CMP) provides for a comprehensive set of actions to assess and mitigate against them.
Green and hawksbill turtles: We believe that the strongest argument for the UK to sign the MoU lies with the genetic relationships between Ascension Island's nesting green turtle population and immature and adult green turtles sampled at several foraging sites along the West African coast, including those in Gabon, Sao Tome, Equatorial Guinea and the entire coastline between Togo and Liberia, recently revealed by Bolker et al (2007). Genetic analysis of these stocks strongly indicates that juvenile green turtles originating from the breeding population at Ascension Island use coastal foraging habitat in the territorial waters of West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea. Given the known longevity and life history of green turtles (see Chaloupka & Musick, 1997) it is likely that some of the Ascension Island green turtles spend many years, if not decades, at these important, developmental foraging grounds. As mentioned above, there are serious conservation concerns for marine turtles at these foraging grounds.
In addition, genetic stock analysis of juvenile green turtles foraging in the territorial waters of the UKOTs in the Caribbean suggests that there may be some gene flow between nesting and foraging aggregations on either side of the Atlantic. Analysis of genetic samples taken from juvenile green turtles foraging in the waters of Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands indicates that these UKOT waters may provide foraging habitat for green turtles originating from West African rookeries (see Godley et al, 2004, Formia et al, 2006).
Similar, ongoing analysis is revealing genetic similarities between the juvenile hawksbills foraging in Ascension Island waters and those nesting and foraging in West African waters. Hence, Ascension is likely to host hawksbills of West African origin and which appear to be highly divergent from those commonly found in the Western Atlantic.
UK support for the MoU and associated CMP could significantly enhance efforts to tackle the threats facing the UKOT green and hawksbill aggregations when they use West African waters.
Leatherback turtles: Ongoing satellite telemetry research by the University of Exeter on Gabon's nesting leatherback population is revealing that some of the leatherbacks reported in Ascension Island's territorial waters (see White & George, 2002, Broderick et al, 2002) are originating from Gabon, possibly using Ascension Island's waters as foraging grounds. Leatherback turtle bycatch in high seas longline fisheries has been widely documented, and there is significant longline fishery effort adjacent to and within the Exclusive Fishing Zones of Ascension Island and St Helena (see Lewison et al, 2004, Carranza et al, 2006). Indeed, longline fisheries operating within St Helena's Exclusive Fishing Zone are known to incur significant bycatch of leatherback turtles (see Carranza et al, 2006).
Furthermore, the results of ongoing satellite telemetry research by the University College Cork on two leatherbacks satellite tagged while foraging in Irish waters, and one turtle tagged by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) after nesting on a nesting beach in Surinam, concur with previous satellite telemetry studies of leatherback turtles in the Atlantic (see Hays et al, 2004) and strongly indicate that some of the leatherback turtles found in UK and Irish waters also use West African coastal waters. These ongoing satellite telemetry studies therefore strongly suggest that the UK shares range state status with West African states with respect to Atlantic leatherback populations.
UK support for the MoU and CMP could significantly improve efforts to tackle the major threats to leatherback turtles along the Atlantic coast of Africa and throughout the region, including the threats posed by longline fisheries, thereby contributing to the conservation of the leatherback turtles using both UK, UKOT and West African waters.
Illegal trade in marine turtle products from West Africa to the UK: The UK Government's CITES website identifies and advises travellers about Nigeria as an illegal CITES listed species trade hotspot. HM Revenue & Customs statistics reveal that between 2000 and 2006, marine turtle products have been illegally imported into the UK from Nigeria, as well as from Gabon, Gambia, Ghana and Sierra Leone. These seizures are more than likely only representative of more extensive illegal imports of turtle products into the UK and indicate that there are illegal trade links between the UK and West Africa involving turtle products.
The MoU Conservation and Management Plan provides for mechanisms for signatory states to reduce the direct exploitation required to fuel this trade, through conservation action and legislative change. By signing the MoU, the UK could benefit from enhanced international cooperation through the MoU to improve regional efforts to tackle this crime at source.
You can help - please support this campaign and send your letter today.
Chaloupka MY & Musick, JA (1997). Age, growth and population dynamics. In Lutz P.L. Musick, J. (eds) The Biology of Sea Turtles. ISBN 0-8493-8422-2, CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, Florida. Pp 233-276.
Formia A, Broderick A, Bruford M, Ciofi C, Clerveaux W, Gore S, Gumbs J, Jeffers J, McGowan A, Pickering A, Ranger S, Richardson P, Wheatley D, White J & Godley B (2006). Green and hawksbill turtle genetic analysis of nesting and feeding grounds in the UK Overseas Territories in the Caribbean: mixed stock analysis and conservation implications. Final unpublished report to DEFRA for the Turtles in the Caribbean Overseas Territories (TCOT) Project.