Between 2002 and 2006 MCS worked with the Marine Turtle Research Group (MTRG) at the University of Exeter and project partners throughout the UK Overseas Territories in the Caribbean to further the conservation and management of the marine turtle populations found there.

Turtles in the Caribbean Overseas Territories (TCOT) involved project partners in Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands in an assessment of the status and exploitation of the marine turtle populations found there. Click below to download the final TCOT project report:

Godley et al (2004), An Assessment of the Status and Exploitation of Marine Turtles in the UK Overseas Territories in the Wider Caribbean. Publ. online.

Turtles in the UK Overseas Territories (TUKOT) followed up some of the TCOT project recommendations in Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands by producing educational materials that were also produced for Ascension Island, the British Indian Ocean Territory and Gibraltar.  In addition, the TUKOT project involved some satellite tagging research that also raised local awareness of the range of these spectacular animals. To download the TUKOT materials and find out more about the satellite tagging projects, click here.

To read about the journey of Malliouhana, the first female leatherback to be tagged in Anguilla (below) as part of the TUKOT project, click here. 

In addition, MCS Species Policy Officer Peter Richardson and TCOT project partners have recently published the following paper regarding the requirments of international environmental agreements and the marine turtle harvest legislation in the UK Overseas Territories in the Caribbean (click to download)  

Richardson et al (2006). Marine turtle fisheries in the UK Overseas Territories in the Caribbean: Domestic legislation and the requirements of the multilateral agreements. Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy, 9:223-246, 2006.