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Marine conservation groups have raised concern over illegal harvesting of sea turtles in the Kenyan coast and are worried the animals are at the verge of extinction if measures are not taken to conserve their current population. 

Slaughtered for their eggs, meat, skin and shells, sea turtles suffer from poaching and over-exploitation. 

They (conservationists) say the population of turtles, which are currently migrating to the coast and through Kenyan waters, a major tourist attraction, is also dwindling because of degradation of their habitats and from fisheries through accidental capture also known as bycatch, in set gillnets and trawl nets.

The fishing gears, they say, cause either drowning through entanglement or they are opportunistically harvested by the fishermen.

“Due to their unique ecology and highly migratory nature, the many threats sea turtles face has led to drastic decline of their global population,” Carlos Fondo of Watamu Turtle Watch told Travelwise.

Additional threats include loss and degradation of nesting and foraging grounds from coastal development, pollution from land based sources, marine debris, oil spills, oil and gas exploration, predation of hatchings and juveniles, diseases and emerging threats related to climate change.

Climate change impacts include global warming, leading to potential rising sea levels, thus loss of nesting beaches, increased sand temperatures, which affect sex ratios and eggs hatching, coral bleaching and alteration of foraging habitats.

Population decline

Increased carbon dioxide concentration may lead to acidification of ocean water while change in ocean current may alter migratory routes and feeding patterns.

Marine watch groups say climate change may lead to extreme rainfall thus increasing silt deposition to coral reefs.

According to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Fisheries Department, the world population of sea turtles is estimated to have declined by 80 per cent over the last 50 years yet they play a critical role in the marine ecosystem.

Their presence of the marine reptiles that inhabit every ocean basin in the tropical, subtropical and some cases in the Artic, the two bodies add, is an indicator of health in the marine environment as well as tourism attraction in the country.

All the five species of the Indian Ocean sea turtles are found in Kenya and of these, the Green turtle, Hawksbill turtle are classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as critically endangered.

The other three endangered are Olive Ridley turtle, which nets and forage in Kenya, the Loggerhead and the Leatherback, which use the country waters as migratory routes and foraging grounds.

National strategy needed

“Effective management and recovery of Kenya’s sea turtle population can only be achieved through implementation of a national strategy that links into regional and international initiatives to protect nesting beaches and critical foraging habitats from degradation, eliminate illegal harvesting, their trade and products,” says Fondo.

Others, he says, are to mitigate fisheries impacts, and enhance collaborative participation of local communities and other stakeholders in conservation.

The Green turtle is said to be the most exploited species for trade because its meat and body oil have financial value among coastal communities.

Fondo says locals believe that the turtle oil is an aphrodisiac, dispels evil spirits, and can be used for medicinal value curing various ailments, such as liver diseases and asthma. 

Increased commercial scale coastal and beach front developments, especially in the hotel and tourism industry, conservationists, eologists and biologists say cause widespread destruction and erosion of nesting beaches and disruption of turtles nesting activities.

Fondo says slow growth and low recruitment rates from juvenile to adult life stage are some of the factors that make them vulnerable, necessitating extra conservation measures.

Vulnerabilities

“Sea turtles are generally nesting site specific, making them vulnerable to anthropogenic threats,” says Fondo. 

“ Their population can be trans boundary, making them vulnerable where international laws to protect them are not enforced,” he adds.

Progress has been made in addressing challenges in sea turtle conservation and putting in place appropriate legal frameworks including the involvement of local communities and other stakeholders, have not always been nationally coordinated.

“Regional collaboration in conservation is crucial, especially for the range states, which share the same population.

This also includes the international level where Kenya has memorandum of understandings, conventions and treaties governing their protection and conservation,” says Fikiri Kaponda of Watamu Turtle Outreach and Awareness Programme.

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) in 2005 signed the Indian Ocean South East Asia (IOSEA) Marine Turtle Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which puts in place a framework through which states of the Indian Ocean and South East Asia region can work together to conserve and replenish depleted sea turtles population.

“The MOU focuses on reducing threats, conserving critical habitat, exchanging scientific data, increasing public awareness and participation, promoting regional cooperation, and seeking resources for implementation of the management plan,” says KWS spokesperson Paul Udoto.

He says the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act Cap 236 and Fisheries Act Cap 378 of the laws of Kenya is inadequate to promote the recovery of depleted stocks. 

“The legislation is inadequate in scope, strength and penalties. Any legislation that will enhance marine turtle conservation must cover the turtle as a species of special concern, their eggs and products like meat, shell and oil as well as their habitats that include nesting beaches and foraging grounds,” says Kaponda.

Current legislation, he observes, only address a total ban on the usage of turtle products without addressing their habitats, adding the land and sea buffer defined as the riparian zone as mentioned in the Wildlife Act for protected areas and the Survey Act for the Kenyan coast line are poorly understood and rarely enforced by the property owners, planners, resource managers and law enforcement agencies.

For sustainable management and conservation of sea turtles, the conservationist says there is need to expand patrols and monitoring of all nesting beaches, improve monitoring of fisheries interactions with turtles, strengthen enforcement of laws and continuously review of fishing gears and techniques to reduce their mortality.