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Adopt a Sea Turtle

Adopting a sea turtle is one of the most meaningful ways to support the work of Project Biodiversity in Sal, Cabo Verde! Your donation will allow you to symbolically adopt a hatchling for yourself or a loved one.

Submit your adoption here

How To Adopt A Sea Turtle Hatchling With Project Biodiversity

Adopting a hatchling is easy: first, fill out the form below. After submitting it, you will be sent to a new page where you will find the different options for making your donation. There is no fixed amount to be donated, as we want to give everybody the opportunity to enjoy this special gift.

You choose how much you help us save endangered sea turtles in Cabo Verde!

(On average, people donate €20)

Submit your adoption here

Why You Should Support Project Biodiversity and Sea Turtle Conservation

Immediate action is crucial. The latest projections from the IUCN Red Listing present a grim reality: Six of seven sea turtle species are on the brink of extinction or are endangered or significantly threatened.

By adopting a sea turtle, you become crucial in our quest to protect these beautiful creatures and the precious habitats in Cabo Verde they visit to nest. Your support helps ensure their survival for generations to come.

Sea turtles are a keystone species, meaning they are imperative for health and balance in our oceans as prey and consumers, competitors, and hosts. The effect on marine ecosystems worldwide would significantly weaken if they went extinct.

Yet these essential creatures face numerous threats to their survival, threatening the very fabric of the ocean ecosystems in which they live and their survival as a species.

Who we are

Sea Turtles Face Many Serious Threats in Cabo Verde

The sub-population of loggerheads we find in Cabo Verde is considered one of the 11 most endangered sea turtle populations worldwide. Currently, the biggest threats to sea turtles include habitat loss, plastic pollution, climate change, entanglement (in fishing gear), invasive predators, and poaching for meat and eggs.

Plastic Pollution

Sea Turtles often become entangled in discarded and lost fishing nets, and they struggle to swim, resulting in drowning.
The micro and macro plastic pollution they ingest causes long-term health issues, affecting their growth and reproduction.
Marine pollution on the beach also reduces the chances of baby turtles safely escaping from the nest and heading to the sea.

This crisis isn't just in Sal; it's global. Sea turtles are in danger from the Caribbean to the Pacific due to plastic pollution, impacting entire marine ecosystems.

Entanglement

A significant portion of ocean plastic pollution comes from abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear, known as ghost nets. These deadly traps entangle and kill countless marine animals each year, including sea turtles. Around the islands, sea turtles are often found entangled in these nets. Sometimes, we reach them in time to free them, though often with injuries. Tragically, in many cases, they are already lost—succumbing to starvation, drowning, or predators before help can arrive.

Invasive Predators

Due to invasive predators and other threats, only about 1 in 1,000 sea turtle hatchlings are estimated to survive to adulthood.
Invasive predators, often introduced by humans as pets or pests, are the main drivers of biodiversity loss, especially in small islands. In Sal, hundreds of sea turtle nests are dug up by stray dogs every year, while cats and dogs also eat the newborn turtles. Generations of stray dogs have become wild dogs and have learned to attack nesting loggerhead turtles, killing or fatally injuring them while nesting.

Poaching

Despite laws protecting sea turtles, there is still much poaching in and around Cabo Verde. Illegal poaching persists, fueled by demand for sea turtle products. This exploitation severely disrupts populations, depleting the number of nesting females and reducing the amount of baby turtles and, therefore, the future of the population.
In Cabo Verde, the traditional consumption of sea turtle meat leads to the tragic loss of hundreds of these endangered creatures every year on the different islands.

Habitat Loss

Human activities and tourism pose severe threats to sea turtle habitats. Coastal development—such as buildings, hotels, and resorts—can devastate essential nesting beaches. The intense human presence in these areas disrupts nesting sea turtles, making it increasingly difficult to lay eggs, often destroying the incubating nests and making it nearly impossible for the vulnerable baby sea turtles to reach the ocean safely.

Climate change

Warming ocean temperatures due to climate change are devastating sea turtle populations in several ways: altered migration patterns expose them to new threats, rising seas and hotter sand destroy nesting beaches and skew sex ratios, degraded coral reefs and seagrass habitats reduce food sources, and increased disease weakens their immune systems. Climate change is exposing sea turtles to many threats in all stages of their life cycle, making it increasingly difficult for them to survive and reproduce.

Urgent action is needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect remaining sea turtle populations.

Our Approach to Sea Turtle Conservation

Cabo Verde is among the top three largest nesting sites worldwide for loggerheads (Florida and Oman are the other two). That's why we take great care as an organisation to protect the sea turtles that come here to nest.

Our work

Here are some of the activities we are involved in to ensure the protection of sea turtles in Cabo Verde:

Creating safe turtle nesting zones around nesting beaches.
Monitoring nesting beaches through beach patrols
Monitoring and studying the nesting population of adult females
Monitoring and studying nests and hatchlings
Educating and raising awareness locally and internationally
Cleaning beaches
Lobbying for sustainable practices within the tourism sector

How Your Donations Help

Adopt a Sea Turtle

Our sea turtle conservation efforts depend on our staff and volunteers' incredible dedication, and your generosity in donations. Your contributions provide the essential resources that allow us to protect these magnificent creatures and their habitats, ensuring our work can continue and grow. Without your support, our mission would not be possible.

Adopt a Sea Turtle