Sea Turtle SAFE Small Grants Programs
Sea Turtle SAFE Partners with the State of the World’s Sea Turtles (SWOT) and Laud Opo to fund impactful local projects saving sea turtles worldwide. Grants are awarded to programs making direct and measurable impacts on sea turtle conservation in their communities for the critically endangered Eastern Pacific leatherback and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles. Grants are awarded for three categories of proposals: Education & Outreach, Networking & Capacity Building, and Science.
- Grants were made to 32 different groups/individuals working in 7 countries:
- Chile (2)
- Ecuador (1)
- Colombia (3)
- Costa Rica (1)
- Nicaragua (1)
- Mexico (28)
- USA (11)
- 23 grants supported Kemp’s ridley projects
- 23 grants supported Eastern Pacific leatherback projects
AZA-SAFE/SWOT
In 2019, the Sea Turtle SAFE Program (STSP) established a Small Grants Program partnership with the Oceanic Society and State of the World’s Sea Turtles (SWOT). Grants are awarded for three categories of proposals: Education and Outreach, Networking and Capacity Building, and Science. https://www.seaturtlestatus.org/swot-grantees/category/AZA-SAFE%2FSWOT+Grants
Details about specific grants can be found at SWOT Grants — The State of the World's Sea Turtles | SWOT (seaturtlestatus.org)
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Adopt-A-Beach
Research has shown that monitoring and protection of nesting beaches can be critically important for recovery of the Eastern Pacific leatherback. While many primary nesting beaches are already protected, many secondary beaches are not. The Sea Turtle SAFE Program has implemented a model strategy called Adopt-A-Beach to provide resources for important secondary nesting beaches which are in need of funding support and often located outside of otherwise protected areas.
Playa Cabuyal, Gulf of Papagayo, Costa Rica
Sponsored by: North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island, the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, and the Sea Turtle SAFE Program
The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on beach monitoring and nest protection programs in Costa Rica. The Sea Turtle SAFE Program initiated an emergency funding grant to The Leatherback Trust in support of Playa Cabuyal in 2020. This beach project not only protects nesting leatherbacks, it also benefits other species including green and olive ridley sea turtles.
Playa Ventura, Guerrero, Mexico
Sponsored by: Sponsored by South Carolina Aquarium
Beginning in 2024, the Sea Turtle SAFE Program initiated its second Adopt-A-Beach project at Playa Ventura in Mexico. Led by the Campamento Tortuguero Los Quelonios organization and also supported by Kutzari A.C., the project will provide protection for nesting leatherbacks as well as olive ridleys and black turtles (also known as green turtles).
Soy Lora
The Sea Turtle SAFE Program worked with the Gladys Porter Zoo to commission a second edition Spanish version of Soy Lora (I’m Ridley), a children’s book about the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle. We continue to print copies for distribution in communities where Kemp’s ridleys nest.
The book follows one hatchling as it braves the perils of sandy beaches where people gather, travels across the ocean as it grows, escapes entanglement in ghost fishing gear, and meets other animal species in a rehabilitation center.
These impactful books were developed and printed in Mexico and have been distributed to educators and conservation groups in local fishing communities and neighborhoods near Kemp’s ridley nesting beaches in Tamaulipas, Mexico, the primary nesting area for the entire population.
Networking and Collaborations
The Sea Turtle SAFE Program recognizes the importance of supporting national and international sea turtle science and conservation meetings. Sponsorship support was provided for the following:
- 2023
- Southeast Regional Sea Turtle Meeting (SERSTM), Orange Beach, Alabama
- 41st International Sea Turtle Symposium (ISTS), Cartagena, Colombia
- Eastern Pacific Leatherback Conservation Network (Red Laúd OPO) Meeting held at ISTS
- Team BEACH workshop, Creating Behavior Change Campaigns for Sea Turtle Conservation held at ISTS
- 2024
- 42nd International Sea Turtle Symposium (ISTS) in Pattaya, Thailand
- Team BEACH (Be A Changemaker) social science workshop, Creating Behavior Change Campaigns for Sea Turtle Conservation held at ISTS
- 2025
- 43rd International Sea Turtle Symposium (ISTS) in Accra, Ghana
- Team BEACH (Be A Changemaker) social science workshop, Creating Behavior Change Campaigns for Sea Turtle Conservation held at at ISTS
