SPGA Expands Scientific Monitoring to Protect Hawksbill Turtle Populations

The Seychelles Parks & Gardens Authority has expanded its sea turtle nest temperature monitoring programme to the Ste Anne and Curieuse Marine National Parks, marking a significant step in understanding how climate change may be affecting the reproductive success of Seychelles’ sea turtles, particularly the Critically Endangered hawksbill turtle. This initiative is being implemented in close collaboration with renowned marine turtle specialist Dr. Jeanne A. Mortimer, who is serving as technical consultant. Together, SPGA and Dr. Mortimer are establishing a long-term monitoring system that records sand temperatures at the depth where turtle nests are typically laid, providing crucial insights into incubation conditions.

Because sea turtles exhibit temperature-dependent sex determination, rising sand temperatures linked to global climate change raise concerns about shifts in hatchling sex ratios and the long-term health of populations. To ensure the success of the programme, SPGA rangers are receiving both classroom and practical field training in temperature-monitoring techniques, the deployment and retrieval of data loggers, nest-relocation protocols, and data handling. Temperature loggers have already been installed across key beaches within Ste Anne Marine Park, and the same monitoring system has been deployed at Curieuse National Park, allowing SPGA to compare temperature patterns and nesting conditions across two of Seychelles’ most important turtle nesting habitats.

The project is designed to build multi-year temperature records rather than provide a one-off analysis. These records will be combined with SPGA’s ongoing nesting-monitoring data, enabling conservationists to examine how incubation conditions vary.