State of the World's Sea Turtles (SWOT)

MCSS has recently submitted Turtle nesting data gathered over the course of the 2004-05 and 2005-06 Hawksbill Nesting Season to the State of the World's Sea Turtles (SWoT) initiative. This data was gathered under the ongoing South Mahé Nesting Turtle Monitoring Programme funded by Banyan Tree Resort’s Green Imperative Fund.

The MCSS data was combined with that of various monitoring programmes around the world to create a global map of Hawksbill nesting sites. This map demonstrates the number of nests recorded or estimated at every available nesting site in the 2006 or 2005–2006 season.

SWOT report III featuring the first global map of Hawksbill nesting sites, including data contributed by MCSS, photo: www.SeaTurtleStatus.org

The SWoT initiative aims to generate greater synergy between Turtle programmes around the world while taking full advantage of the facilities and tools that have developed for Turtle Researchers over the past quarter century. Facilities such as; the Annual Sea Turtle Symposium, the Marine Turtle Newsletter, the IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group, the Seaturtle.org website and the Journal on Chelonian Conservation Biology which provide valuable information and resources for a far-flung band of researchers, conservationists, and turtle enthusiasts from around the world. The aim of the SWOT report is to focus the outputs of these valuable resources into a global status report to promote the conservation of sea turtles and their habitats.