In 1978, green sea turtles were placed on the endangered species list primarily due to human activities like bycatch in fisheries, habitat loss from coastal development, pollution, commercial hunting for their meat, and harvesting of their eggs. Other threats include entanglement in marine debris, being struck by boats, and climate change. For more than 40 years, they teetered on the brink of extinction around the world.
But since the 1970s, multiple conservation efforts have supported the animals’ recovery. These have included international bans on commercial trade of sea turtles, and national laws prohibiting fishing for their meat and harvesting their eggs. There are community efforts aimed at guarding nesting beaches from poachers and from rising seas that can flood turtles’ nests. There has been consistent conservation work by thousands of people for decades at hundreds of locations around the world.
The work has paid off. In October, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the organization that maintains the Red List of Threatened Species, reported that the global population of green turtles has increased nearly 30% since the 1970s. As a result, the green sea turtle has been reclassified as a species of least concern.
The news is not all good. While the global population has increased, some subpopulations are still in trouble – for example in the Central South Pacific, which includes American Samoa, Fiji, and other island nations. The large population in Raine Island, off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, faces threats triggered by the changing climate. So, even with all the progress, conservation efforts are still required.
