Indonesia houses six out of seven of the world’s turtle species: leatherback turtle, green turtle, hawksbill turtle, olive ridley turtle, loggerhead turtle and flatback turtle.

Indonesia serves as a vital nesting and foraging ground for sea turtles as it has many islands, an extensive coastline and huge spreads of sea grass beds and coral reefs (Zainudin, Pet-Soede, Hitipeuw & Adnyana, 2007). However, the population of sea turtles in Indonesia is in decline and faces endangerment due to various human threats. Six species of sea turtles are already included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. As such, there is a pressing need to examine and encourage conservation efforts for sea turtles in Indonesia.

In this blog, we will examine the reasons behind the decline in the population of sea turtles and the approaches taken in conserving them.