Gabon home to the largest rookery of olive ridley turtles in the Atlantic

English

It is already known that Gabon is home to the world’s largest rookery of leatherback turtles, and new data have extended the accolade of globally important populations to olive ridley turtles.

An impressive level of commitment has been sustained by a consortium of conservation groups to ensure ongoing turtle monitoring activities in Gabon. This is coordinated through the members of the Partenariat pour les Tortues Marines du Gabon, with ANPN and in collaboration with the University of Exeter.

These efforts, conducted over 585 km coastline and at several permanent monitoring stations for the 2013/2014 nesting season, revealed between 8662-14033 nests, indicating that the Gabon rookery is the most important in the Atlantic. Moreover, 81% of the nests fell within protected area boundaries, showing just how important the national parks are for protecting globally important populations. 

Reference

Metcalfe, K., Agamboué, P.D., Augowet, E., Boussamba, F., Cardiec, F., Fay, J.M., Formia, A., Kema Kema, J.R., Kouerey, C., Mabert, B.D.K., Maxwell, S.M., Minton, G., Mounguengui Mounguengui, G.A., Moussounda, C., Moukoumou, N., Manfoumbi, J.C., Nguema, A.M., Nzegoue, J., Parnell, R.J., du Plessis, P., Sounguet, G.-P., Tilley, D., Verhage, S., Viljoen, W., White, L., Witt, M.J., Godley, B.J., 2015. Going the extra mile: Ground-based monitoring of olive ridley turtles reveals Gabon hosts the largest rookery in the Atlantic. Biological Conservation 190, 14–22. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2015.05.008