Gabon is an important rookery for both Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) and Olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) sea turtles (Witt et al., 2009), which are both currently listed by the IUCN as Vulnerable with the eastern Atlantic population of Olive ridleys considered data deficient.
To date, however, most field surveys in Central Africa have been designed for leatherbacks and so knowledge on the relative density of nesting beach use by Olive ridleys is considered a conservation priority. This study seeks to fill this knowledge gap through a campaign of coastal transects starting in Pongara National Park in the north and ending at the Gabon Congo border frontier in the south.
Pierre Didier Agamboué and Kristian Metcalfe walking the coast of Gabon.
This data together with data from monitored nesting beaches will allow us to generate a model of Olive ridley distribution along the Central African coast, which is essential to determining potential impacts of coastal and marine development on this species, and so allow for more effective marine spatial planning efforts in support of marine protected area design, fisheries management and petrochemical related activities. More importantly this survey will allow us to generate the first population estimate of Olive ridleys in the eastern Atlantic.
“Preliminary findings suggest that Gabon is likely to host one of the eastern Atlantic’s major Olive ridley populations with a range that spans waters as far south as Angola, and so will be of regional and global relevance”.
Dominic Tilley, Kristian Metcalfe and Pierre Didier Agamboué walking the coast of Gabon (with plenty of rain).
This survey was a collaborative effort between Agence National des Parcs Nationaux (ANPN), CENAREST (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique), Partenariat pour les Tortues Marines du Gabon (PTMG), Fondation Liambissi, Ibonga, the Wildlife Conservation Society, WWF, Stanford University, the Marine Conservation Institute and the Marine Turtle Research Group at the University of Exeter, and was generously sponsored by the Darwin Initiative and Tullow Oil.
DI Central Africa 