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Sea turtles are one of the most exciting animals to see in the wild, and Vanuatu’s waters are home to four of the seven species found worldwide: Hawksbill, Green, Loggerhead and Leatherback. Hawksbill, Green and Leatherback turtles also come ashore to lay their eggs on Vanuatu’s beaches during the summer months (October to March).

Sea turtles are charismatic animals and many people, both from Vanuatu and our visiting tourists, are excited to see them. But turtles are threatened species and can be easily disturbed by humans and other human activities can also have detrimental effec

If the turtle shows any signs of avoidance, move slowly away from the turtle. Signs of disturbance include

These guidelines are for when turtles are sighted from non-motorised vessels (boats, kayaks, canoes, sailings dingeys, stand-up paddleboards, surfboards etc.)

Follow these guidelines to: make it easier for female turtles to crawl up the beach to lay their eggs, Make it safe for hatchlings to crawl down the beach to the sea , Protect the nests from damge, Protect important turtle habitat.

Sea turtles are threatened species and can be easily disturbed by humans. This guideline aims to dive you the knowledge to ensure that our interactions with turtles do not cause them harm or stress and they remain happy and healthy in the future.

This factsheet shows the life cycle of marine turtles

The Pacific BioScapes Programme is providing support to produce best practice guidelines and a code of conduct for tourism operators to guide how they can interact appropriately and safely with turtles in Vanuatu. Through BioScapes, the Vanuatu Environmental Science Society is consulting with stakeholders and the government, and reviewing other global and national criterias to produce the new guidelines.

Known as Koroliko in Vanuatu, wedge-tailed shearwaters are a common seabird that forages over wide areas of the Pacific Ocean. BirdLife International will work with local communities in Vanuatu to examine harvested birds, collect any dead chicks, or carcasses of adult birds, to examine for plastic ingestion and to undertake toxicological analysis.

The rapid expansion of kava farms, and the increase in market value for the plant, has resulted in an increased clearing of native forests in key growing zones. Cleared cultivation areas are now penetrating some of the most well preserved native forests of the Pacific region. To what extent this is currently impacting on biodiversity and Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) is not yet fully known, especially in Fiji and Vanuatu.