SEA TURTLES

Sea turtles nest along the sandy beaches and forage amongst the lush seagrass beds and vibrant coral reefs in many areas WILDCOAST is working to conserve.

Image Credit: Ralph Pace

Mexico's Most Important Sea Turtle Nesting Beach

Morro Ayuta is a 9 mile stretch of beach on Mexico's Oaxacan coast where more than 1 million Olive Ridley sea turtles laid 90 million eggs producing 30 million hatchlings during the nesting season.

Image Credit: Claudio Contreras-Koob

Coastal development, pollution, poaching, disasters such as oil spills, and climate change pose tremendous threats to sea turtle populations worldwide.

WILDCOAST is providing trainings and workshops for park rangers, tourism outfitters and local communities, protecting nesting beaches through federal zone concessions and working to establish new protected areas that are critical to sea turtles’ survival.

Protect

We protect sea turtle nesting beaches in
the Mexican Pacific through federal zone
concessions, monitoring, scarab beetle
control and community outreach
and engagement.

Image Credit: Claudio Contreras

Partner

To protect critical sea turtle habitat, we
work in partnership with the
National Mexican Turtle Center, Mexico’s
National Commission for Protected
Natural Areas (CONANP) and local
communities.

Image Credit: Claudio Contreras

Where We Work

Our programs support and protect critical nesting beaches and foraging grounds for sea turtles in the United States, Mexico and Cuba.

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Our Impact

54.5

miles of sea turtle nesting beaches protected on Mexico’s Pacific coast

+2,080,000

turtles nested on Morro Ayuta since 2019

795

students engaged as sea turtle conservation stewards in Oaxaca in 2020

65

members of local communities on the Oaxaca coast trained in oil spill response

200,000

predatory beetles captured on Morro Ayuta in 2020

DONATE

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Image Credit: Miguel Angel de la Cueva

Volunteer

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Image Credit: Claudio Contreras-Koob

More of our work

CORAL REEFS

Coral reefs play an important role in sustaining our oceans and global economies. WILDCOAST is working to conserve coral reefs throughout Mexico and Cuba by establishing protected areas and promoting reef stewardship and education.
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Image Credit: Claudio Contreras-Koob

WHALES

The gray whale winters and breeds in Baja’s warm, pristine lagoons—an area threatened by industrial development. Together with the local government and conservation groups, WILDCOAST is defending this vital shoreline.
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Image Credit: Claudio Contreras-Koob

CLIMATE CHANGE

As global temperatures rise, sea levels are climbing. In partnership with Mexico’s National Commission for Protected Natural Areas, WILDCOAST is helping conserve thousands of acres of carbon-storing mangroves in northwest Mexico.
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Image Credit: Miguel Angel de la Cueva

MANGROVES

Mangroves are among the world’s greatest carbon sequestering plants, absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it within their rich soils.
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Image Credit: WILDCOAST

WILDLANDS

Spanning the Baja California peninsula are millions of acres of protected areas that include open ocean, rugged islands, mangrove lagoons and wilderness coastline.
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Image Credit: Daniel Cartamil

COASTAL WETLANDS

In 1971 the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance was signed as an international treaty for worldwide wetland conservation. Wetlands are recognized for their ecological importance on a global scale, acting as buffers for coastal communities and providing important habitat for thousands of species.
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Image Credit: Claudio Contreras-Koob

OCEANS

From the rugged coast of Northern California to the vibrant shores of Oaxaca and across borders, the oceans connect us all. Our programs establish new marine protected areas, deter poachers and build conservation capacity in local communities.
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Image Credit: Ralph Lee Hopkins