Exploratory Habitat Investigations
Identifying new and important habitats for hawksbill turtles is vital to restoring their population. Visiting coastal communities and fishing ports to conduct interview surveys with local inhabitants and glean information on potentially important sites for hawksbills and conducting opportunistic in-water and beach monitoring leads to the discovery of important habitats.
• Increased community buy-in to hawksbill conservation for economic and social reasons has facilitated cooperative relationships with local people that result in valuable data.
• Hawksbills depend on highly vegetated coastlines for nesting. • Mangroves provide critical habitat for hawksbills and can lead to declining populations if destroyed or fragmented.