Save the Gili Turtles & Help to Build a Hatchery

Let the turtles swim free!

Tourism is returning rapidly to full swing, it feels like a real high season again on Gili, like one not witnessed for almost 3 years!

We are unfortunately seeing fewer turtles landing on the beaches, but also more reports of those that do successfully nest, getting caught in buckets of seawater ready to release or to start their own head-starting program. The few like this that has happened, we've managed to coax an immediate release which has been fantastic!

Turtle Training with beach resorts is critical to ensure awareness with all the staff that work on the beaches with tourists. I've got a group of 3 strong individuals that are a part of the local conservation youth group on the island delighted to help teach and educate the beach bars and resorts about turtle landings and hatching events.

In a 15-minute presentation on the beach with bar staff, Ibu Susi, Yani and Matla'ah will show a short video in Bahasa Indonesia and create a role-playing game of a turtle coming up the beach (a member of staff) so proper protocols can be taught of what to do if a turtle lands on the beach.

This new education will hopefully raise awareness and gain trust with Gili Eco Trust and empower the bar staff/owners to protect their own beaches whilst building rapport with this amazing team of Gili Eco Girls for future eco projects and collaborations in the Gili community.

Increasing our turtle network:

We've spent considerable time creating a network of turtle experts across Indonesia, and SE Asia. Be this in the form of other successful hatcheries, governmental wildlife protection bodies and well-established wildlife NGO's, we feel our presence will not only benefit the turtles local to the Gili Islands, but we've started offering help, advice and learning to organizations across the world, even as far as Jordan!

We are so delighted to have met the founder of Yayasan Penyu, (The Turtle Foundation) last month. This inspirational team has been protecting and safeguarding turtle nests across Indonesia for more than 20 years. Our aim will be to eventually send our team of Turtle Rangers to learn and train from the rangers in East Kalimantan who protect Indonesia's largest nesting beach for green turtles.

After sharing their ideas for the educational turtle centre & experience, we're working alongside to brainstorm ways to create an immersive experience via a self-guided garden tour around the incubation centre that could be replicated in other hatcheries or places of wildlife interest to educate further afield about why turtle need the ocean, not tanks to grow up in. If our supporters or network have any experience in this, then we'd love some advice or to share ideas with how this will become one of Gilis leading touristic activities - without having to keep turtles in captivity!

Many more exciting announcements are coming from this soon!

We want to thank you once again for your generous support for our turtle hatchery project on Gili Trawangan. Your donations are what is keeping this project moving forward!

Every day we are coming closer to protecting and safeguarding the populations of turtles across the Gili Islands.