Sustained and coordinated global conservation efforts since the 1950s, including protecting nesting beaches, releasing hatchlings, reducing accidental capture in fishing gear and raising public awareness, have now led to a notable recovery and encouraging population rebounds for green turtles.
The latest Red List of endangered species was revealed at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) world congress in Abu Dhabi. The list now includes 172,620 species, 48,646 of which are threatened with extinction.
Species are moved between categories on the IUCN Red List when new data show changes in their population, habitat or threats. If a species becomes more at risk (such as when its numbers fall or its habitat is damaged), it may be moved to a higher-risk category like “endangered.”
Conversely, a species may shift to a lower-risk category, such as “near threatened” or “least concern.” In this latest update, the green turtle has been downgraded from “endangered” to “least concern.”
Experts caution that while the species is no longer endangered, it still faces ongoing threats such as habitat loss, marine pollution, climate change and entanglement in fishing nets. For example, at Raine Island on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, hatchling success is declining due to rising temperatures and beach erosion.
Green turtles are among the largest species of sea turtles and are named for the greenish hue of their body fat, which results from their mostly herbivorous diet. They are one of seven living sea turtle species, two of which remain critically endangered.
“The ongoing recovery of the green turtle shows what long-term, coordinated global conservation can achieve. Sustained efforts are key to ensuring this recovery continues, protecting not only turtles but also the health of their ocean and coastal habitats,” Roderic Mast, co-chair of the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission Marine Turtle Specialist Group and President of the Oceanic Society said in a press release.
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