Local Ocean Conservation

What is the Local Ocean Conservation?

It is a private, not-for-profit organization committed to the protection of Kenya’s marine environment based in Watamu. Their mission is to ensure that the marine environment they operate in are effectively managed and conserved to benefit local communities and commercial stakeholder and utilizing natural resources sustainably.

Why Sea Turtles?

Sea Turtles are such a fantastic indicator of ocean health, if we protect and enhance the environmental elements that sea turtles need to thrive, humanity and other species also benefit.

Sea turtles are vulnerable to human impact on the environment. Since sea turtles need a wide range of habitats throughout their lives, they are impacted by: development of the sea environment, destruction of the mangrove forests, destruction of seagrass meadows, coral reef destruction, climate change and ocean level rise and pollution.

These threats to sea turtles are also negatively impacting humanity, through coastal erosion, loss of food security, weather extremes and loss of livelihoods.

As sea turtles are such a fantastic indicator of ocean health, if we protect and enhance the environmental elements that sea turtles need to thrive, humanity will also benefit greatly.

Turtles are reptiles that have existed for at least 110 million years and survived the mass extinction that killed off dinosaurs. But today, sea turtles worldwide are threatened with extinction. And it’s estimated that only one of 1,000 turtle eggs laid survive to adulthood. 

Turtle Nest Monitoring

Their beach monitors patrol the beaches every night to keep the turtles and their nests safe. Nests that are at risk from natural or human dangers are relocated by trained beach monitors. On average, Local Ocean protects and monitors 50-60 nests per year in Watamu.

Through their Diani Turtle Watch, another 100-150 nests are monitored on the Kenyan south coast.

Turtle Bycatch and Release

Since 1998, LOC, in collaboration with Kenya Wildlife Services and the local fishers, have run our Bycatch & Release Programme. Each rescued turtle is assessed, then measured, weighed and tagged. If it is in good health, the turtle is transported to the Watamu Marine National Park where it is released back into the ocean.

To date more than 22,000 turtle rescues have been conducted and the data collected has provided incredible insight into turtle behaviour and physiology.

Local Ocean staff members meet regularly with hundreds of fishermen to build trust and good relationships with the community. “We’ve been with them 20 years now,” Ms. Parazzi said. “We’re not fair weather friends, we’re not going anywhere.”

Community liaison officers offer practical advice about sustainable fishing, which helps reduce poaching and encourages fishermen to participate in returning turtles accidentally caught back to the sea. They dissuade people from using illegal means to fish, such as mosquito nets, poison and spear guns that kill the largest fish carrying vital eggs. The organization also promotes small businesses like raising chickens, cultivating moringa plants and other agricultural products as part of its effort to reduce the area’s dependency on fishing.

A word from Secret Safari’s Founder Tristan Symondson

The importance of preserving our oceans, and in particular the work of Local Ocean Conservation, cannot be overstated. It is my firm belief that conservation efforts must start from the ground up, and we hope that by getting more people travelling domestically within Kenya, awareness will be further raised about the plight our seas and Sealife face. We carefully choose our partner properties not only for the quality of their accommodation, but for their social responsibility programmes too.