Mnarani Marine Turtle Conservation Pond

Nungwi, ZanzibarThe Mnarani Marine Turtle Conservation Pond is a community based NGO established in 1993 as an effort to conserve the population of sea turtles native to Zanzibar island. The Stone Town based Eco & Culture Tours NGO was the initiator of this project, and empowered the local villagers to take this conservation initiative into their own hands. Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) have traditionally been hunted around Zanzibar for their attractive shells, and Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) for their meat.The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has repeatedly listed Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in its Red List under differing criteria. In 1982, they officially classified it as an endangered species. In 2004, the IUCN reclassified this species as endangered under the EN A2bd criteria, which essentially states the wild populations face a high risk of extinction because of several factors. Green Turtles are also listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) as a member of the family Cheloniidae. It is therefore illegal to import, export, kill, capture or harass green turtles.In 1982 the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species first listed Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata)  as endangered. This endangered status continued through several reassessments in