Constructing climate-resilient hatcheries for endangered sea turtles in the Philippines

Small pile of baby sea turtles in the sand

Referred to as the Philippines’ “last biodiversity frontier,” the province of Palawan is home to many endangered species, including five different species of sea turtles. Three species—the olive ridley, green, and hawksbill sea turtles—are listed as vulnerable, endangered, and critically endangered, respectively. El Nido, a municipality of Palawan, has some of the country’s main foraging and nesting habitats for these turtles.

Located in the West Pacific typhoon belt, the Philippines is subject to extreme weather events which have only increased in severity over the last five to 10 years and have been exacerbated by  the recent El Niño. Severe storms have caused coastal erosion in prime turtle-nesting habitats, and combined with rising sand temperatures, have resulted in decreased turtle egg hatching rates. The poaching of eggs presents an additional threat.

A nest with a temperature censor in one of the hatcheries.

  • A container with a turtle mural painted on the side

    Completed hatcheries.

  • A large white container with a grate on top

    Completed hatcheries.

  • A large container with paintings of turtles around it

    Completed hatcheries.

With the support of WWF’s Wildlife Adaptation Innovation Fund, the Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute (LAMAVE) partnered with Duli Beach Resort, a member of the El Nido Marine Turtle Conservation Network, to construct three climate-resilient hatcheries in three sea turtle nesting beaches in El Nido. Two of the three beaches were previously unmonitored and were chosen with consideration of where illegal egg poaching was still prominent. Constructed out of concrete by local crew and partially buried in the sand, these hatcheries were designed to protect nests from weather and climate-related threats and include weather stations and sensors to monitor the nests’ temperatures in real-time. The sensors were also used to compare temperatures across the hatcheries, including the shaded and unshaded sections of each hatchery.

Community members and citizen scientists were trained to conduct nightly patrols during the primary hatching seasons of November to February in an effort to involve local communities, raise  awareness around sea turtle conservation, and, importantly, to ward off poachers. Patrols took place at night—the main nesting time for sea turtles in the area—and lasted over 90 days. Through resounding community interest and engagement, 18 additional nests were found and relocated to the hatcheries from beaches upwards of 3.7 miles away from the target beaches, bringing the total number of relocated nests to 190. This was more than double the amount from the previous year’s attempt, which relocated 86 nests to hatchery facilities, and was nearly triple the amount from the last five years. Additionally, patrollers collected valuable data, including measurements of the nesting mother and the exact location and time of nesting, which could be used to compare findings across sites and identify patterns and correlations. Each day, the involvement of the community grew—patrollers even convinced some poachers who they caught to donate the nests to the hatcheries through an incentive-based mechanism.

Sea Turtles of El Nido Brochure
Download (12.5 MB)

As part of the project, WWF, LAMAVE, and Duli Beach Resort developed a digital El Nido sea turtle publication for kids and students. The publication covers the diversity of sea turtle species in the area, the important role sea turtles play in the ecosystem, nesting cycles, threats, call to actions, and more.

When it was time to release the hatchlings, approximately two months after relocation, community interest grew even more, especially in the previously unmanaged beaches with higher poaching rates. Community members came out en masse to witness the hatchlings make their way to the ocean, bonding and sharing their experiences on social media. The hatchling releases became a community-wide event, drawing in larger crowds for each subsequent release.

To further promote awareness within the community, the project is working with the WWF Philippines Education for Sustainable Development program to engage 100 local students in the next year in on-the-ground turtle conservation work.

Through these community-driven initiatives, this project succeeded in increasing hatching success by an average of over 10% across all the sites, even during an El Niño year that culminated in record-setting heat, causing nest temperatures to be two degrees warmer than the previous year. The success of this project reaches beyond hatchling metrics; a whole behavioral shift was documented across the community, with former poachers now directly involved in saving sea turtle nests. All project participants were celebrated and recognized during the 2024 Palawan Pawikan Patroller Festival and Awards in Puerto Princesa City.