| What is Year of the Turtle? |
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The Indian Ocean - South-East Asia (IOSEA) 'Year of the Turtle – 2006' aims to unite nations and communities to celebrate marine turtles and to support their conservation. While increasing public awareness and understanding of the threats faced by marine turtles, the campaign will also highlight the work of dedicated organisations that are striving to conserve these ancient creatures and the habitats on which they depend.
With a theme of “Cooperating to Conserve Marine Turtles – our Ocean's Ambassadors”, it is hoped the campaign will be a milestone in the conservation of marine turtles and their habitats of this vast region. The YoT campaign will begin officially on 1 March 2006, and will run through to the end of 2006.
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| What are the campaign objectives? |
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CELEBRATE marine turtles: Organise and host events that celebrate marine turtles, and help raise awareness and funds for their conservation.
ENSURE a future: Put in place and apply best practices that ensure the long-term survival of turtles, while involving and benefiting local communities.
SAVE a marine turtle habitat: Identify sites that are important for turtles in your country and lobby for their inclusion in the proposed IOSEA Site Network.
REDUCE turtle mortality: Actively promote policies and technologies that reduce the accidental death of marine turtles.
STUDY your turtles: Support or take part in ongoing research, such as surveys, tagging or satellite tracking.
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| Who is organising the campaign? |
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The IOSEA Marine Turtle MoU Secretariat and a YoT Steering Committee provide overall direction and leadership for the campaign, but the YoT activities in each country are to be decided upon and organised at national and local levels.
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| What will happen during the campaign? |
The campaign will consist of a wide range of events and activities held across the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia region. For example, Viet Nam is developing training workshops for the fishing industry on marine turtle by-catch, Pakistan is organising community beach clean-up days, Thailand plans to publish new marine turtle research, and Kenya is scheduling the release of limited edition marine turtle postal stamps. A YoT Event Calendar contains a complete listing; and users can upload and advertise their own campaign activities.
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| How can I get involved? |
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Getting involved is easy!
You can search the online YoT Event Calendar to find out about interesting activities and events. Develop a brand new initiative, or associate an ongoing activity with the YoT campaign, using the official YoT logo.
Become a YoT Affiliate and lend your support to initiatives spearheaded by others
Ensure you subscribe to receive IOSEA e-News each month and educate yourself and others about marine turtles
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| What happens at the end of 2006? |
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The YoT campaign will conclude at the end of 2006, but many national and local level projects and activities are expected to continue beyond 2006, with even more support.
The IOSEA Secretariat is also developing some longer-term initiatives that will ensure that conservation efforts continue well beyond 2006. This includes the development of a regional network of coastal and marine sites of importance for marine turtles.
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| Where can I get more information? |
The YoT home page is the main communication point for all campaign-related activities. Visit regularly for the latest updates.
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