A Samoan Government Ministry and its partners are on a mission to save the critically endangered hawksbill turtle that come ashore to nest on Samoa's coastal beaches between November and June each year.

A team from the marine biodiversity conservation section within the Division of Environment and Conservation in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (M.N.R.E.) last week mounted an operation – in partnership with Conservation International's Samoa office and the village of Matautu Lefaga.

In a team of 14 which included villagers, they were dispatched to three hotspot sites along the coastal area of Matautu, namely the Matareva Beach Fales, the Return to Paradise Resort and Faimafili Island Resort where they undertook surveys from 6–11 February 2023 according to a statement issued by the Ministry.

As a result of the survey, an adult female turtle track was discovered by the Matareva patrol team around midnight last Tuesday. This led to the confirmation of three turtle chambers, and two successful turtle nesting activities revealed at the Matareva site. 

Moreover, nine hawksbill hatchlings were also discovered and released out into the open sea by the survey team and tourists at the Return to Paradise site. 

Although Faimafili Island Resort area was a turtle nesting hotspot in the past years, unfortunately no sign of turtle nesting activities was discovered during the inspection, however, the locals confirmed that an adult turtle was spotted on the beach the week before the survey.

The monitoring survey was possible with the continuous partnership through financial support and personnel assistance of Conservation International. The M.N.R.E. also acknowledged the participation and support of Alii and Faipule of Matautu Lefaga as well as the management of the three different sites for their support and assistance throughout the six-day monitoring survey.

The Ministry and its partners are looking into conducting a follow up monitoring to the identified turtle nests, to document turtle hatching at the hatchling stage of their reproductive life cycle. A similar turtle nesting monitoring survey will be conducted at Falealupo next month.

Sea turtles are a keystone species which have played vital roles in maintaining the health of the world's oceans. These roles range from maintaining productive coral reef ecosystems to transporting essential nutrients from the oceans to beaches and coastal dunes. They keep the fast growing sponges at bay to leave room for slow growing corals to grow.

According to the M.N.R.E. there are three species of sea turtles found in Samoa and only one is known to nest on Samoan beaches. It is the critically endangered hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), which is also known as "laumei faiuga" in Samoa. The nesting season extends from November to June each year with the peak season for turtle nesting activities within the months of January and February.