The Sea Turtles of São Tomé and Príncipe: Diversity, Distribution, and Conservation Status

Abstract

The unique islands of São Tomé and Príncipe harbor five of the seven existent sea turtle species, and offer optimal conditions for these threatened species both on the beaches and on the foraging sites at sea. These populations might have been exploited since the sixteenth century and are still being harvested. In the past decade, our knowledge of these populations has greatly improved, highlighting their regional and global importance. Several conservation initiatives have also prioritized their protection. This chapter reviews our knowledge on the diversity, distribution, and conservation status of sea turtles in São Tomé and Príncipe, providing a brief history of conservation actions from the past 20 years and presenting ongoing research and conservation initiatives.

Green and Hawksbill Sea turtles of Eastern Atlantic: New insights into a globally important rookery in the Gulf of Guinea

“…In the northeastern region of São Tomé, the coastline ranges from extensive shallow shelves while the southern coast is surrounded by deeper water and is more exposed to waves. There are estuarine and mangrove habitats bordering the island (Airaud et al, 2020;Ferreira-Airaud et al, 2021), along with 112 beaches ranging from golden yellow to dark grey sand and shingle beaches. While our research was conducted within the São Tomé and Príncipe archipelago, it is important to note that this study specifically focused on nesting sites located on the island of São Tomé.…”

“…Bathymetry contours polygons were created using data from the hydrographic chart of São Tomé (Instituto Hidrográfico de Portugal, 1970). Additionally, to provide a more comprehensive understanding, marine coastal habitat information previously developed by the author was integrated into the analysis (see Airaud et al, 2020). Through participatory agreements, we also integrated data collected between 2016 and 2018 regarding the location of fishing vessels during fishing activity into our spatial analyses.…”

“…Similarly, for hawksbill turtles, the mean remigration interval was determined for 9 turtles, and was 3.1 ± 2. affect the precision of these estimates, but it represents the best available data under the current constraints. (Jalé-Rolas-Malanza), is illustrated in Figure 3a,b, respectively, providing a visual representation of the habitats and areas analysed in this study (see Airaud et al, 2020 for detailed coastal habitat descriptions).…”

Biodiversity Conservation in the Gulf of Guinea Oceanic Islands: Recent Progress, Ongoing Challenges, and Future Directions

“…Additionally, 58 species are Data Deficient (all bony fishes) and nine are Near Threatened (including three cartilaginous fishes). The remaining threatened marine vertebrates are the Critically Endangered Hawksbill Turtle Eretmochelys imbricata (Linnaeus, 1766), the Endangered Green Turtle Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1758), the Vulnerable Sperm Whale Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758, and three Vulnerable sea turtle species (Ferreira-Airaud et al 2022). Additionally, there are also the Data Deficient Killer Whale Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758), the Near Threatened False Killer Whale Pseudorca crassidens (Owen, 1846), and ten Least Concern cetacean species (Carvalho et al 2022).…”

The Terrestrial Reptiles of the Gulf of Guinea Oceanic Islands

“…Here we present an updated taxonomic overview of the terrestrial reptiles of these islands and surrounding islets, highlighting diversity, endemism, biogeographic patterns and conservation. Marine turtles are the only non-terrestrial reptiles occurring in these islands and are covered in Ferreira-Airaud et al (2022). We also provide a brief history of the research on reptiles in the archipelago and highlight important avenues for future work.…”