Te mana o te moana acts for the protection of the Polynesian marine environment.
Founded in 2004, the association Te mana o te moana acts for the protection of the Polynesian marine environment and more specifically sea turtles through actions of discovery, education and protection.
Main Objective of Te mana o te moana
Te mana o te moana's objective is to implement concrete actions to understand, educate and protect the Polynesian marine environment.
The program has three main domains of action:
- Sea Turtle Protection: Implementation of actions to understand, care for and protect the sea turtles of French Polynesia.
- Education: Creation of learning supports, programs and projects to raise awareness on the protection of the marine environment.
- Environment: Implementation of actions combining science, nature and culture for a better understanding and protection of the Polynesian marine environment.
Te mana o te moana has been in existence for 19 years and, in that time, more than 650 sea turtles have been cared for in the program’s Moorea care center, over 140,000 children have been educated on key environmental issues, more than 21 tons of waste has been collected, and 6 coral gardens and paths were created. The program also identified and reported about 3,400 sea turtle nesting sites on Tetiaroa, observed and photo-identified about 800 sea turtles in addition to 900 additional reported sightings of marine mammals.
THE SEA TURTLE CARE CENTER
The mission of the Sea Turtle Care Center is to collect sick, injured and maimed sea turtles as well as the one seized by the authorities and provide medical supervision to later release them into the wild.
Key Figures:
- More than 630 sea turtles cared for
- 4 species represented: green sea turtle, hawksbill sea turtle, olive ridley sea turtle, loggerhead sea turtle
- 59% of sea turtles arriving at the Care center are wounded, mainly due to human interaction (speargun hunting, fishing nets, etc.)
- Release ratio of about 50% depending on the age of the sea turtle
