Five species of sea turtles can be found in the Egyptian Red Sea: the endangered green turtle and the critically endangered hawksbill turtle being the most commonly observed. Although these species are critical in maintaining healthy seagrass and coral reef habitats, only scattered data are available for these species in their feeding and nesting sites in the Southern Egyptian Red Sea. Moreover, no data is available to date on the impact of human activities (coastal development, fishery and tourism industry in particular) on the distribution and abundance of marine turtles in the Egyptian coast of the Red Sea.

This project responds to the priorities set by PERSGA/IUCN for marine turtles in the Red Sea region and will address the following objectives:

1. Characterize populations in nesting grounds

2. Describe population in their feeding grounds

3. Collect data on the nature and magnitude of mortality

4. Identify critical habitats

5. Identify different sources of human impacts on nesting and feeding grounds.

6. Awareness, capacity building and local community participation

Data obtained from this project will be used in the production of the management plans that are being prepared for Wadi Gimal and Gebel Elba National Parks.