Loggerhead Sea Turtle
It's been a long time coming but finally Sea turtles have received the protection they need to sustain their species into the future. I've been active in Sea Turtle habitat protection for many years, so for me, this is a victory I take personally. I've written about some of my work
here and announced our initial success
here. But now, we have jumped all the hurdles, all the i's have been dotted and the protection is written into US law.
CHARLESTON, S.C., July 9 (Reuters)- The United States on Wednesday designated 685 miles (1,100 km) of beaches from Mississippi to North Carolina and 300,000 square miles (777,000 sq km) of ocean off the Gulf and Atlantic coasts as critical nesting and roaming habitat for threatened loggerhead sea turtles.
The joint ruling by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is the largest critical habitat designation in U.S. history, environmentalists say. The announcement followed a lawsuit filed last year by environmental groups to require the government to protect the area. Scientists said the area is home to 70,000 to 90,000 nesting sites per year and comprises 84 percent of all known nesting areas for the large sea turtles.
As an environmental activist, this is a rare sweet moment to savour. I'm particularly pleased that of the 685 miles of habitat protected over 300 occur in my home state of Florida.
Protection doesn't limit public access to the designated areas but requires that any federal activity in the waters off nesting sites, such as drilling or fisheries, must be further scrutinized for possible impact on the turtles.
This has positive consequences for restricting development and providing natural adaptation methods for sea erosion due to rising seas and climate change.
Thanks to all who supported and helped win this action. How sweet it is!