The Turtle Conservancy
Visiting our friends in California protecting the world’s most threatened turtles and tortoises — more than half of all species now face extinction.
GTT visited The Turtle Conservancy in California in 2015 and 2016, and we were thrilled when The Turtle Conservancy collaborated on GTT Book 3 — sharing their work with our readers alongside our other partners.
The Turtle Conservancy is dedicated to protecting threatened turtles and tortoises and their habitats worldwide, and to promoting their appreciation by people everywhere. Given where GTT started — with the Chelonia Project and the native tortoises and turtles of Italy — you can see why this is a partnership very close to our hearts.
Here is the sobering part: turtles are among the most threatened groups of animals on the planet, and they are in desperate need of conservation help. More than half of the world’s 300-plus species are threatened with extinction according to IUCN Red List criteria. The primary threats are habitat loss and degradation, high-volume and unsustainable exploitation for food and medicinal products, and the illegal international pet trade.
That is exactly why organisations like The Turtle Conservancy matter so much — and why we think they are, quite simply, an amazing organisation. We were also very proud when The Turtle Conservancy featured Theodora in their beautiful magazine, The Tortoise, in 2016.