British Indian Ocean Territory Biodiversity Action Plan: Hawksbill and Green Turtles

Hawksbill and green turtles are both migrants and resident in BIOT. Hawksbill turtles breed and forage in BIOT whilst green turtles breed and migrate to foraging sites around the Western Indian Ocean (70–5000 km distant; Fig. 1B). BIOT is a nesting refuge for a significant portion of the region’s hawksbill and green turtles, accounting for 39–51% of estimated hawksbill and 14–20% of estimated green turtle clutches laid in the southwestern Indian Ocean (Mortimer and Esteban et al. 2020).