Turtle protection funding continues

Turtles on the western coast of Cape York Peninsula will benefit from ongoing protection by the Western Cape Turtle Threat Abatement Alliance (WCTTAA) Rangers, thanks to the announcement by the Queensland Government of continued funding.

Rangers work hard to control and manage predators such as feral pigs, and reduce the predation on marine turtle nests to less than 30% of all nests per beach for each species.

In the Mapoon area, pregnant turtles endure the added threat of crocodiles that predate on them as they slowly make their way up the beaches to nest.

WCTTAA is a partnership of Cape York land and sea owners and managers from Northern Peninsula Area, Mapoon, Napranum, Pormpuraaw and Kowanyama, who work together to protect marine turtles along the west coast of Cape York.

Before and during the peak turtle nesting season, the WCTTAA partners worked extremely hard to protect nests by utilising a combination of both aerial and ground culling activities, as well as carrying out turtle nest monitoring and protection.

Turtle nest monitoring, data collection and analysis is carried out across six priority beaches on the western Cape during nesting seasons, covering nearly 150 kilometres of coastline.

Being on the beach allows Rangers to respond immediately to predator activity, and to install nest protection cages on the endangered olive ridley and hawksbill nests.

The Western Cape Turtle Threat Abatement Alliance is supported by Cape York Natural Resource Management Ltd. WCTTA is funded by the Australian and Queensland governments through the Nest to Ocean Turtle Protection Program