Turning Turtle

RED LIST TURNS 'GREEN' FOR ONE SPECIES

According to the latest IUCN Red List, released today, 10th October 2025, at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi, the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) has improved in status from Endangered to Least Concern.

Whilst this Red List update now includes 172,620 species of which 48,646 are threatened with extinction and shows birds declining globally, arctic seals threatened by climate change and six species moving to the Extinct category, Dr Grethel Aguilar, IUCN Director General said "Today's Red List update, launched at the IUCN Congress in Abu Dhabi, shines a light on both the urgent challenges AND the powerful possibilities before us."

Green turtles are keystone species in tropical marine ecosystems such as seagrass meadows and coral reefs and remain significantly depleted compared to their past abundance before they were used unsustainably. They still suffer significant mortality from fisheries bycatch and coastal and marine development destroying their vital habitats with climate change also negatively affecting their nesting beaches. But thanks to decades of sustained conservation action their global population has increased approximately 28% since the 1970s.

According to the IUCN, conservation efforts have focused on protecting nesting females and their eggs on beaches, expanding community-based initiatives to reduce unsustainable harvest of turtles and their eggs for human consumption, curtailing trade, and using Turtle Excluder Devices and other measures to reduce the accidental capture of turtles in fishing gear. Efforts in Ascension Island, Brazil, Mexico and Hawai'i have been particularly successful, with some subpopulations rebounding to close to pre-commercial exploitation levels.

Roderic Mast, Co-Chair of IUCN's Species Survival Commission Marine Turtle Specialist Group said "The ongoing global recovery of the green turtle is a powerful example of what coordinated global conservation over decades can achieve to stabilise and even restore populations of long-lived marine species. Such approaches must focus not only on the turtles, but on keeping their habitats healthy, and their ecological functions intact. Sea turtles cannot survive without healthy oceans and coasts, and humans can't either. Sustained conservation efforts are key to assuring that this recovery lasts."

The IUCN World Conservation Congress is held once every four years and is an opportunity for conservation leaders, Indigenous peoples and decision-makers from government and business to work together on supporting the natural environment. Soon, all eyes will be on next month's UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) which is being held in Brazil.