World Sea Turtle Day is celebrated in many countries on 16 June. We have chosen this day for a ‘global launch’ of virtual celebrations of the 20th Anniversary of the MOU in 2021, which the United States hosted. This was followed by a day-long series of online events taking place around the IOSEA region on Saturday, 19 June 2021, so as to maximize the opportunities for public participation.
This ‘round-the-clock virtual event’ was organized by local hosts in collaboration with the Secretariat and was streamed by Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) on the CMS YouTube channel (BonnConvention, playlist here), with events throughout the region ‘passing the baton’ to each other. We hope that this connected series of celebrations will help everyone in the IOSEA region loving turtles feel connected in our joint efforts to preserve them for future generations.
With programmes from 20 countries, on 16 and 19 June 2021 the IOSEA region celebrated World Sea Turtle Day, the 20th Anniversary of the IOSEA Marine Turtle MOU and the fascinating world of marine turtles. Streamed on YouTube, several hundred viewers watched parts of the programme already, and dozens engaged in the live chat during the live streaming.
With the videos remaining available, we continue inviting viewers on a journey from one country to the next, learning about and from the communities, children, researchers and conservationists striving to protect marine turtles in those places. Also, in a two-hour webinar hosted in Malaysia, the audience has the chance to delve into the history of sea turtle conservation in the IOSEA region and hear about the panellists' hopes and visions for the next twenty years.
The videos can be accessed on YouTube: http://bit.ly/seaturtle_livestream.
- The one-hour programme hosted by the United States on Wednesday, 16 June 2021 focuses on Dr. Archie Carr and his enormous influence on sea turtle conservation worldwide, including in the area of the MOU
- The first 8 hours streamed on 19 June 2021 are available in this video, with chapters covering:
0:00:00 Intro
0:02:00 Australia
1:02:30 Bangladesh
2:02:40 Maldives
3:02:20 Indonesia
4:02:00 Philippines
5:02:00 Tanzania
5:32:51 Mozambique
6:00:00 Comoros
6:20:45 Madagascar
6:30:07 Kenya
7:02:50 South Africa
8:02:00 Oman - The final 9 hours streamed on 19 June 2021 are available in this video, with chapters covering:
0:00:00 Intro
0:01:50 Reunion
1:01:45 Malaysia - "20 Years of IOSEA" webinar
3:04:30 Happy World Sea Turtle Day messages
3:14:20 Seychelles
4:12:45 Pakistan
5:08:50 India
6:10:00 Iran
7:01:50 Chagos Archipelago
7:31:00 Secretariat (Germany)
You can access details of registered events through the map on this page.
This ‘round-the-clock virtual event’ was organized by local hosts in collaboration with the CMS/IOSEA Secretariat and was streamed by Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT).
We hope that this joint series of celebrations helps everyone loving turtles in the IOSEA region to feel connected in our shared efforts to preserve them for future generations.
Still planning a Sea Turtle Day event in 2021?
Also other sea turtle-related events on different dates can be registered through this website. Any organizers who wish to make their event part of the celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the MOU are warmly invited to register their events through this link:
World Sea Turtle Day 2021 – Event Registration
All registered events will be displayed on the map on this page, giving easy access to the global sea turtle community. This allows you to inform a wide audience in advance about your plans, and make your local event, no matter when it takes place during the year, part of the region-wide celebration.
Please sign our pledge!
Please also sign this pledge to show your personal commitment to reducing plastic use and thereby contributing to reducing one threat to marine turtles: www.change.org/WSTD-IOSEA.