Who we are

Our mission

Protecting Sea Turtles and their Habitat through Rescue & Monitoring,  Scientific Research, and Education & Awareness

Our organisation

Sea Turtle Conservation Curaçao is a non-profit organization, based on the island of Curaçao, that provides protection for sea turtles, marine animals, and their habitat. We focus mainly on rescue, rehabilitation, and research activities, as well as education and creating awareness within the community.
Several times a week, dedicated volunteers check the beaches for nesting activity, injured individuals, and other notable situations. The moment we find an injured turtle, we either offer immediate help or take it to the vet in case of serious injuries.
Scientific monitoring takes place so that we can protect Sea Turtles even better in the future. To this end, we patrol the beaches where nesting activity is expected between June and December. Here, nests are monitored for the number of eggs, and the behavior of nesting turtles is mapped. If necessary, nests are moved to a safe location.
In addition, photographs are taken of individuals swimming around the island so that we can track their development over the years. This is important because many sea turtles are currently growing tumors due to the virus Fibropapillomatosis.

Our vision

Our vision is to open a rehabilitation center for Sea Turtles on the island.

Curaçao is one of the four biggest known places worldwide for Fibropapillomatosis (FP) outbreaks. The rehabilitation center will give us the opportunity to take more care of FP turtles and create an international hub where scientists, researchers, and vets can focus on this deadly disease. Ideally, the new rehab center would be big enough to take care of 10 sea turtles at the same time.

STCC is a proud member of the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Concervation Network (WIDECAST), and it is through our WIDECAST partnership that our conservation activities are strengthend to include a regional impact.

Meet our team

Ard Vreugdenhil – Field Coordinator

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Fedde Burgers – Chairman of the Board

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ANNUAL REPORT

Take a look at our yearly activity reports to learn more about our goals, achievements and tasks that we accomplish every year.

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