Saving the sea turtle in Kenya

SBM Bank places great importance on sustainability in areas of our operations such as the Indian Ocean Rim.     

We are advocating for the conservation of sea turtles as an endangered species  that plays a vital role to the marine ecosystem.

Sea Turtles play the following roles to global marine ecosystems:

• Habitat Maintenance and Restoration: Critical marine habitats, especially the coral reefs are made more resilient and healthier by the foraging habits of sea turtles.
  
  
• Sea turtles provide other marine creatures with vital habitat: Their shells act as movable habitats for commensal species like algae and barnacles and migrating birds temporarily take refuge on the backs of resting sea turtles deep in the waters.
  
  
• Maintaining Food Web Balance: Carnivores like loggerhead turtles, for instance, control jellyfish numbers and serve as an important regulator in the pelagic food chain.
  
  
• Nutrient Transport and Cycling: When they lay their eggs on land, the nutrients that have been stored in their bodies from the ocean wash up on beaches, fostering the growth of coastal flora and improving the general condition of the terrestrial-marine interface.

Challenges Faced by Sea Turtles:

Sea turtles are unfortunately facing many threats due to human activities including:

• Egg Poaching and direct consumption of turtle meat- Adults are hunted for their meat and shells, and in some cultures, their eggs are prized delicacies.
  
  
• Fisheries bycatch and entanglement (trawlers, longlines, gill nets)-Sea turtles often get caught in fishing gear like longlines, gillnets, and trawls, leading to injury, drowning, or even death.
  
  
• Pollution of beaches and coastlines - Sea turtles frequently confuse the abundance of plastic garbage in our waters for food, which can cause malnutrition and intestinal obstructions. Infections may result from pollution brought on by fertilizers, pesticides, and oil spills, which can also impair their health and disturb their food chains.
  
  
• Coastal development and loss of nesting and foraging habitats-Nesting beaches are being destroyed constantly by coastal development for infrastructure and tourism, which is necessary for female turtles to lay their eggs.
  
  
• Climate change (beach erosion, sea level rise, increase in sand temperature)-Climate change is causing sea levels to rise, endangering nesting places and submerging crucial forage areas.
  
  
  

What We are doing to Conserve Turtles

SBM Bank has taken a leading role in championing for the conservation of sea turtles in the following ways:

1. Advocacy- We have partnered with WWF Kenya and Diani Turtle Watch to address the plight of Turtles within the coastal communities.
   
   
2. Donations & Sponsorships – we have donated turtle conservation equipment to support their conservation at the coast.
   
   
3. Altruism
4. We have participated in the following:

• Beach cleanups. In March 2024 we conducted a beach cleanup that collected 79KGs of non-biodegradable waste.
  
  
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• Turtle Nest Adoption - (we adopted so far adopted 5 nests and by the end of June 4 out of 5 adopted nests had hatched translating to 339 hatchlings out of the 431 eggs laid which is a 79% success rate.)
  
  

We welcome you to be part of our Sea Turtle Conservation project.

For every SBM Visa Debit Sustainable card taken up, we will donate KES 30 to go towards Sea Turtle conservation.

Get yours today!