The conservationists shelling out time and effort to protect the UAE’s turtles

The Briton, who moved to the country 13 years ago, has seen the numbers of rescued turtles rise from just six in 2004 to an average of more than 120 per year.The hawksbill turtle, one of seven sea-turtle species, is native to the Gulf and has breeding sites in countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Oman. But it’s also a critically endangered species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world authority on threatened species, with only an estimated 8,000 breeding females left.

Since the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project (DTRP) was set up a decade ago by the Jumeirah Group, more than 690 healthy sea turtles have been released back into Dubai’s waters. Treating turtles is notoriously difficult because of a lack of anatomical information and their shell, which makes it difficult to access the turtle’s body. Their rehabilitation can take up to three years.

“Every turtle that gets washed up in areas that are frequented by humans, they come to us,” says Baverstock. “They can take a long time to rehabilitate – we have had turtles with us for three years. The problem is you can’t get to anything; you can’t just take the lid off and say: ‘Let’s have a look around.’”

Despite the difficulties, Baverstock, the aquarium operations manager at the Jumeirah Burj Al Arab, where some of the rehabilitation facilities are based, is immensely proud of the work that he and his team have done.