PMGY Turtle Conservation in Sri Lanka

Hi I’m Leah and in June 2023 I’m going to spend a month travelling around Sri Lanka with the company Plan My Gap Year. This includes 2 weeks volunteering in their Turtle Conservation Project.

Many species of Sea Turtle are critically endangered and fishing is a major industry around Sri Lanka so turtles are often injured by boats and fishing nets, these turtles are found by local fishermen and brought to the project for treatment. I will be based at Ambalangoda Turtle Sanctuary which provides daily care for the turtles. They have a long term goal to release healthy turtles back into the wild and protect turtle eggs from poachers, the daily tasks I’ll carry out will be; cleaning tanks, assisting with medication, releasing rehabilitated turtles and designing education boards for the sanctuary to name a few.

As well as this, I'll take part in local beach cleans to support coastal conservation as volunteers have the aim of collecting 200KG of rubbish everyday and help nest and monitor turtle eggs brought to the turtle hatchery, removed from areas where they’re at risk from poaching. There’s also the opportunity to lead sessions at the village school to increase awareness of the issues and solutions surrounding turtle conservation and plastic pollution.

I’m hoping to raise money to fund my volunteer experience, anything that you could donate would mean a lot. Thank you!