Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery

The Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation Project began with local schoolboy Dudley Perera’s determination to help protect these beautiful but endangered animals. Thirty years later, its main focus is the hatchery, where eggs hatch safely away from predators, including human poachers, before the young are released into the sea. KSTCP also undertakes night patrols to ensure that females can lay their eggs undisturbed after travelling thousands of miles across the world’s oceans to the same spot that they themselves were hatched. Says Dudley: “As important as the project is, it is part of a close community and … Kosgoda is home to the most amazing and resilient people as well as turtles.”