Saving a Sea Turtle Paradise: Eco-Tourism and Conservation on Gili Trawangan

Do you dream of swimming with the graceful sea turtles? Gili Trawangan could be one of the best options for the holiday of your dreams thanks to conservation efforts on the island. Critically endangered hawksbills and green sea turtles are found swimming in the warm waters around the island all year round, attracting divers and snorkelers from all over the world. However, with the growth of tourism and other factors like climate and the destruction of reefs, the turtle population began to decrease. Unfortunately, turtle eggs are also still seen as a delicacy in Indonesia and turtles are used for certain ceremonies, so even though it is illegal to catch or kill sea turtles, there is a black market for them. The island is now home to growing turtle conservation projects like Proyek Penyu Gili, set up and run by local residents of Gili Trawangan. This initiative, mostly run by young women, provides education to staff at hotels like Villa Almarik on turtle conservation. They also work with local residents and visitors in a variety of ways, from education to awareness events. You can also contact them if you think you spot a turtle in trouble. One of Proyek Penyu Gili’s main focuses is educating locals and visitors about the harmful effects of turtle release programs — also called ‘headstarting.’ While many believe that keeping newly hatched turtles in tanks and feeding them until they get stronger helps them survive the ocean better, this has been shown to actually be extremely detrimental to a turtle’s survival chances. The first few days are a critical time for turtles to learn how to navigate the ocean and build strength for survival. Turtle conservation efforts from locals and conservation groups encouraged the government to take measures against the tourism that was encroaching on the turtles’ natural habitat. In early 2024, they ordered the clearance of Gili Trawangan’s main beach, where many stalls, bars, and restaurants had taken over the sand. Turtles will not lay their eggs on dirty, busy, brightly lit beaches. With the removal of the tourist attractions, they now have clean, dark areas where they can safely lay eggs and let them incubate. When these measures were introduced, Villa Almarik’s distinctive Bamboo restaurant was moved from the beach to allow turtles to lay their eggs safely on the beach. There are now some tables and sun loungers on the beach during the day, but they are moved at night to create the perfect conditions for turtles to come up on the beach. Since they took this action, there have been a number of turtles coming back to the beach to lay their eggs, which is a real win for the island’s turtle conservation. Now, local conservation groups on Gili Trawangan build structures around the eggs to keep them safe during their 60-day incubation period. This also raises awareness of the need to keep the beach safe and clean for turtles. Now that turtles are coming back to the beaches of Gili Trawangan there is even more of a chance for you to see them in the wild when you swim, snorkel or dive around the island. The best place to see the turtles is near the edge of the sea wall between Villa Almarik and Horizontal Hotels. This is on the east side of the island, just a little bit north of the main Gili T strip. Would you love to see sea turtles in the wild? Let us know if you have any questions about how to help or donate to the conservation efforts on Gili Trawangan in the comments below.