Conservation:

Adult leatherback turtles are large animals that have few natural predators. The most vulnerable stages in a leatherback's life are their early life stages at which point they are most vulnerable to predation of all kinds. Birds, small mammals, and other opportunists are known to dig up nests and consume eggs. New hatchlings are also vulnerable on their journey from nest to sea. Shorebirds and crustaceans are known to prey on the turtles scrambling for the sea. Once they enter the water they become prey to a whole new host of predators such as predatory fish and cephalopods. Very few survive to adulthood.

Leatherback turtles have slightly fewer human-related threats than the other sea turtle species. As their flesh contains higher oil and fat content than other species', there is not much demand for their flesh. However, human activity still significantly endangers leatherback turtles in direct and indirect ways. Directly, a small amount of leatherback turtles are caught for their meat by subsistence fisheries. Nests are raided for eggs by humans in a few places around the world, such as Southeast Asia.

Aside from targeted efforts at catching adults and collecting their eggs, there are many human activities that indirectly harm Dermochelys populations worldwide. As a pelagic species, Dermochelys coriacea individuals are occasionally caught as bycatch by commercial fishing vessels. As they are the largest sea turtles alive today, turtle excluder devices can be ineffective with adult leatherbacks of a particular size range. It is reported that an average of 1,500 mature females were accidentally caught annually in the 1990's. Pollution, both chemical and physical, can also be fatal to leatherback turtles. With their main diet consisting of jellyfish, many turtles die from malabsorption and intestinal blockage following the ingestion of balloons and plastic bags which resemble their prey. Chemical pollution has also had an adverse effect of the Dermochelys population. A high level of phthalates has been measured in the yolk of Leatherback eggs.

Global conservation initiatives:

It is also listed on Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). This makes it illegal to harm or kill the turtles.

Conservation of the Pacific and Eastern Atlantic leatherback populations was included among the top ten issues in turtle conservation in the first State of the World's Sea Turtles report published in 2006. Specifically noted were the significant population declines in the Mexican, Costa Rican and Malaysian populations. The Eastern Atlantic nesting population was noted for being threatened by increased fishing pressures from Eastern South American countries in whose waters the leatherbacks forage.

The Leatherback Trust is an organization that was founded specifically towards the aim of the conservation of all marine turtles, specifically their namesake. The foundation was responsible for the establishment of a sanctuary in Costa Rica, the Parque Marino Las Baulas.

Country-specific conservation initiatives:

As a species with a range encompassing dozens of coastal countries around the world, the leatherback turtle has been subject to differing country-specific laws regarding its conservation.

The US has listed the leatherback turtle as an endangered species since the 2nd of June 1970. The protected status of the species (in US waters) was ratified with the passing of the US Endangered Species Act three years after. Farther north in Canada, where the leatherback turtle can also be found, the Species Risk Act was established to make it illegal to exploit the species in Canadian waters. It has been classified endangered by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, Ireland and Wales have initiated a joint leatherback conservation effort between the University of Wales, Swansea and University College Cork. Funded by the European Regional Development Fund, the Irish Sea Leatherback Turtle Project as the project is called, focuses on serious research programs such as tagging and satellite tracking of individual leatherback turtles.

Several Caribbean countries have started conservation programs focused on using ecotourism to bring attention to the plight of the leatherback. On the Atlantic coast of Costa Rica, Parismina has one such initiative. Since 1998, the village has been assisting turtles with a hatchery program.

A more drastic measure that is being studied by the Malaysian Fisheries Department is cloning. In mid-2007, the Fisheries Department expressed a plan to clone leatherback turtles to replenish the country's rapidly-declining population. Some conservation biologists however, are skeptical of the proposed plan as cloning has been done only on mammals such as dogs, sheep, cats, and cows, and uncertainties persist about cloned animals' health and life spans. Leatherbacks used to nest in the thousands on many of Malaysia's beaches, including those at Terennganu where more than 3,000 nesting females were counted in the late 1960's. The last official count of nesting leatherback females on that beach was recorded to be a mere two females in 1993.

In Brazil, reproduction of the leatherback turtle is being assisted by the IBABA's TAMAR project, which aims to protect all sea turtles in the Brazilian coast, by assisting their nests and preventing accidental kills by fishing boats. The last official count of nesting leatherback females in Brazil was recorded to be only seven females.

It is listed as Vulnerable under Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, and as Endangered under Queensland's Nature Conservation Act 1992.

World's Largest Leatherback Turtle Population Found

18^th of May 2009 - An international team of scientists has identified a nesting population of leatherback sea turtles in Gabon, West Africa as the world's largest. The research, published in the May issue of Biological Conservation, involved country-wide land and aerial surveys that estimated a population of between 15,730 and 41,373 female turtles using the nesting beaches. The study highlights the importance of conservation work to manage key sites and protected areas in Gabon. Leatherbacks are of profound conservation concern around the world after populations in the Indo-Pacific crashed by more than 90 percent in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists leatherback turtles as critically endangered globally, but detailed population assessments in much of the Atlantic, especially Africa, are lacking.

The research was led by the University of Exeter working in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) which spearheads the Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership, a network of organisations concerned with the protection of marine turtles in Gabon. During three nesting seasons between 2002 and 2007, the team's members carried out the most comprehensive survey of marine turtles ever conducted in Gabon. This involved aerial surveys along Gabon's 372 mile coast, using video to capture footage for evaluation, and detailed ground-based monitoring. By covering the entire coastline, they were not only able to estimate the number of nests and nesting females, but also to identify the key sites for leatherback nesting, data which are crucial to developing conservation management plans for the species. Leatherbacks were first described nesting in Gabon in 1984. Lead author on the paper, Dr Matthew Witt of the University of Exeter, said: "We knew that Gabon was an important nesting site for leatherback turtles but until now had little idea of the size of the population or its global ranking. We are now focusing our efforts on working with local agencies to coordinate conservation efforts to ensure this population is protected against the threats from illegal fisheries, nest poaching, pollution and habitat disturbance, and climate change." The study also revealed that around 79% of the nesting occurs within National Parks and other protected areas. This gives added hope that Gabon can continue to be one of the world's most important countries for these magnificent creatures. Dr Angela Formia of the Wildlife Conservation Society, a co-author of the paper, said: "These findings show the critical importance of protected areas to maintain populations of sea turtles. Gabon should be commended for creating a network of National Parks in 2002 that have provided a sanctuary for this endangered species as well as other rare wildlife." This study was carried out by the University of Exeter, Wildlife Conservation Society, University of Florence, IUCN-France, PROTOMAC (Gabon), CNDIO-Gabon, IBONGA-ACPE (Gabon), Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux (Gabon), Gabon Environnment, Aventures Sans Frontières (Gabon) and WWF-Gabon. The study was made possible through funding by the Natural Environment Research Council (UK), the United States Fish and Wildlife Serve (USFWS) Marine Turtle Conservation Fund (U.S Department of the Interior), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) – Central African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE). The team has now also received £300,000 (approx. $450,000 USD) Darwin funding for a three-year project, working with local agencies to improve marine biodiversity management in Gabon.