10 Years, $1 million For Conservation & Communities

When we launched SEE Turtles in 2008, we didn't know what kind of impact we could have. Nobody had ever tried to do conservation this way and we heard skepticism that tourism could be a good tool for conservation. Ten years later, we are now an independent non-profit and we have passed a major milestone, $1 million for more than 20 sea turtle conservation and nearby communities across Latin America and the Caribbean!

These funds help small, community-based organizations fund their research and conservation efforts and provide volunteer support. The money spent in communities near sea turtle hotspots can be as effective as money going direct to conservation; the more communities benefit from live sea turtles, the more they support the conservation programs.

Our totals include:

• More than 1,200 travelers participate in trips to 8 countries, completing more than 4,000 volunteer shifts;

• More than $600,000 generated for conservation programs through direct payments ($130,000), donations ($50,000), grants ($250,000), income for our programs ($130,000), and volunteer support ($40,000);

• More than $250,000 spent in local hotels, restaurants, and stores;

• Roughly $130,000 in in-kind support including marketing, social media promotion, and other support.

To celebrate this milestone and our anniversary, we are offering a special $100 per person discount on all of our conservation tours and doing a contest giving away 5 turtle gift packs for  people who sign up for our monthly enewsletter.

We hope you can join us to help us raise the next million!

-Brad Nahill & Wallace J. Nichols, Co-Founders