HONU ITI

Te mana o te moana is a Polynesian non-profit organisation that has been dedicated to protecting sea turtles and the marine environment for over twenty years. It was founded in 2004 by Dr Cécile Gaspar and Richard Bailey. Through its activities, the organisation combines sea turtle care, scientific monitoring, educational programmes and awareness-raising initiatives. Its expertise is built on continuous data collection, observation and monitoring, in partnership with local authorities and scientific stakeholders.

The Honu iti project, led by the organisation with the support of the French Polynesian Department of the Environment, aims to address a major knowledge gap: the study of juvenile and subadult green sea turtles in the Windward Islands. Over an initial three-year period (2025-2028), the project is based on a capture-mark-recapture programme across five sites, combining individual identification, biometric measurements, biological sampling, GPS and acoustic tracking, isotopic analyses and video observations.

By involving Polynesian divers and local volunteers, Honu iti takes a participatory and collaborative approach, helping to improve understanding of the origin, ecology and health of these immature populations and to strengthen long-term green sea turtle conservation strategies in French Polynesia.

We launched the Honu iti project to address a major gap in our knowledge of juvenile and subadult green sea turtle populations in French Polynesia. These immature turtles, which remain understudied, play a key role in the survival and reproduction of the species in the face of growing human and environmental pressures. Our initiative aims to identify their birth and breeding grounds and study their ecology, movements and physiological condition in order to inform appropriate conservation strategies.

Support from the AETHER Fund enables us to strengthen field operations, train and mobilise local stakeholders, and deploy advanced technologies to collect reliable, long-term data that is essential to the conservation of this emblematic species.