Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront CEO, David Green, announced this week that they will build South Africa’s first world-class turtle conservation centre as part of their 2026 upgrade and expansion plans.
Also read: Volunteers rally to save endangered turtles along South Africa’s coastline
The executive management of the Two Oceans Aquarium confirmed to IOL on Friday that they would have to raise R30-50 million for the internal operations and internal infrastructure and technology by the year 2026.
The current turtle conservation sanctuary at the Two Oceans Aquarium is unique in that four out of five turtle species can be found along our coastline, with many facing extinction.
Last week, 304 turtles were rescued as a result of storms and black south-easter winds, and over 200 are currently in intensive care and quarantine at the aquarium’s turtle centre. Hawkbill turtles, which range in age from three to six years, are an endangered species.
A team of veterinarians and medical experts care for the turtles in a sanctuary where no outside visitors are permitted, only staff, and where they are quarantined and nurtured until they can be released back into the ocean.
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They can produce 100s to 1000s of hatchlings per season, are essential to our ecosystem, and are vulnerable to pollution such as plastic.
The conservation centre team told the media that the timing could not have been better, emphasising the critical need to preserve and conserve the species.
Ann Lamont, the Executive Chairperson of the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation, expressed excitement about the prospect of a first-of-its-kind conservatory.
‘There has been amazing work done here over the past 20 years with over 1000 turtles being saved and released,’ said Lamont.
‘More and more there has been an increase in extreme weather events and plastic pollution, driving the need for turtle conservation.
‘Our number of turtles being brought into the centre are increasing. We do need the additional space and a place which will be open to the public.
Lamont stated that the conservation centre would remain part of the aquarium but would be open to the public. It would be located near the Table Bay Hotel in the Granger Bay precinct and would include amenities such as a restaurant and shops.
Lamot explained that they would approach corporations, businesses, philanthropists, and funders to raise money for their multimillion-rand vision.
‘We will be looking at funding, the life support centre, the learning centre, the technology, what must go into the centre, we need to focus on that funding, reaching out to corporates, business sector to philanthropists,’ she said.
‘We are looking at something between R30 to R50 million for it to really be state of the art, if we have commitment from large corporate and philanthropic organisations because there is a lot of endangered species that washes up here.’
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Also read:
80 loggerhead turtles rescued along WC coastlines amid storms
Picture: Mika Ruusunen / Unsplash
