The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species used to classify green sea turtles as endangered, but due to decades of sustained action, they’re now bouncing back!
The IUCN carried out its latest assessment of the species in December 2024 and reclassified green sea turtles from “endangered” to “least concern” in October of 2025. Their findings showed the global population has increased since the 1970s — which is terrific news for ocean and coastal ecosystem health!
What’s the Red List?
The Red List was established in 1964. Today, it’s one of the world’s most comprehensive sources of information on the extinction risk of animal, fungal, and plant species.
Consider it the most trusted guide for tracking extinction risk and where to focus our conservation efforts.
Scientists and conservation groups use the list to devise plans to help the plants and animals that need it most. Additionally, governments use this data to write environmental regulations and protect nature.
The list also helps show whether these efforts are working or whether the decline will continue.
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Why Do We Need Green Sea Turtles?
In short, they directly tie into both marine and land ecosystems.
The green sea turtle is the second-largest of the seven species. It has an incredibly wide geographical distribution, with nests in more than 80 countries. Their range spans tropical waters across around 140 countries.
The turtles play a vital role in ocean and coastal ecosystems across much of the world. The adults eat the top blades of seagrass, helping maintain beds. They also prevent overgrowth that could disrupt ocean currents and cause seagrass to decompose into toxic mold.
Keeping seagrass beds healthy and well-maintained also preserves their role as essential nurseries and feeding grounds for other marine life, such as shellfish, crustaceans, and fish.
Plus, green sea turtles provide vital nutrients to beach dunes. Because turtles lay their eggs on beaches, the unhatched and leftover eggshells add rich marine nutrients that stabilize vegetation and sand dunes.
Their nests are also nutrient-rich food sources for predators, which means that marine energy connects directly to land ecosystems.
So What Changed?
For decades, issues such as habitat loss, climate change, invasive species, pollution, commercial fishing, and the illegal wildlife trade have contributed to a 48-67 percent decline in green sea turtles worldwide.
But the IUCN shows that conservation efforts to protect nesting females and their eggs and reduce harvest pressure have allowed the turtles to bounce back. Since 1970 and 1980 levels, the green sea turtle population has increased by 28%!
According to an IUCN press release, “Conservation efforts have focused on protecting nesting females and their eggs on beaches, expanding community-based initiatives to reduce unsustainable harvest of turtles and their eggs for human consumption, curtailing trade, and using Turtle Excluder Devices and other measures to reduce the accidental capture of turtles in fishing gear.”
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This Is Proof That Global Conservation Efforts Make a Difference
Roderic Mast, Co-Chair of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission Marine Turtle Specialist Group, said the recovery is a “powerful example of what coordinated global conservation over decades can achieve.”
And Mast isn’t the only one. Conservation groups around the globe are thrilled at the reclassification.
WWF’s Global Marine Turtle Conservation Lead Christine Madden called it “a major win for turtle conservation and proof that coordinated action can reverse populations at risk of extinction.”
“This is a major milestone globally, but it’s not a time to be complacent. Conservation efforts must continue for green turtle populations to continue to thrive and recover in areas where they remain threatened by fishing gear entanglement, overfishing and loss of habitats,” she added.
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A Word of Caution and What You Can Do to Help Sea Turtles
Although the bounce-back of green sea turtles is excellent — it proves that conservation efforts are necessary and can make a real difference — there is still much more to be done.
Some subspecies of turtles living in Hawaii and Costa Rica remain threatened. Depending on their population numbers, green sea turtles could face a reclassification of their Red List status once again.
And this update further confirms what scientists have long warned us about: the fact that global biodiversity is dwindling at an alarming rate. Human activities, including climate change, pollution, and habitat destruction, are largely to blame.
Average, everyday people can help stop biodiversity loss in several ways. These include changing their shopping habits, reducing consumption, and boosting wildlife-friendly spaces in their own yards.
If you’re interested in taking a few small steps, here are some ideas on what you can do:
- Grow native (local) flowers, trees, and shrubs that feed birds, bees, and butterflies.
- Avoid using harsh lawn and garden pesticides that kill helpful insects and poison soil and water supplies.
- Allow a small patch of your lawn to remain un-mowed or leave room for dandelions to grow to feed pollinators.
- Buy fewer items by repairing what you own or selecting second-hand goods where you can.
- Eat more seasonal, organic food from local farmers’ markets.
- Pick up trash in local parks, beaches, or your own neighborhood to protect wildlife from pollution.
- Volunteer with your local conservation group, participate in a tree-planting drive, or sign up with a wildlife rescue organization.
Of course, there are more ways to get involved and help protect Earth’s biodiversity. These are just a few small ways anyone could do their part without investing a ton of time or money.
If there’s one thing this update about green sea turtles’ extinction status shows, it’s that we, as humans, can make a difference if only we try. Learn more about how you can help on the following websites:
World Wildlife Fund
Sea Shepherd
Featured image by Jeremiah Del Mar on Unsplash