We lose 1 species every hour. Don’t spend this Earth Hour counting down the numbers. Turn an hour into years for the species that most need protecting.

South Africa is home to leatherback and loggerhead turtles. Marine turtles are excellent navigators – they often migrate hundreds, even thousands of kilometres between feeding and nesting grounds. It's estimated that only around 1 in 1 000 marine turtle hatchlings make it to adulthood. Male turtles never leave the sea, but females come ashore to lay eggs – amazingly to the same beach where they themselves hatched!

There are many threats facing sea turtles in South Africa and across the globe. Climate change, habitat destruction, plastic pollution and over-fishing are some of the leading causes of why turtles face extinction. One in every three turtles rescued and rehabilitated have plastic pieces stuck in their digestive systems, making it hard for the turtles to eat and digest food. Over-development along coastlines destroys nesting beaches, making it harder for female turtles to lay their eggs, whilst over-fishing and even trawling have serious ecological concerns as marine species such as turtles are often caught in the bycatch.