Villagers Guarding One of the Indian Ocean's Great Turtle Nesting Beaches

Set up in 1991 after intensive poaching left rotting turtle carcasses on Itsamia's beaches, ADSEI now runs nightly eco-guard patrols along five nesting beaches that host an estimated 3,000 green turtle females a year, among the largest nesting aggregations in the Southwest Indian Ocean. Community rangers have monitored nesting activity almost every year since 1998, feeding data to regional scientific partners such as CEDTM and Kelonia, while the association reinvests tourism and donor income into a clinic, classrooms and the 'Maison Tortue' visitor centre in the village. Itsamia's model, born from a simple public-health problem, is now referenced across Comoros as a blueprint for community-led marine conservation.