Kawana, the Natural Hatchery for Guiana's Leatherbacks

Association Kwata has monitored sea turtles in French Guiana for more than 25 years, focusing on leatherback and olive ridley turtles. Its Kawana programme runs a natural hatchery in the Awala-Yalimapo area, where the leatherback situation in western Guiana remains, in the association's words, very critical. In 2025 volunteers and staff made 250 patrols between March and August, transplanted 40 nests holding 3,485 eggs, and released 1,155 hatchlings, a hatching success of over 33% that improved on 2024 thanks to cooler sand and better hatchery coverage. The team also reached about 1,700 people through 19 public activities, and its 2026 eastern-coast season report was published on 28 September 2026.