Macaronesia, North Africa, and West Africa

No nesting was recorded during recent surveys in Morocco (Tiwari et al. 2001, 2006), and there appears to be no confirmed records of nesting in Macaronesia (López-Jurado et al. 2000; Fretey 2001). Leatherbacks are rare around the waters of the Azores and Morocco, although occasional captures of turtles from French Guiana, Grenada, and Costa Rica have been reported (Fretey and Girondot 1996; Hays et al. 2004; Troëng et al. 2004). Some nesting was reported in Mauritania and Senegal (Maigret 1978, 1983; Dupuy 1986), but whether nesting is regular in these countries remains to be confirmed. Leatherbacks are rare in the Gambia and occasional nesting in the Gambia is yet to be determined (Barnett et al. 2004). No leatherback nests were recorded during a recent assessment in the Gambia (Hawkes et al. 2006).

Leatherback nesting was reported in the Bijagos Archipelago of Guinea-Bissau by Agardy (1993) and Barbosa et al. (1998). Barbosa (pers. comm. in Fretey 2001) estimated that ca. 4 leatherback nests were observed each season on the island of Adonga in the Bijagos Archipelago. In Guinea, leatherbacks are sometimes captured at sea, but nesting has not yet been documented (Fretey 2001). Nesting on continental Sierra Leone is yet to be determined, but nesting occurs on the offshore Turtle Islands and Sherbro Island (Fretey and Malaussena 1991; Siaffa et al. 2003); extensive work is currently being undertaken by the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone to determine the status of leatherbacks in the country. Liberia supports leatherback nesting (M. Tiwari, pers. comm.) and recent extensive monitoring activities undertaken by the local nongovernmental organization (NGO) Save My Future (SAMFU) will help establish a better estimate of the nesting population. In Cote d'Ivoire, nesting by leatherbacks is quite common, and 218 nests were counted over 41 km of beach in February 2001 (Gomez 2005). Despite political unrest since 1999 in Cote D'Ivoire, sea turtle projects and conservation activities persist in the country (Gomez et al. In press). In Ghana, leatherbacks appear to be the second most common species to nest; between August 1998 and April 2000, 319 leatherback nests were counted along a 14-km stretch, which lies within the core nesting area for sea turtles in Ghana (Amiteye 2000). At the time of writing (2006–2007 season), a daily monitoring program was underway along a 45-km stretch near Ada Foah, Ghana. A leatherback tagged at Bigisanti Beach, Suriname, in May 1970 was recaptured in the waters of Ghana in April 1971 (Pritchard 1973). Along the 177-km coastline of Togo and Benin, nesting activity is low and sporadic (Fretey 2001). Segniagbeto (2004) reported 27 nests during the 2002–2003 season on the beaches of Togo. Nesting was confirmed in Nigeria (Fretey 2001), although more surveys are needed to determine the importance of the population.

Central Africa

Low, but regular nesting occurs in southern Cameroon. On a 15-km beach in Cameroon, the mean number of nests counted between the 1998–1999 and 2000–2001 seasons was 28 nests (SD = 5.8; range = 25–35; H. Angoni, unpubl. data). There is scattered but possibly regular nesting in Sao Tome and Principe, and on continental Equatorial Guinea (Mba et al. 1998; Fretey 2001). The waters of Sao Tome and Principe may be important developmental habitats based on the accidental capture of 4 juvenile leatherbacks (17–21 cm in curved carapace length) in March 1994 (Fretey et al. 1999). In the Gulf of Guinea, nesting was reported by Fretey and Girardin (1988) and Formia (1999) on the islands of Corisco, but the large nesting population is found on the island of Bioko belonging to Equatorial Guinea. The mean number of nests recorded on 5 nesting beaches monitored on Bioko between 2000–2001 and 2004–2005 was 3896 (SD = 1461.5; range = 2127–5071; Rader et al. 2006).

The most important nesting beach with the greatest concentration of leatherbacks in the eastern Atlantic lies in Gabon (Fig. 1). Billes et al (2000) estimated 30,000 nests along 96.5 km of Mayumba Beach (town of Mayumba to the Congo border) in southern Gabon during the 1999–2000 nesting season. By using nesting numbers and estimated clutch frequency, Billes et al. (2003) estimated that 6300 females had nested during the 1999–2000 season and 7800 females during the 2000–2001 season. It is important to note that the number of females nesting may be a slight overestimate, because clutch frequency may have been underestimated. Furthermore, preliminary aerial surveys by Sounguet et al. (In press) of the 850 km of Gabonese coastline in 2003 estimated that 1000–1500 nests were laid, on average, every night during the peak nesting months and that at least 30,000 nests are laid along Gabon's coast in a season. These estimates highlight the global importance of this region. Currently, nesting in Gabon is monitored principally at 3 sites by various national and international NGOs, Pongara, Gamba, and Mayumba, and a recently established partnership among the various groups will greatly elucidate the magnitude of the nesting population in the near future (Fig. 1). Meanwhile, international collaboration is essential for conservation of this globally important nesting population. In the first observed trans-Atlantic movements from the eastern Atlantic to the western Atlantic, 4 leatherbacks tagged on the nesting beaches of Gabon migrated to the waters of Argentina and Brazil (Billes et al. 2006a). Recent satellite telemetry work and tag returns are continually elucidating the routes of leatherbacks as they migrate from Gabonese beaches (Billes et al. 2006b; http://www.panda.org).

South of Gabon, in the People's Republic of Congo, 70 leatherback nests were counted along 20 km of beach during a portion of the 2003–2004 nesting season (October to December; Renatura Report 2004 Season), and at least 148 nests were recorded during the 2005–2006 nesting season (Renatura Report 2006 Season). A pilot study has only just been initiated on the short coastline of the Democratic Republic of Congo by the NGO Observations Congolais pour la Protection de l'Environnment. Their preliminary work suggests nesting by leatherbacks and captures at sea (OCPE-ONG 2006). Aerial surveys in Angola indicate that leatherback nesting occurs in the country (Carr and Carr 1983, 1991) and that Angola may host an important population. However, no annual monitoring of the entire coastline has been conducted to determine the size of the population.

Namibia and South Africa

No nesting appears to occur along the coast of Namibia and Atlantic South Africa (Fretey 2001). Leatherbacks were reported from Namibian waters (L. Roos, unpubl. data), and from accidental captures in nets and strandings (M. Griffin, pers. comm.), and from fisheries by-catch in South African and Namibian waters (Peterson 2005). Although, there is no nesting in Atlantic South Africa, some females nesting on the Indian Ocean South African beaches migrate around the Cape of Good Hope into southeast Atlantic waters (Hughes et al. 1998; Luschi et al. 2003, 2006).

In conclusion, although our knowledge of the status of leatherbacks in Atlantic Africa is still incomplete and extensive monitoring is required to obtain better estimates on nesting numbers, the provisionary estimate of 6300 to 7800 females nesting annually in southern Gabon allows the region to be classified among the largest leatherback nesting beaches in the world (along with French Guiana and Suriname). Fortunately, Mayumba in Gabon and Conkouati in the Congo have now been designated as marine national parks (Fig. 1).

Research and conservation efforts in the region are young, and extensive research, funding, and capacity building are required to establish strong sea turtle programs in all the countries. Some of the threats to sea turtles in Atlantic Africa include collection of eggs, harvest of females for consumption, oil exploitation activities, chemical and industrial pollution, as well as sand mining. However, accidental capture in fisheries is one of the biggest threats for leatherbacks in Atlantic waters and studies evaluating by-catch are slowly getting underway (e.g., Carranza et al. 2006). Leatherbacks are also integrated into traditional medicine and voodoo practices and conservation initiatives will have to respect and incorporate the sociocultural aspect of turtle use in Africa. Finally, high poverty levels in Africa place enormous pressure on sea turtle populations and would need to be recognized and addressed by conservation and management programs (Formia et al. 2003).