🐢 Celebrating Sea Turtle Week: Community-Led Conservation in Coastal Kenya

By Thomas, Coastal Operations Manager

Every year, Sea Turtle Week shines a light on one of the ocean’s most beloved—and threatened—creatures. This June, Ocean Sole took the message of turtle conservation in Kenya beyond the beach and into the heart of our communities: coastal schools in Kilifi County.

Students from Kibarani School for the Deaf creating conservation art from recycled bottle tops—raising awareness through sustainable art from waste during Sea Turtle Week.

Omar, a local turtle ranger, supports students' creativity by preparing turtle outlines for their flip-flop art collages—fostering turtle conservation in Kenya through hands-on learning.

🌊 Kicking Off Sea Turtle Week on World Ocean Day

On World Ocean Day, we launched our Sea Turtle Week celebrations with a powerful day of action: a beach cleanup and mangrove restoration initiative. In collaboration with Fumbini Primary and Hope Integrated School—and in partnership with Leaf Charity and Distant Relatives—we planted over 600 mangrove seedlings including a variety of species Rhizophora mucronate (200), Ceriops tagal (280), and Avicenna marina (120) in a vulnerable marine area. Together, we removed 178.27 kg of plastic waste, reinforcing our commitment to ocean plastic recycling projects and ecosystem health.

Smiles after action: local school kids and community members celebrate a successful mangrove forest clean-up and mangrove planting to support food security and ocean health.

On World Oceans Day, we joined forces with students to plant mangroves and protect Kenya’s coast—highlighting the power of community-led conservation and CSR environmental partnerships.

These activities took place in Kilifi Creek, a local area where mangrove forests have been heavily impacted by logging, soil erosion, toxic runoff, and land-use pressures such as agriculture and housing development. Mangroves in Kenya play a critical role in protecting coastlines from erosion and storm surges, while also serving as rich nursery grounds that support marine life, fisheries, and the food security of surrounding communities. Restoring these ecosystems is not just about planting trees—it’s about safeguarding biodiversity and sustaining livelihoods.

🌱 “Seeing students plant mangroves with care—and then ask how they could do more—was a reminder that change begins with community.”— Thomas, Coastal Operations Manager

📚 Turtle Education with a Creative Twist

From June 9th onward, our team visited six coastal schools for a week-long Sea Turtle Awareness campaign. Many of these schools serve children from fishing families or vulnerable communities—groups that are deeply connected to the ocean, yet often lack access to environmental education.

Learning through art: our handcrafted flip-flop art sculpture of a turtle brings anatomy lessons to life, merging education, creativity, and turtle conservation in Kenyan schools.

With help from the Ecos Project (Blue Economy and Coastal Ecosystem in Kenya) and resources from the official #SeaTurtleWeek website, we hosted interactive learning sessions focused on:

• Sea turtle species and life cycles

• Threats like poaching and plastic waste

• Ways to protect marine life

Students from Kibarani School for the Deaf and Bofa Primary engaged in creative, hands-on activities—like building turtle collages from plastic bottle caps and identifying turtle body parts using our colorful flip-flop art sculptures.

A moment of pride! These students created eco-conscious conservation art from waste—turning discarded materials into messages of hope for our oceans.

🐢 Turning Learning into Conservation Art

As part of our sustainable art from waste approach, we helped students transform discarded materials into conservation art. Activities included:

• Turtle trivia competitions

• Puzzle solving and coloring sessions

• Making collages from plastic bottle tops

The top students were awarded eco-conscious corporate gifts from Ocean Sole: handcrafted sea turtle sculptures and keychains made from upcycled flip-flops. These not only celebrate learning but symbolize a commitment to cleaner oceans.

🧡 “We believe in art that teaches, heals, and transforms—and this week, it inspired over 400 future ocean protectors.”

Classroom conservation in action: Ocean Sole’s turtle conservation Kenya sessions educate students in Kilifi Kenya, building awareness through storytelling and play.

Confidence and curiosity: a student shares her knowledge during a turtle trivia challenge—showing how ocean plastic recycling projects and education spark change.

🤝 Conservation Through Community Partnerships

By engaging nearly 400 students across six schools, our community-led conservation efforts during Sea Turtle Week are laying the groundwork for long-term marine stewardship. This initiative reflects the power of CSR environmental partnerships & donations that make these initiatives possible; as well as local leaderships, and inclusive education.

As we celebrate the ripple effects of this week, we remain committed to protecting sea turtles, restoring marine ecosystems, and creating art with purpose.

🌊 Want to support our work? Explore our flip-flop art collection — each sculpture helps fund cleanups, education, and ocean protection in Kenya.

CLICK TO SHOP

Or you can donate directly to our projects:

CLICK TO DONATE

#SeaTurtleWeek #FlipFlopArt #TurtleConservationKenya #MarineProtectedAreasKenya #OceanPlasticRecyclingProjects