WildAid reminds consumers “Beauty Belongs in the Ocean”

On November 29th, WildAid launched a new sea turtle communications campaign in accordance with the National Aquatic Wildlife Protection Publicity Month. In partnership with the China Sea Turtle Conservation Alliance and Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology (SEE), the campaign spans billboards across eight coastal cities coupled with a social media campaign.

As many people are unaware that sea turtles are endangered and were upgraded to national first-class protected wild animals in early 2021, our campaign publicizes this information and reinforces the illegality of the sea turtle trade. According to a 2020 public awareness survey, only 32% of Chinese citizens are aware that all sea turtle species are endangered and an overwhelming 87% responded that there is much room for improvement in public awareness of sea turtle protection. With this in mind, our “Beauty Belongs in the Ocean” concept encourages viewers to leave these creatures untouched, where they belong. The billboards will be displayed through March 2022.

Online, we hosted a livestream event to discuss the various threats sea turtles face with our partners at the sea turtle shelter of the Hainan Normal University, who currently house 13 [live] seized and injured sea turtles, including two hawksbills. On December 5th, we broadcast the 4-hour livestream show both on WildAid’s and InsDaily’s popular WeChat accounts, which drew over 60,000 viewers. Additional posts on InsDaily garnered over 800,000 views. We were also able to reach over 11,000 viewers on TikTok with a short educational video about sea turtle conservation.

Our partners at the sea turtle rescue at Hainan Normal University