Last August, a video of a team of scientists pulling out a plastic straw from an Olive Ridley sea turtle’s nose had gone viral, enraging many people across the globe. This is only one of the many undocumented incidents showing how damaging marine pollution is to the entire marine ecosystem, a scenario that CURMA (Coastal Underwater Resource Management Actions) is working hard to prevent.

CURMA is a Pawikan Protection and Conservation Program operating under SIFCare (Science of Identity Foundation Community Assistance for Responsible Existence). Since its establishment in 2011, CURMA’s efforts have all been directed toward attaining these objectives: to educate people about the environment they live in, to educate people about the importance of sea turtles (pawikan in Filipino), and to promote and embody the values of conservation.

Aside fom the protection and conservation program, CURMA’s projects include hatchery management, coastal cleanups, and information and education campaigns.To date, the community has successfully released more than 7,900 pawikan hatchlings from the CURMA hatchery in San Juan, La Union and to the open sea.