The Olive Ridley Project story
We are on a mission to protect sea turtles and their habitats through rescue and conservation medicine, scientific research, and educational outreach. Our vision is simple: a world where sea turtles can roam free from human-induced threats.
How we started
Olive Ridley Project (ORP) was founded by Dr Martin Stelfox in 2013. While working as a biologist in the Maldives, he kept encountering olive ridley turtles entangled in abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing nets – commonly known as ghost nets.
Curious to understand the scale and source of the problem, he enlisted the help of fellow biologists and citizen scientists to investigate. What started as a one-person mission soon evolved into a charity with a holistic, science-led approach to conserving sea turtles and their habitats.
Where we are today
We now focus our work in three interconnected areas:
- Sea turtle rescue and conservation medicine
- Scientific and clinical research
- Educational outreach
By applying the One Health model to sea turtle conservation, we recognise that these areas – as well as animal health, ecosystem health and human wellbeing – are deeply connected. This approach allows us to promote healthier oceans and better outcomes for sea turtles, and for people.
Our growth and impact
In the years following our founding, we rapidly evolved beyond scientific research to deliver hands-on sea turtle rescue, rehabilitation, and educational outreach. In 2017, we opened the Maldives’ first veterinary-led marine turtle rescue centre—marking a significant step forward in the care and protection of injured sea turtles. This was followed by the establishment of several smaller rehabilitation centres, expanding our reach to where help was most urgently needed.
As our experience deepened, so too did our vision. We moved beyond a traditional“rescue and release” model to embraced a conservation medicine approach – one that not only treats individual animals, but also addresses long-term sea turtle health and the wider challenges facing ocean ecosystems.
Today, our work continues to grow in both scale and impact. We operate two additional veterinary-run sea turtle clinical facilities in the Maldives. The Sea Turtle Health Institute of the Maldives – our purpose-built flagship campus for clinical care, professional training, and ocean health research – opened in early 2026, representing a new chapter in our journey. In the same year, the Raa Atoll Sea Turtle Care Centre was upgraded and reopened, strengthening our ability to deliver expert care where it is needed most.
Our wider impact includes:
- Expanding access to conservation education through internships, volunteering, veterinary training, workshops, presentations, and a growing online learning platform
- Advancing global understanding of sea turtles by researching population health, abundance, behaviour, spatial ecology, genetics, parasitology, and critical threats such as habitat degradation and fishery-related risks
- Integrating scientific research with social and socioeconomic insights to better understand the relationship between sea turtles and coastal communities
- Establishing a strong and growing presence with operational bases in Kenya, the Maldives, Oman, Pakistan, and Seychelles
- Extending our reach through collaborations with stakeholders in Tunisia, Greece, Cape Verde, and Saudi Arabia
- Mobilising the largest sea turtle veterinary team in the world to deliver life-saving treatment to injured turtles while advancing the field of conservation medicine
- Growing a multidisciplinary team of over 40 marine conservation experts
- Empowering local communities by supporting and scaling community-led conservation initiatives in Kenya, the Maldives, and Pakistan
- Forging impactful partnerships with research institutions, fishing communities, and policymakers – helping shape the future of sea turtle conservation across the regions where we work
We became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered in England and Wales (Charity No. 1165905) in 2016. Since then, we have expanded our legal presence internationally, establishing registered branches in key regions:
- ORP – Maldives as a local NGO in 2022 (CR/04/2022)
- ORP – Kenya in 2024 (NGO-EPFPJ6)
Our strategy for the future
Sea turtles are global citizens. They cross oceans, live long lives and pass through many types of marine habitats. Along the way, they face threats, most caused by human activity.
Because of their long migrations and lifespan, sea turtles are key indicators of ocean health; their wellbeing reflects the condition of the ecosystems they inhabit. When we protect them, we’re protecting entire marine ecosystems.
We are at a turning point. With the right strategy, we can significantly reduce human-induced threats to sea turtles – both in the regions where we currently operate and in new strategic locations. To meet this challenge, we’ve refined our strategy based on our evolving understanding of what drives long-term impact.
Our strategic goals:
- Goal 1: Shield sea turtles from human interference and the impact of climate change
- Goal 2: Reduce suffering and deepen our understanding of sea turtle health through conservation medicine and clinical research
- Goal 3: Empower more people to take action to protect sea turtles and their habitats
You can read more about our strategy here →.
Where does the name “Olive Ridley Project” come from?
The name Olive Ridley Project is a tribute to our origins, documenting olive ridley turtle entanglements in the Maldives. While our work has expanded, the name reminds us where it all began – and why we do what we do.
