Green Christmas gifts that give back: sea turtle adoptions
The holiday season brings so much joy and celebration – but it also brings an uncomfortable reality:
Every year, holiday gifting creates a surge in waste that harms the very planet we love. Most of it is wrapping paper, disposable packaging, and unwanted gifts destined for landfills… and too often, the ocean.
If you’re looking for a Christmas gift that feels good but also does good, you’re not alone. More and more people are choosing green Christmas gifts that are low-waste, meaningful, and kinder to the planet.
That’s exactly why adopting a sea turtle is the perfect solution.
Gift a sustainable sea turtle adoption this holiday season
For a donation of £50, not only do you get to adopt a sea turtle, you even get to choose their name – it can either honour your bond with a special someone, celebrate a favourite memory, or even commemorate a fun inside joke.
If your sea turtle is re-sighted in the wild, you or the git recipient will receive updates so that they can continue to follow its journey for one year.
What’s included in the gift adoption package
Every £50 sea turtle gift adoption includes:
- A personalised digital adoption certificate
- A gift card addressed to your loved one
- A sea turtle fact-sheet
- A printable activity sheet for children up to 12 years of age
- Re-sighting updates* if your turtle is spotted again for 1 year
- Your adopted sea turtle featured on our website
*Please note that we cannot guarantee sightings of wild sea turtles
Why this green Christmas gift makes a difference
When so much holiday gifting ends up in the trash, this is a rare present that actively helps protect the planet:
- Has no plastic or packaging waste
- Supports real and direct marine conservation efforts by Olive Ridley Project
- Has a long-term positive impact
- Makes your loved ones part of an incredible ocean story
Did you know? Sea turtles are gentle ocean caretakers – they help keep coral reefs healthy, seagrass beds fresh and balanced, protect fish stocks, and support oceanic ecosystems that generate 50–70% of the oxygen we breathe.
Yet sea turtles face countless threats: pollution, habitat loss, climate change.
By adopting a sea turtle, you directly support our work in:
- Identifying & monitoring wild sea turtles
- Researching their behaviour and habitats
- Documenting threats and reducing risks
- Rescuing & treating injured sea turtles
- Protecting critical nesting beaches
With more than 8,591 sea turtles identified and monitored across the Indian Ocean, each adoption from our database strengthens our ability to protect these incredible creatures.
Name and adopt a sea turtle in 3 easy steps
- Pick your favourite sea turtle from the gallery below and decide on a name.
- Make a donation of £50, (and an extra one-off donation if you like).
- Complete the rest of the form with your details to finalise your adoption. Gift adoptions are also available.
Please note: To ensure that Santa 🎅 can deliver your gift on time, adopt before 23rd December 23:59 GMT. Regular deliveries will resume from 27th December.
More information about your adoption:
- For data protection and compliance purposes, we do not contact gift recipients directly. The digital adoption package makes it easy for you to share it with the person you are gifting it to by email or printing and giving it to them in person.
- A donation of £50 covers the symbolic adoption and naming of a unique identified wild sea turtle. You will receive updates with photos and sighting details when we spot your sea turtle again for one year.
- When you renew your adoption after one year, you will continue to receive email updates for another year.
- Please note that these are wild animals and we cannot guarantee sightings or the frequency of photo identification opportunities. However, our dedicated team of biologists and volunteers are in the water daily, searching for and photographing these magnificent creatures.
Select your favourite sea turtle to adopt as a gift
Holiday waste is a global problem. Adopting a sea turtle is a beautiful way to be the solution. So this year, choose a gift that helps heal the planet rather than harm it.
Hurry, Santa will deliver the cutest turtles first!
Protecting sea turtles and their habitats takes a holistic, long-term approach. We combine rescue and conservation medicine, clinical and scientific research, and educational outreach to address the many threats sea turtles face. It’s complex, ongoing, and costly work – but it’s making a real difference. By symbolically adopting one of our identified sea turtles, you’ll play a direct role in helping us protect this threatened species and the ocean they call home.
