Since 1988, the Conservation and Fisheries Department of the BVI Government and volunteers, have conducted annual monitoring surveys of turtle nesting beaches, especially leatherback. The main aim has been to determine the size of the remnant populations. This work has been supported by the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST) and the Turtles in the UK Caribbean Overseas Territories (TCOT) initiative. WIDECAST assisted in the development of a national sea turtle recovery action plan. This included enhanced public awareness initiatives. The Conservation and Fisheries Department developed a "Teacher's Package" with WIDECAST materials, including a narrated slide show, handouts, and games for use in classrooms throughout the territory. These efforts resulted in noticeably increased community involvement in sea turtle conservation issues, including mitigating threats posed by beachfront lighting, sand mining, indiscriminate anchoring, and turtle and egg poaching. The revised Turtle Act of 1986 made it illegal to take turtles except during an annual period of 1 December to 31 March. As a result of these measure, the numbers of nesting turtles in BVI is slowly increasing. It is hoped that as the number of nesting turtles increase, then this could become an attraction for ecotourists, and the foundation of an environmentally sustainable tourism activity.