When Hannah Bywater was 6 years old she decided she wanted to make a difference. She learned of a sea turtle sanctuary in Bali, Indonesia that was trying to save the sea turtles and she wanted to help.
               
Sea turtles return to the beach where they were born, between the ages of 15-30 to lay their eggs in the sand. One problem contributing to the decline of the sea turtle population was the fact that some of the locals were digging up the eggs to eat or sell as food. To offset egg losses from this practice, a sea turtle sanctuary and hatchery were established. The first step was for the sanctuary to pay the locals for the eggs so they could be nurtured and then released. In this way these turtles are rescued and will in turn help save the species from extinction.

 On her 7th birthday Hannah forfeited birthday gifts and instead accepted donations for the turtles. She also saved and donated a portion of her allowance. In 2008 she donated $305 of her hard earned money. But she did not stop there! After announcing “next time, I’ll give you double!” we realized something more needed to be done.
One of the local carvers in Bali carved these beautiful wood turtles using a locally harvested wood. The turtle is similar in size to a baby turtle when it is released from the sanctuary on its journey to the open ocean. For a $5.00 donation you receive a turtle and 100% of the money is hand delivered by Hannah.

Hannah far exceeded all expectations when she raised over $2000 last year and hand delivered it in Feb 2009. A portion of the money donated will create a 5x5m bio reef in the shape of a turtle, aptly named, “Hannah’s Reef”. This artificial reef instillation located in the open ocean will serve as an educational tool as part of a PADI approved Reef Gardener Distinctive Specialty course. Visited by people from all over the world it will provide a location for recovering coral to grow, a habitat structure for fish and a feeding ground for the very turtles Hannah has had the honour of releasing. In 2009 she released 10 baby turtles.

Hannah also donated $200 to the Sumatran Orangutan Society. With the money, 75 rainforest trees were planted in her name. These trees will restore Orangutan habitat in degraded areas in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia.

The Newly Funded Projects at Reef Seen Bali:
Thanks to the donations collected by an amazing 8 year old Canadian, Hannah Bywater, we are very excited at Reef Seen Aquatics about the opportunity to improve our various projects that we have here. With the funding we will be able to both further support the turtle hatchery and the reef gardener projects. With the funding generated by Hannah, we will be able to provide Boomer with a new home. Boomer was the last hatchling to be released from the first batch of eggs back in 1992. Later that day, he returned to the same beach. He was then released again, but again he returned after a couple of days. He has now been released 5 times, but he just keeps coming back! Hence he is now known as Boomer (Boomerang). It is hoped in the future he can help become part of a captive breeding program. Boomer, who has become the ambassador of the turtle project, is now 17 years old, not quite a fully mature adult. He is about three quarters of his total size at the moment. We plan on enlarging the size of his pool, making his home bigger and better for the future. For more information about these projects please see our website: www.reefseenbali.com or Email: dive@reefseenbali.com

Ni Lah - Editor Bali for Kids.com:

Hannah, we love what you did! It shows how everybody can make a change in this world. We hope to hear and see more of you in the future when you coming back to Bali. Visit us from Bali for Kids.com and we also will have a little turtle present for you.

Thanks you so much Hannah Bywater!!!!