New water pumps & tanks needed: Help Lombok’s endangered sea turtles thrive

STORY AND PHOTOS BY HEATHER CONN

Part two in a two-part series

Every day, the Lombok Sea Turtle Conservation Project in Indonesia requires hundreds of litres of fresh salt water to clean and refill its open-air tanks. Run by the international nonprofit Green Lion, the program uses sea water drawn via portable pumps and long hoses on Landang Luar Beach. The much-needed liquid then enters a water tower and is accessed via a tap and underground pipes with shut-off valves. (This work continues amidst a shortage of fresh water on the island of Lombok, east of Bali: see below.)

Unfortunately, the two old pumps used while I was volunteering in September and early October 2025 kept breaking down, despite recent repairs. This caused frustrating delays for both volunteers and coordinators and needless stress on the turtles, which were left in small black tubs of water for hours until their tanks could be refilled.

At the same time, the project needs more tanks built for the young turtles, as recommended by a local veterinarian. This prevents overcrowding and unnecessary stress on the turtles, which are usually solitary creatures once they are in the sea.

Left: one of the mobile pumps used to pump sea water from the ocean. Above: Hoses used to connect the pump to the water tower. Right: one of the water towers used to supply water to the open-air water tanks.

Please donate

That’s why I recently created a GoFundMe campaign: to raise money to buy replacement pumps, build more tanks, and keep Green Lion with supplies for the daily care of sea turtles, including food and medicine.

Would you like to help support the ongoing care of three endangered species of sea turtles? If so, please donate, using this GoFundMe link: Fundraiser by Heather Conn : Lombok Sea Turtle Project. Thank you.

Some Lombok areas have faced serious water crises

Meanwhile, water shortages have occurred in Lombok and across Indonesia in recent years due to extreme weather conditions, including drought and forest fires. In July 2025, due to prolonged drought in Central Lombok, the subregional police distributed 8,000 litres of clean water, using water cannon trucks and tankers, to village residents in East Praya.

Two months later, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNBP) distributed support and equipment in response to drought in West Nusa Tenggara province, home to the capital city of Mataram, where Green Lion’s volunteers stay. The drought affected 71 sub-districts, 272 villages, and more than a half-million people, said Antara News. Ten hectares of agricultural land in this region dried up.

A water crisis in East and Central Lombok was reported in November 2024, whereby people could access only about 15 litres of clean water per day, according to the online publication VOI English. Since this proved insufficient for daily needs, families resorted to distilling water to survive.

At that time, Puan Maharani, chairman of Indonesia’s House of Representatives, called for more and better infrastructure to create a long-term solution for access to clean water, said VOI.

Amidst such water shortages, Green Lion provides all of its volunteers, most of whom are from Europe and North America, with a daily source of clean, potable water. The nonprofit steam-cleans volunteers’ dishes after they’re washed by hand and has daily hot water available for washing and bathing.