The Eastern Pacific Hawksbill turtle is a species of Hawksbill turtle that originally resided on the Pacific coast as far down as Peru and up to the California Coast. The Eastern Pacific Hawksbill Turtle inhabits coral reefs and mangrove estuaries. There they eat coral, sponges, mangrove seeds, and other invertebrates. Their nesting sites, the mud-sand substrate in the mangroves, is where they lay their eggs usually a range from 130 to 160. Female turtles lay multiple nests per season but only return to the nest every couple of years. Females get to reproductive age between the ages of 20-35 years, although only 1 in every 1000 hatchlings make it to be part of the reproduction cycle making their species' recovery a slow process. The hatchling hatch after 2 months of sitting in the sand being about 2-3 inches long, from there they head in the direction of the brightest horizon, usually the ocean although light pollution has caused nests to head in the wrong direction, where they enter the water and strive to survive. Eastern Pacific Hawksbill Turtles don’t undertake major migrations in their lifetimes, but they do return to the same beaches for reproduction and laying eggs. Hawksbill turtles have always been hunted by local populations,  but it wasn’t until approximately around 1844 were their shells entered international trade to Europe and Asia to be used in Combs, Guitar picks, furniture inlays, and jewelry. Spurring local economies, the hunting killed millions of Hawksbill turtles. The Eastern Pacific Hawksbill Turtle was especially hard hit decimating the population. It wasn’t until 1977 that the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) banned the international trade of Hawksbill products and assigned them utmost protection. Regardless of these efforts, The Eastern Pacific Hawksbill turtle remains on the IUCN critically endangered list. The species is still in danger due to continued poaching, destruction of their mangrove nesting sites, destruction of their coral reef habitats, and bycatch in fishing gear. Today, they only nest in select spots in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Mexico, with their largest nesting sites in El Salvador with around 300 nests per year and Nicaragua with approximately 200 nests per year. These sites are spurring conservation efforts by working with the local communities to stop Poaching and even employing previous poachers to locate nesting females. The conservation of this species has been due to the efforts of organizations such as Fauna & Flora, ICAPO, Ministry of Environment, communities, members of the cooperative and other national actors.