Guinea-Bissau · GW

Ilha Joao Vieira

João Vieira is a remote, largely uninhabited island at the southeastern edge of Guinea-Bissau's Bijagós Archipelago, forming part of the João Vieira and Poilão Marine National Park. At roughly 900 hectares, it is the largest island in the park and the only one with a permanent human presence — a small seasonal ecotourism camp where visitors can stay among white-sand beaches, tropical palm forests, and some of the most important sea turtle nesting grounds on the Atlantic coast of Africa. The island is sacred to the Bijagó people and traditionally owned by tabancas (villages) on neighbouring Canhabaque Island. Within the park's conservation framework, João Vieira has taken on a new role as a hatchery site for green turtle eggs relocated from the extremely dense nesting colony on nearby Poilão, making it an emerging and unique spot to witness sea turtle conservation in action.