Fabian Andres Sanchez Dorado

SEA TURTLE COMMUNITY BASED CONSERVATION, RECOVERY, RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PROJECT ON THE OSA PENINSULA, COSTA RICA

Building hatchery

Taging

LocationCountryCategoriesDate
Osa PeninsulaCosta RicaCentral and Latin America, Marine, Turtles10 Oct 2007

The Osa Peninsula Sea Turtle Conservation Program collaborates to work towards an initiative for sustainable conservation to guarantee the health of sea turtle populations that nest on Carate, Río Oro and Pejeperro beaches. These beaches have been established as “index beaches” or nesting areas where nesting events are numerous each season (>4000). There are four species of sea turtles that nest on these beaches: the Olive Ridley, Lepidochelys olivacea (being the most common turtle to nest in the area), the Pacific Green, Chelonia mydas agassizii, the Leatherback, Dermochelys coriacea and the Hawksbill, Eretmochelys imbricata, all of them endangered and critically endangered species. Our conservation efforts incorporate protection, research, education and the development of methodologies in the field as well as involve local beach communities (community-based conservation) as well as neighboring areas such as Puerto Jimenez, Drake Bay.

The conservation of sea turtles is threatened by a variety of factors such as the poaching of nests by humans and by domestic or introduced animals, the loss of coastal habitat due to coastal development, tourist infrastructure and/or erosion, global climate change and industrial fishing. Because of the numerous threats affecting sea turtle conservation, we plan to develop 3 components as part of its long term sea turtle conservation program, thus:

The monitoring of beaches: Continuous beach patrols of more than 12 km of beaches which make up the index nesting area with the purpose of documenting data of nesting sea turtles, nests, clutches of eggs, hatchlings and their associated environmental parameters. Nests are protected in situ (in their natural location) as well as relocated to safer areas on the beach or to a protected hatchery.

Research: Research projects regarding the biology and ecology of sea turtles will be carried out throughout the nesting season (i.e.: natural depredation assessment, marking nests, determining the hatching success rate of individual nests in various conditions, biometry, and genetic population structure).

Education: The development of educational programs in schools or educational centers to teach the biological aspects of sea turtles and to inform the general public about how they can help with sea turtle conservation. Besides education, the local capacity formation involves training workshops for tour guides, naturalists, and people who live near nesting areas and wish to implement a non-extractive use (ecotourism activities) of this natural resource.

Project Update: February 2008

The Sea Turtle Community-based Conservation, Recovery, Research and Education Project on the Osa Peninsula is developing the night and daily patrols on Carate, Rio Oro and Pejeperro beaches, gathering scientific data from three different species of sea turtles (olive ridley, pacific green and leatherback). In addition, biologists carry out two research projects that pretend (i) to establish how the natural and non-natural depredation affects these sea turtle nesting colonies and (ii) to Asses different techniques that control in situ, this depredation activity.

Before the beginning of the season, we developed the first Workshop in Biology and Conservation of Sea Turtles with Emphasis in Nesting Beaches. During the five days of duration of course, bilogists and local comunity were trained in various aspects of sea turtle biology and ecology, as well as sistematic techniques in monitoring of nesting populations. Also, to count with staff from other similar projects, allowed to lay the foundations for a process of methodologic standardization, which is intended to start the next season.

On the other hand, a different way in that the communities can become involved in the conservation of sea turtles is through the implementation of socio-economic alternatives. Because the great experience of a group such as Widecast - Costa Rica, we decided to implement on the Osa one of their socio-economical projects that does not jeopardize the health of the sea turtle populations. For one week 14 women from the Osa Peninsula were trained in elaborating beautiful purses from supermarket’s plastic bags recicled. During 40 hours of work they learned to develop different types of purses that are produced nowadays. This initiative projects that the group of weavers from Osa will recycle and reuse an average of 12000 standard sized supermarket plastic bags per month, with the hope that each weaver produces 12 purses per month. This will represent a group income estimated of $180/weaver/month.


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