Punta Pargos Green Turtle Monitoring and Protection
Program
Monitoring and Protection
Our monitoring and protection program has developed slowly but surely into a cutting edge
research project. During the 2008-2009 nesting season we teamed up even more closely with Governmental and Non-Governmental
organizations in Costa Rica to maximize the research benefits from the project and strengthen the protection patrols in the
area. We are authorized to advance our research into tagging of adult females, and using translocation tactics to secure nests
if necessary. Working directly with the MINAE we are also authorized to monitor and enforce protection of the coastal eco-system
including the trees, septic systems and any environmental laws regarding the integrity of the nesting area. The comprehensive
biometric data we have gathered over the last season together with the previous 6 years of study, have given us important
information as to the significance of the marine turtle cohort we are working with. Not only are the numbers revealing that
this may be the largest remaining cohort of it's kind in Costa Rica, but also that the Punta Pargos beaches have the highest
reproduction success in the region, with ideal temperatures for mixed-sex hatch ratios and extremely high hatch recoveries.
What this information means is that we are producing large numbers of hatchlings with the ideal sex ratios for sustaining
the species into the future. We will soon be able to identify the migratory patterns of our turtles and finally build a complete
picture of thier activities not only on Punta Pargos but also on a regional level. This aspect of our efforts at STF is paying
off for Costa Rica and for the marine turtles of the overall region. We have held off reporting our findings until now while
we gathered a comprehensive data set and upgraded our data collection capabilities, we have the data we needed for our report
to be comprehensively representative of the areas nesting conditions and population size now, and will be enhancing our nowledge
from here on and monitoring any changes closely.
Education
In 2005 Sea Turtles Forever integrated a new educational program into the Punta Pargos Green Turtle
Monitoring and Protection Program. We go to schools surrounding the Punta Pargos nesting area giving marine
turtle conservation presentations. Teaching these children to value their environmental resources is a
new concept to the rural communities we have operated in. Along with the presentations we pass out bilingual Spanish/English marine
turtle conservation coloring books and donated coloring pencils. These are under privileged children who have no art supplies
and sometimes maybe not even a pencil. We had great success the first year and continued the program during the 2006/2007
season. Students are interested in how they can help save sea turtles from extinction, including ones who admit
they eat sea turtle eggs. We will continue with this great educational program as long as we can find the few necessary
resources to operate and look forward to incorporating beach clean-up field trips.
By reaching out to the local children we
build hope for the future that the culturally imbedded practice of harvesting every egg illegally will become a thing of the
past, and the marine turtle resource may be re-established to sustainable levels, and possibly even a controlled legal harvest.
First we need to change the old habit and operate our recovery plan for the necessary length of time to re-establish the critically
endangered species we are protecting from the verge of extinction.
"Turtle Man" teaching pre-schoolers about sea turtle conservation. Los
Pargos Elementrary School, 2007.
Rachel teaching conservation on Punta Pargos -- 2005, volunteering her time and efforts
to change for the better.
2005 Pargos Pre-schoolers with their new sea turtle coloring book.
The largest budget we have had for our educational program was $500 dollars, yet we have managed to keep this
program operating year after year due to the volunteer efforts of our team, and a few dollars of sponsorship. Rachel has been
unrelenting in her effort to change things from the culturally accepted practice of illegal harvest to one of understanding
and sustainable management of natural resources. Year after year we keep bringing our message to these underprivledge children
of the nesting area, and little by little we are turning the tide on the previously culturally accepted illegal harvest and
the mind-set that perpetuated the deterioration of marine turtle populations in the Eastern Pacific. This is not a problem
just for Costa Rica, the problem is shared by all Central American countries and even today any nest in Central America is
doomed unless protected. Punta Pargos is one of the most significant nesting sites in all of Central America so it is a great
place to start the change and have a regional impact on recovering depleted stocks of our Chelonia Mydas.
Rachel Ward bringing conservation education to underprivledged
children in the nesting area, 2010.
STF education includes lots of smiles and fun along with our important message, 2010.
Rachel works in some of the poorest schools in Costa Rica to help
protect the wildlife and especially marine turtles from illegal harvest through educating the people.
