Endangered Sea Turtle Conservation Effort Launched

Ocean Conservancy has announced its new conservation tourism program, Sea Turtle Ecological Expeditions (SEE Turtles). The program informs travelers about sea turtle locations where local conservation efforts are underway, resulting in support for sea turtle protection while increasing community resources that help residents thrive and value sea turtles in the wild.

SEE Turtles also provides turtle watching guidelines to travelers taking conservation tours to reduce negative impacts on turtles and the host community. Going beyond the ecotourism mantra of tourists not impacting the environment they visit, Ocean Conservancy suggests that travelers should make an impact – a positive one – through conservation tourism. With six out of seven sea turtle species endangered, SEE Turtles is founded on the premise that the growing business of sea turtle viewing and tourism must be developed with the goal of protecting sea turtles as well as generating revenue.

“Sea turtle populations face serious threats from getting caught in fishing gear and from market demand for turtle meat, eggs and shells. People who are on the ground protecting sea turtles where turtles feed or nest can make the biggest positive impact for the animals through community ties, cultural sensitivity, and simply because of their proximity to turtles,” said Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, a senior scientist with Ocean Conservancy and a leading international sea turtle expert. “Our program aims to empower and support communities by encouraging tourists to take sea turtle tours run by former fishermen. This will bring tourism money into communities where sea turtle conservation tours are offered so that former fishermen and poachers can make a living offering tours that protect sea turtles rather than harming them.”

“I grew up in Lopez Mateos where many loggerhead sea turtles feed and grow to maturity. The people in my town used to take sea turtles for granted. My town was once known for consuming turtles. I knew I had to help sea turtle populations survive by convincing fishermen and visitors that we need to protect turtles,” said Cesareo “Charo” Castro, sea turtle tour operator and sea turtle conservationist in Lopez Mateos, Baja California Sur, Mexico. “Ocean Conservancy’s program holds much promise by sending people to our community to support my business and my home town, where we now work hard to protect turtles.”

Ocean Conservancy’s SEE Turtles program currently focuses efforts on essential sea turtle habitat in Baja California Sur, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Trinidad. The SEE Turtles program is guided by nine advisory board members with expertise in policy, sea turtle science, tourism, and marine wildlife conservation. SEE Turtles advisory board members helped to develop sea turtle watching guidelines that are being provided to travelers and tour operators, as well as criteria for selecting sites for SEE Turtles.

“Ocean Conservancy’s Sea Turtle Ecological Expeditions program is poised to successfully contribute to local sea turtle conservation efforts at a time when travelers are more interested than ever to support the communities they visit,” said Chris Seek, President and Co-founder of Solimar Travel. “Last year we witnessed a tremendous growth of travelers in search of a vacation experience that provided an opportunity to support sea turtle conservation. The travel experience that conservationists like Cesareo are providing is in great demand and we are thrilled to connect our travelers with these efforts.”

Plans to expand SEE Turtles to additional locations will begin in 2009. To learn more about Ocean Conservancy’s SEE Turtles program and to find out where you can visit to contribute to sea turtle conservation, visit www.seeturtles.org or www.oceanconservancy.org.

SeeTurtles.org
OceanConservancy.org

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