Our program includes projects in the South Caribbean, North Pacific and South Pacific regions of Costa Rica. Click on each region on the map for more information about each project.

We work with at least six species of sea turtles in Costa Rica. Leatherbacks and Hawksbills may be found throughout the country but Green and Loggerheads are restricted to the Caribbean while Black turtles and Olive Ridley turtles can be found only in our Pacific sites. By clicking on each turtle you can find information about each species.

1. Sea Turtles

This group of reptiles are especially valued by modern society, not just for their charisma and humanistic appeal, but also because of the economic value associated with them.
Sea turtles are valued for different reasons by different sectors of society: as subjects of scientific investigation, as part of the aesthetical enjoyment of nature, and also for human survival (food). In biological terms, the turtles play an important role in the marine food chain and as a vehicle for nutrients moving between the land and sea.

In spite of the important roles that sea turtles play biologically and culturally, they have often been used indiscriminately to satisfy a commercial demand which relies both on traditional customs and beliefs and on customers' desire for exotic food.
This commercial pressure, added to the ecosystem changes affecting their life cycle, have lowered some of the sea turtle population levels almost to the point of extinction.
Institutions such as the International Union for Nature (UICN) declared the leatherback turtle and the hawksbill turtle as "species in critical danger of extinction", which officially means that their global populations have decreased by 80% in the last 10 years (or the last three generations).
Leatherback nest numbers on beaches bordering the Pacific Ocean in Costa Rica, Malaysia and Mexico have declined dramatically over the past 15 years (Chan & Liew, 1996; Eckert & Sarti, 1997; Spotila et al., 2000). The >90 % decline in leatherback nesting has been attributed to legal and illegal egg collection and incidental capture in coastal and pelagic gillnet and longline fisheries (Chan & Liew, 1996; Eckert & Sarti, 1997; Spotila et al., 2000). As a result of the drastic decline in Pacific nesting populations, the leatherback turtle is currently classified as critically endangered on a global scale (IUCN 2000).

In the other side of the country, this critical situation is exemplified in Talamanca, where the use of turtle eggs is intense and the demand for turtle meat is deeply rooted in local culture. However, some viable solutions to this problem have been implemented. For instance, the development of eco-tourism centered around sea turtle conservation is beginning to provide an alternative source of economic advancement for the local people, while the creation of protected areas has sheltered ecosystems and wildlife from the impacts of society.

However, the situation is complicated by the fact that the turtles are primarily migratory, meaning that they are affected by adjoining ecosystems. The studies done in Gandoca revealed that the leatherback turtles of the Costa Rican Caribbean exhibit a relatively flexible nesting behavior. The females move from the Gulf of Urabá in Columbia to Plaplaya in Honduras, visiting at least eight beaches on the coasts of Costa Rica and Panama.

The migratory behavior is very interesting in the case of the Gandoca nesting Leatherbacks, because during the nesting season of 2002 and 2003, were found two females that prove that this nesting rookery may be have their feeding grounds in the North Atlantic. One of the females was found by Mr. Mike James[1] (was tagged in Gandoca May/2000) and he installed over her a satellite transmitters[2], the data shows her return to waters front Caribbean Sea, two years later. The second case was a female that Mr. James tagged in September 2002 and was found nesting in Costa Rica (Gandoca and Playa Negra Beaches) and Panamá.

The leatherbacks in some cases use the scatter nesting like survival strategy, and in the case of the nesting rookery of Costa Rica, we share nesting females between three important places in the country Caribbean coast, North (Tortuguero Beach), Middle (Pacuare Beach), South Gandoca Beach. The study of the nesting trends shows only an increase of the nesting in Gandoca Beach.
During the 2003 nesting season our partner organization (Caribbean Conservation Corporation) installed two satellite transmitters to a same number of nesting females, and the information tracking complement the information from Mr. James. Our leatherback sea turtles return to feeding grounds using a pathway on US and Canadian waters and stay on North Atlantic coast.

Is clear that we are talking about a group of longevity species that are highly migratory crossing EEZ of many countries, that needs some decades for get the capacity to reproduce, low rate of growth and some of those populations are in critical stage. With those characteristics all conservation effort needs be for long term, at least for one generation of the specie under conservation. UICN Marine Turtle Specialist Group said "needs at least 2.5 generations for get a clear population trend".

All of these elements pose challenging questions for us: How do we manage and conserve a biological resource that is shared by many nations? And how do we study an animal that is highly migratory, spends a majority of its life cycle in the sea, grows slowly, and has a high rate of hatchlings mortality?

WIDECAST Latin American Program and its partners have decided to face this challenge and work together with the local people to improve conservation efforts for Caribbean Sea Turtles. In addition to bringing about an increase in turtle populations, WIDECAST hopes to create a sustainable model for conservation of sea turtles that simultaneously promotes local economic development.

2. Program History

The program’s history goes back to as early as 1986, when Asociación ANAI first developed conservation activities for the sea turtles in Gandoca Beach, as part of its support to the Ministry of the Environment and Energy (MINAE) in the creation and management of the Gandoca/Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (REGAMA).

These efforts began in a modest manner. It was not until 1990 the project implemented a more advanced conservation model.
ANAI´s vision, adopted in part by the new WIDECAST program, integrates biodiversity conservation with local economic development. The sea turtle conservation program was designed to simultaneously achieve the the recovery of the sea turtle nesting colony and provide economic benefits for the local inhabitants. This was done in a context of a solid scientific and technical base.

Since 1990, the Sea Turtle Program has worked continuously in these efforts. The active participation of the local population has increased year after year, affirming the socio-economic benefits of the project and increasing local commitment to the conservation of natural resources. The LaAmistad Conservation Area Caribbean Sector (ACLA-C) has been a partner of key importance, with strong participation from the start that has grown steadily in the last years.
With our work focusing mainly in the South Caribbean, our teams have measured and externally tagged over than 4000 female turtles and installed 500 microchips (PIT tags) as internal markers in the period between 1990-2007.

In these 17 years of work, we have protected the adults that arrive on the beach and counted and protected over 10,000 nests with a total estimate of 841,000 normal eggs and 318,000 infertile eggs. This has allowed us to save an estimated 750,000 fertile eggs. From the hatcheries, we have liberated more than 350,000 hatchlings (this does not include the camouflaged natural nests or nests relocated on the beach).
Additionally, many socio-economic benefits have been achieved. From the start, environmental education and training activities were implemented covering topics such as the biology and ecology of sea turtles and tourism management, with the participation of a base group of at least 50 local people. This effort to train the local people as tourism professionals catalyzed the organization of a group of local naturalist guides and stimulated visitation to the local protected areas. The project also helped secure a $14,000 donation to strengthen the community credit fund for economic activities related to the conservation of sea turtles. The economic benefits directed to the local families have grown through the years, from $8,000 in 1990 to $150,000 in the last year. Local participation in the project has increased 5 foldsince the projects' inception. In other hand, the poaching rate from de community was reduced from 100% (1985) to 2% (2007).

The successes attained by this project are based on good teamwork between the project partners. In 2007, the Sea Turtle Program separated from ANAI in a friendly way, and now works as part of the WIDECAST (Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network) team. The continuing financial support of WIDECASThas been a key element of this success. WIDECAST sponsorship has not only made it possible to carry out the fieldwork in Gandoca, but also made it possible to extend the conservation work into related spheres. For instance, we were able to initiate conservation efforts for other important nesting beaches in Costa Rica (Osa Peninsula, Ostional) and Panama. The WIDECAST support has also been fundamental in establishing important partnerships throughout Central America, allowing the project staff to take a vital leadership role in the creation and consolidation of the Central American Sea Turtle Conservation Network. This network will help to extend the highly participatory model promoted in Gandoca to other nesting beaches, as well as to help other communities to develop programs that successfully integrate biological conservation with local economic development.

• That the contracted personnel have proper training and skills in the necessary subjects.
• That all participants obtain adequate human resources, finances, materials, and equipment.
• That all partners show transparency, good intention, and willingness to work as a team.
• That all systems of verification, control, and tracking incorporated into the project are respected and implemented by all parties.
• That MINAE maintains its judicious role as coordinator of the co-management model.

• That all parties raise sufficient financial resources for their activities.
• That the turtles come in increasing numbers.
• That community project leaders develop their activities effectively.
• That the government agencies implement the appropriate control and vigilance measures to reduce illegal activities.

• That this structure recognizes its role as a "space for open dialogue" and a mechanism for co-management
• That the partners recognize and perform their role within this committee.
• That all partners accept their responsibilities and obligations in the co-management process and don't put excessive charge on one or more persons.
• That all participants work towards the project objectives at all times, and not for personal interest.

• That the project recruits an equal or larger number of volunteers compared to the 2003 season.
• That we increase the number of partner associations interested in sending volunteers to the project.
• That international conflicts do not severely affect the recruitment of volunteers.
• That the prices set by the community for services correspond to the services rendered, maintaining quality and human warmth.
• That a system of certification is implemented rating the quality of the hotels and host homes.
• That the chosen system of monitoring hotel quality is followed properly by all participants.
• That the project reaches the goal of financing itself partially or totally through the recruitment of volunteers in the middle or long term.

[1] http://www.herald.ns.ca/stories/2003/12/01/fNovaScotia166.raw.html

[2] http://www.seaturtle.ca/Maria.htm