Conservation Programs

• Conservation based on comunity
• Annual Reports Gandoca

Gandoca beach sea turtle Conservation Project

Gandoca beach is a black sand beach extending 5.5 miles from Monkey point to the Sixaola river which forms the border with Panama.

The beach is a high energy beach with a medium to steep slope. Due to longshore currents, storm waves and high spring tides, the berm is poorly developed and the shape of the beach is constantly changing throughout the season. The beach is also partly covered by assorted debris, especially logs washed down the Sixaola river and rubbish from the banana plantations in the area.

When the sea turtle program first arrived at Gandoca beach in 1984, the poaching rate was estimated to be 100% of all nests laid per season, providing the turtles with no chance at all for reproduction. Locals from Talamanca would remove all the eggs from the beach and kill nesting females, utilising turtle products for local consumption and sale on the black market.

Gandoca Beach serves as a nesting site for four species of Sea Turtle. Until around 1980 the Sea Turtle nesting population at Gandoca remained largely unknown. Turtle eggs were harvested by the small local population at levels that were probably sustainable. However, with the re- emergence of the Banana Companies and the improved road system in the area poaching became a serious threat to the Sea Turtles. The sea turtle program helped to establish the Gandoca/Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge in 1985 and since that time has been running the Sea Turtle Conservation Project. The aim was to conserve the nesting colonies through a collaborative process that would also contribute to an improvement in the quality of human life in Gandoca.In the early years Project staff patrolled the beach with the assistance of the Wildlife Authorities and the Gandoca community , keeping poachers away from the nesting turtles.

By 1990 poaching was fairly well controlled, with upto 90% of nests being protected and in the same year the volunteer program was started along with research activities. Volunteers working on the project are lodged in the homes of local families, providing income for the local community. This alternative income far exceeds the income they would receive if all the eggs layed on Gandoca beach were sold on the black market. Guide and transport services for volunteers and tourists also generate income and provide a future economic potential for families living on the coast.

In the last decade, an average of 5 full-time staff have been working in the Sea Turtle Conservation Program.We infer that at least 100,000 hours have been invested into the protection of Gandoca´s sea turtles since 1990.

As for the eco-volunteers involved in our research and conservation efforts, we have achieved an average of 25 volunteers per night during the last decade, representing a time investment of 500,000 hours.

MINAE has contributed an average of 3 full-time workers during the entire decade, resulting in more than 45,000 hours invested in the project. MINAE has also affirmed their commitment to the protection of the natural resources of the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (REGAMA) with the construction of headquarters in Gandoca, on an area of land donated by ANAI.

Although the community participation has been primarily focused on rendering services to the eco-volunteers, there have also been some valuable contributions directly to the project, including participation by hotel owners and school children in beach cleaning (accounting for more than 15,000 working hours).

Additionally, our local associates and partners have contributed directly to the project in areas of management, planning, administration, proposal preparations, and report production. All of these are a fine example of the efforts invested in our beaches so that these special creatures do not disappear forever from our seas and beaches.

But this incredible effort needs to continue until the sea turtle populations are stable and protected from extinction. The numbers of nests and nesting females of green and hawksbill turtles are in increase too, because they are protected by the same actions.

Conservation based on comunity » Top

Community based conservation is usually described as:

• A commitment to involve community members and local institutions in the management and conservation of natural resources.
• An interest in descentralized power and authority from central and/or state government to grassroot or indigenous organizations, communities and people.
• A commitment to involve community members and local institutions in the management and conservation of natural resources.
• An interest in devolving power and authority from central and/or state government to more local and often indigenous institutions and people.
• A desire to link and reconcile the objectives of socioeconomic development and environmental conservation and protection.
• A tendency to defend and legitimize local and/or indigenous resources and propriety rights.
• A belief in the desirability of including traditional values and ecological knowledge in modern resource management.

Many of the community based conservation projects have some attributes too:

Equity: The distribution and allocation of socioeconomic benefits and resources.

Gross income to Gandoca settlers through the volunteers program, seasons 1996-2007.

Empowerment: The distribution of power and status, particularly among local people, including authority devolved from central and state governments to local peoples and institutions; as well as participation in decision making, sharing of control, and/or democratization.

Conflict resolution: The handling and resolving of conflicts and disputes over resources among local peoples and among local, state, and national entities and interests.

Knowledge and awareness: The consideration, incorporation, and production of traditional and modern ecological knowledge in managing natural resources.

Biodiversity Protection: The conservation and protection of biological diversity and associated habitats, including the preservation and recovery of rare, imperiled, or flagship species, or imperiled populations or stocks of species.

Sustainable Utilization: The consumptive and non-consumptive utilization of natural resources in ways intended to maintain the long-tern availability of these resources in a non-diminished manner for present and future generations (Kellert et al. 2000).

Annual Reports Gandoca » Top