MARÆ SANÆ IN COMVNITAT PROSPERANS
Generating tools and lessons for poverty alleviation
in coastal communities in LAC - a new vision for an
old relationship between people and marine turtles
Marine Conservation Forum
United Arab Emirates
Abu Dhabi, 14 September 2006
WWF - LAC Marine Turtle Program
Carlos Drews
Atlantic
basin
Pacific
basin
Healthy coasts & healthy oceans ?
Decline of fish biomass in the N-Atlantic.
Source: Pauly D. & J. Maclean 2003. In a Perfect Ocean:
The State of Fisheries and Ecosystems in the North
Atlantic Ocean. Island Press.
Coastal & Marine Challenges
Coastal development
Unsustainable resource use
Wasteful fisheries (bycatch)
Climate change
Coastal Development
Island Male - Maldives (Photograph: Yann Arthus-Bertrand)
Unsustainable resource use
Wasteful fisheries (bycatch)
QuickTime™ and a
YUV420 codec decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Lobster netting in Brazil - video by TAMAR
Climate change
WWF / Melanie McField
WWF / Melanie McField
Marine turtles: an unusual reptile
Opportunity: marine turtles as a
flagship/umbrella for broader
marine conservation, work on best
practices in fisheries, integrated
coastal management and marine
protected areas.
Slide by Raquel Briseño y Laura Sarti
Livelihoods of coastal communities
significantly improved through sustainable
benefits from marine resources.
Healthy coasts & healthy oceans
Livelihoods
Bycatch
Climate Change
Policy & advocacy
What healthy coasts & healthy oceans look like?
… ask Columbus
Green turtles in the Caribbean
15-30 fold decline
since colonial times
Source: Jackson et al. 2001
Livelihoods of coastal communities
significantly improved through sustainable
benefits from marine resources.
Coastal development
Selective & sustainable fisheries
Habitat & resource protection
Climate change




Livelihoods of coastal communities
significantly improved through sustainable
benefits from marine resources.
- A catalyst
- ecotourism
- A communications tool
- charismatic
- An indicator
- population trends
- A vehicle
- bycatch mitigation
Healthy coasts & healthy oceans
Situation: deficient documentation of our socio-economic
impact on coastal communities
• suboptimal efficiency to address root causes of communitydriven threats to marine ecosystems
• full impact and potential of our interventions to alleviate
poverty is invisible, and therefore not acknowledged by donors
Our thesis: Community-based marine turtle conservation and regional bycatch
reduction are vehicles to strengthen governance, build capacity and fortify the
institutional backbone needed for sustainable fisheries, empowered communities
and healthier oceans.
Healthy coasts & healthy oceans
Marine turtles occur predominantly in countries with
developing economies.
Countries
present
Percentage with
developing
economies
35
91 %
Chelonia mydas
123
81 %
Eretmochelys imbricata
Dermochelys coriacea
Caretta caretta
Lepidochelys kempii
110
64
58
3
81 %
80 %
78 %
67 %
1
0%
Species
Lepidochelys olivacea
Natator depressus
Source: IUCN (2002), OECD (2000)
About 2/3 of developing nations have one or
more species of marine turtles.
Marine turtle
species
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
TOTAL
Number of
developing
countries
1
16
20
18
44
11
53
163
Cumulative percentage
1%
10 %
23 %
34 %
61 %
67 %
100 %
100 %
Livelihoods of coastal communities
significantly improved through sustainable
benefits from marine resources.
Indicators of livelihood condition?
Indicators of sustainability?
Indicators of ecosystem health?
Healthy coasts & healthy oceans
Species at risk
Indicators (Eastern Pacific)
1600
1504
Leatherbacks in Costa Rica
1474
1400
Females
1200
1000
1000
847
800
732
569
600
421
417
400
200
195
246
234
140
126
188
79
68
52
0
88/89 89/90 90/91 91/92 92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 99/00 00/01 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05
Season
The good news: Conservation
works!
Community capitals sensu Flora et al. 2005
Built
Natural
Financial
Healthy Ecosystem
Vital Economy
Political
Social Well-Being
Cultural
Human
Social
Concept & Indicators under
development - supported by
WWF-Sweden (SIDA)
Manfred Max-Neef “Desarrollo a escala humana” 1986 - Satisfactors
POVERTIES
WELL BEING
FUNDAMENTAL NEEDS
Subsistence Protection Affection Liberty Understanding Creation Participation
Leisure Identity Transcendence
UNSATISFIED
SATISFIED
SATISFIERS
Money talks: how much is a
marine turtle worth?
CONSUMPTIVE USE
NON- CONSUMPTIVE USE
A marine turtle is worth more alive than dead
By Sebastian Troëng and Carlos Drews (2004)
Marine turtles: a driver of cash income
•Two thirds of countries with developing
economies have marine turtles
•175,000 turtle tourists / year, more than 90
sites in more than 40 countries.
• 2002 - US$ 6.7 mio in Tortuguero (235
guides, 26.292 visitors)
• 1,280 employees (60% female) in Brazil by
Projeto TAMAR (merchandizing & tourism)
• Gross revenue 3 x higher for use of turtle
alive than dead
Built
Natural
Financial
Healthy Ecosystem
Vital Economy
Political
Social Well-Being
Cultural
Human
Social
Marine turtles: strengthening local governance
Women Association of Friends
of Leatherback Marine Nat.
Park - Costa Rica
APRORENANB in Chiriquí
Beach - Panama
Parents´ association and
youngsters in Junquillal - Costa
Rica
Built
Natural
Financial
Healthy Ecosystem
Vital Economy
Political
Social Well-Being
Cultural
Human
Social
Marine turtles:
a cultural asset or a victim?
Eight to nine thousand turtles killed annually
in Mexico for consumption as “white” meat
during lent.
Built
Natural
Coma´ac community (Seri)
reinitiate the caguama ritual in
Baja California
Financial
Healthy Ecosystem
Vital Economy
Political
Social Well-Being
Cultural
Human
Social
Livelihoods of coastal communities
significantly improved through sustainable
benefits from marine resources.
Artisanal fisheries
… similar
challenges
Built
Natural
Financial
Healthy Ecosystem
Vital Economy
Political
Social Well-Being
Cultural
Healthy coasts & healthy oceans
Human
Social
Livelihoods of coastal communities
significantly improved through sustainable
benefits from marine resources.
Marine Turtles
Fisheries
Bycatch
Healthy coasts & healthy oceans
LAC Fisheries Officer
Moisés Mug
Reducing Fisheries Bycatch
A joint initiative by the LAC Marine Turtle Program
and the LAC Fisheries Program, with IATTC
Studies by NOAA/NMFS: large circle hooks
reduce turtle catch rate by over 70%.
A team´s work
•
Region-wide collaborative work (8 countries)
•
Industry, artisanal sector, Fishing Authorities,
NGOs from:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Mexico: Miguel Cisneros & Co.
Guatemala: Sara Perez & Co.
El Salvador: Sonia Salaverria & Co.
Costa Rica: M. Mug, A. Segura, S. Andraka & Co.
Panama: Lucas Pacheco.
Colombia: Luis Zapata, Lilian Barreto & Diego
Amorocho
• Ecuador: Martin Hall, Erick Largacha & Co.
• Peru: Michael Valqui & Co.
•
Partners: IATTC, NOAA, USAID, US State Department,
WCPFC, Japan, Ocean Conservancy, Mustad, Packard, Royal
Caribbean, OSPESCA
•
Oversight and coordination:
– Global Marine Program and Global Species Program
(Robin Davies)
– Miguel Jorge, Moises Mug, Carlos Drews, Kimberly Davis
– Scientific and technical support: Martin Hall (IATTC)
Two years of WWF work (2004-2005)
4.
More than 60,000 J hooks replaced
by circle hooks and experiments with
onboard observers completed in all
countries.
4.
More than 300 fishermen have
participated in experiments and
many more in training workshops.
4.
Working relationships established
with NOAA and with the world
biggest fishing gear provider, the
Norwegian company Mustad, that
have donated 200,000 hooks for the
by-catch program in LAC.
Trans-Atlantic Leatherback Conservation
Aitkanti:
4 months - 4.500 km
840 m depth.
Implementation Partners
Kawana:
20 days - dead in a
gillnet
WWF – Latin America & the Caribbean Program (LAC), Costa Rica
WWF – France (Guyanas Program), French Guiana
WWF - Gabon, Gabon
CID/Karumbé – Proyecto Tortugas Marinas del Uruguay, Uruguay
Centre d´Ecologie et Physiologie Energétique CEPE, France
Caribbean Conservation Corporation, Panama
IUCN-France
Bureau Régional du Programme Kudu, Gabon
Projeto TAMAR - Brasil
Duke Center for Marine Conservation - USA
University of Swansea - UK
WIDECAST
Sponsors:
Convention on Migratory Species (CMS)
WWF-Netherlands, WWF-Germany, WWF-US, WWF-UK, WWFInternational, Nokia, SkyTV, The Latin School of Chicago
www.panda.org/atlantic_leatherbacks
Bycatch mitigation
Selective gear
Best practices
Competitive
markets
Data collection, monitoring & evaluation
On-board observer program
Capacity
Access rights
Sustainable fisheries
Management
When marine turtles meet the sky …
71% of
Earth´s
surface
97% of the
Earth´s water
50% of
world´s
population
within 60 km
of the ocean
A blue
planet
with a
changing
climate
Water temperature - how does it
affect marine biodiversity?
• Bleaching: The heat and/or UV radiation causes algae
that provides food for the coral to die (ejected) and turn
white. That puts the coral in critical condition.
WWF / Melanie McField
WWF / Melanie McField
Rising sea level - how does it
affect marine biodiversity?
• Changes in coastline (erosion)
• Increases in water depth
Altered sea currents - how do
these affect marine biodiversity?
• Changes in salinity, water temperature, nutrient flow
• Altered dispersion of propagules (eggs, larvae)
• Altered migratory paths
www.panda.org/atlantic_leatherbacks
www.hawksbillwwf.org
A WWF Case Study:
The Impact of Climate Change to
Hawksbill Turtles
A simulation of scenarios and their impact on
hawksbills and their habitats in the Wider Caribbean
Climate Change Effects:
Hawksbill turtle laying eggs on a beach
above the high water mark.
1)
Increased sand temperatures, which can lead to changes in sex ratios or potentially
result in mortality;
2)
Increased ocean temperatures, which can lead to coral bleaching and other damage
to turtle feeding habitats;
3)
Loss of nesting and feeding habitats due to sea-level rise;
4)
Changes in ocean currents, which can modify migrations paths and feeding
patterns;
5)
Extreme rainfall events cause water tables to rise and can flood nests from
underneath;
6)
Extreme rainfall events can degrade feeding habitats, such as coral reefs and sea
pastures, through increased sedimentation.
Climate change & marine species added value to a conservation agenda
•Priority setting: long-term perspective
•Conservation amplifiers: strategy tailored for long-term
sustainability, covering biodiversity under the umbrella of the
flagship species
•Charismatic vehicle: powerful communication tool for physical
and biological impact of climate change
•Shared resources, shared responsibility: migratory nature of
species and global scale of greenhouse effect calls for coordinated
adaptation and mitigation action between several nations
•Species & People: Linked Futures: advocacy tool for the role of
healthy environments in local development of coastal communities.
Livelihoods of coastal communities
significantly improved through sustainable
benefits from marine resources.
QUOD ERAT DEMONSTRANDUM
Abundant turtles
Improved livelihoods
Healthy coasts & healthy oceans
species/lac-marineturtles
Contact:
Carlos Drews
LAC Regional Marine Turtle Coordinator
cdrews@wwfca.org
WWF - LAC Program, San José, Costa Rica