“Empowering the Community”
By
Suzan Lakhan-Baptiste
Chairman

T HE
1970’ S & 1980’ S
Over 30% of all turtles were slaughtered

Meat




Eggs
Shell
Bait
Fun

P ARTNERSHIP M OBILIZATION
Nature
Seekers
MINISTRY
OF
TOURISM
WIDECAST
Forestry
Division
Earthwatch

P EOPLE AND T URTLES
 Main Turtle Nesting Areas
 Other Spontaneous Nesting
 Developing Community Programmes
 Protected Areas & Major Turtle Conservation Activities
Grand Riviere 1km
Matura 8.8km
Fishing Pond 6km

Leatherback Turtle
Hawksbill Turtle
Green Turtle

C

L EGISLATION

Fisheries Act
(Chapter 67:01)



View sea turtles as commercial species.
Protect turtles during the months of March to
September annually.
Open season during the months of October to
February

Conservation of wildlife act
(chapter 67:01)


Protects nesting turtles throughout the year.
Sea turtle are endangered species
The Fisheries Act is more recent and than the Wildlife Act and as a result in most instance the Fisheries act prevail and governs sea turtles issues

Four of nine leatherbacks which stranded while entangled in a single gillnet at Matura Beach, Trinidad
PHOTO COURTESY NATURE SEEKERS

L ACK OF C OMMUNITY GUIDES

Many Guides were Needed. (over 300-500) visitors were on the beach.

O THER C HALLENGES

Lack of Government Support


No patrols were provided
Reduced employment

Insufficient Local Craft

S

Project 1
Ensure safe nesting environment

Beach Cleanups
Successful nesting and hatching Responsible and safe turtle viewing

 Removing debris that can prevent successful nesting
Before During
After

 Sand Turtle
Competition
Education

Project 2
Population Status Monitoring
Patrolling Efforts
Photo by Sandy Nesbitt

Population Status Monitoring
 Tagging
PIT tagging
Flipper tagging

Turtles
Number of Turtles & Events
Events Returning Turtle Events
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
-500
Lack of Equipment & Human
Resources
3700
2966
3067
2616
2534
2216
2006
2194 2231
2107
1758
1643 1641
1512
1460
1510 1478
1242
1159
861
178 974
645
154 484
63
226
371
294
239 208
2 7
72
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Evaluating Total Nesting Population Size

Inter-nesting Movement
International Sighting/Stranding
Nova Scotia – 6
New York - 1
South Carolina - 1
Florida - 1
Venezuela - 2
Mediterranean Sea – 3

Local Sighting / Stranding
638
Tobago 20
Paria Beach
Grande Rivera
Matura Beach
Fishing Pond Beach
Manzanilla Beach 15 Returns
2458 tag returns

Project 3
U NDERSTANDING THE EFFECT OF TOURISM

Название диаграммы
18000
16000
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

U NDERSTANDING THE EFFECT OF TOURISM
 Nesting duration of leatherback nesting sequence
 Approaching
 Body Pitting
 Digging
 Laying
 Covering
 Camouflaging
 Human Influence
 Lights
 Photography
 Touching
 Size of Group

Project4
U NDERSTANDING THE EFFECT OF TOURISM


Effect of foot traffic on hatchling emergence success

Three equal sized areas of with differential visitor density



High Visitor Density Area (100 Nests)
Moderate Visitor Density Area (100 Nest)
No Visitor Density Area (100 Nest)
Correlate emergence success to visitor density

U NDERSTANDING THE EFFECT
OF T OURISM

Successes


300 nest were excavated
Involvement of community and other stakeholders

P ROJECT 5 H ATCHLING P RODUCTION

H ATCHLING P RODUCTION


Assessing hatching success
Determining the extent of beach/nest loss

P ROJECT 6 M ANAGEMENT M ITIGATING T HREATS
R EDUCING LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLE
BYCATCH IN THE SURFACE GILLNET
FISHERIES OF T RINIDAD

G ILLNET ENTANGLEMENT :
L ARGEST THREAT TO T RINIDAD ’ S LEATHERBACKS


3,000 entanglements per year *
Mortality 33% *
*
Eckert, S. A. and J. Lien. 1999. Recommendations for eliminating incidental capture and mortality of leatherback turtles,
Dermochelys coriacea , by commercial fisheries in Trinidad and Tobago, WIDECAST Information Document 1999 –
001. WIDECAST, Beaufort, North Carolina.
Lee Lum, L. M. 2003. An assessment of incidental turtle catch in the gillnet fishery in Trinidad and Tobago. Research Report:
Institute of Marine Affairs, Trinidad and Tobago. 38pp.
Lee Lum, L. 2006. Assessment of incidental sea turtle catch in the artisanal gillnet fishery in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies.
Appl. Herpetol. 3: 357-368.

Four of nine leatherbacks which stranded while entangled in a single gillnet at Matura Beach, Trinidad
PHOTO COURTESY NATURE SEEKERS

N

E CONOMIC A SSESSMENT



Using 50 mesh net will yield
10% more money per day, when fuel costs, net repair costs and time-lost-to-repair time are included.
Troll fishing will provide an equivalent level of profit* as
100 mesh nets (when operational costs are included).
* Underestimate actual income as this calculation assumes equal per/lb value for fish and line caught fish are usually valued more highly.

P ROJECT 7 R EFORESTATION
Over the last 7 years Nature Seekers has reforested :
•over 300 acres of land.
•planted 35,000 seedlings.
•collected over 110,000 seeds for NRWRP
•Reducing forest fires (purchase 3ton truck)
•Cutting fire trails
•Slash and agriculture
•Illegal quarrying
•Illegal logging
•Illegal hunting
•Charcoal burning
•Marijuana cultivation
•road repairs

O PPORTUNITIES FOR THE COMMUNITY

Forest knowledge





Development of pride
Appreciation of the natural resources
Nature tours
Kayaking tours
Accommodation and meals


Taxi services
Local delicacies (ice cream,tullum etc )

C APACITY B UILDING

Organisation


Structure & Governance System in place
Built Resources

People


Community Leadership
Project Management Skills




Financial Management
Health & Safety
Management
Research

P ROJECT 8 G LASS B EAD
P ROJECT


Trash to Cash
Regional Initiative

St Kitts

Trinidad

Project Partners

WIDECAST



JO Bean Glass
BHP Billiton T&T
Nature Seekers

G LASS B URNING

Glass is broken and then melted in the fire.

P ROJECT 9 O RGANIC F ARM


Completed the preparation of the project proposal and supporting materials.
Implementation is planned for
October 2010

P ROJECT 10 V ISITOR F ACILITY & T RAINING
C ENTER

Grant Obtained from the Japan Government





Conference Facility
Meeting Room
Offices
Craft Center
Visitor Center

P ROJECT 11 E DUCATION & A WARENESS
• Over 15000 Visitors
• University of Southern
Caribbean & other schools
•EMA 6 form programme
•Primary and secondary schools
•Other communities &
Caribbean Islands

P ROJECT 12 S ALYBIA R ECREATION &
W ATER S PORT C ENTER

V ALUE IS CREATED WITH NATURAL
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT .
Co-management arrangement
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

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Community capacity building
Training education and awareness
Wild life protection and forest management
Research and monitoring
Data collection
Development of small business enterprises
Nature tours, host homes, local art and craft, taxi services, food and beverages, beauty saloon,
Small farmers (vegetables,fish,meat etc.)

Annual Report : www.natureseekers.org
:Trinidad & Tobago Leatherback Project
T HANK Y OU