BRAZIL: Predators Become Saviours Of The Sea Turtle

By Fabiana Frayssinet Reprint | | Print |

Fabiana Frayssinet

PRAIA DO FORTE, Brazil, Aug 10 1997 (IPS) - A government project has dramatically boosted the survival chances of sea turtles in north eastern Brazil — by turning their former predators into their new guardians.

The Tamar Foundation, sponsored by the Brazilian Environmental Institute (IBAMA), has hired some 400 villagers who previously lived off selling sea turtles’ flesh, eggs and shells, and turned them into turtles custodians.

Generous enough, the turtles are still food providers, as the local economy has benefited from eco-tourists from all over the world. In the fishing village of Praia do Forte, sea turtles even have a monument in their honour.

The initiative was launched 16 years ago, when the local sea turtle population was on the verge of extinction. Project officials claim that now turtle depredation has virtually ended in the area.

In a twist on traditional conservation programs, aimed at curbing depredation through law-enforcement, the project has focused on enhancing the lives of former predators by preserving the turtles.

“Our diet used to be based on turtle meat. Now it’s living turtles that put food on our table,” Renato do Nascimento, a fishermen now employed by the Tamar project, said.

“Most of the scant income earned by local fishermen used to come from the sale of turtles and turtle eggs. Then, a decision was made to capitalize on living turtles instead of dead ones,” biologist Claude Vieiras, a consultant with the Tamar Foundation said.

Former turtle hunters have become turtle caretakers. During egg- laying season, fishermen are paid to patrol protected beaches, thus guaranteeing the security of females and their nests. When eggs are laid, patrols often move them to places better suited to successful incubation.

In turtle feeding areas, where the creatures often become entangled in fishing nets, caretakers help to free them and to protect them in whatever ways they can.

Not only has the project nearly eliminated nest destruction and simultaneously ended the slaughter of mature turtles, it has also succeeded in generating additional sources of income.

“Turtles are the basis of Praia do Forte’s economy. Now we have tourists from all over the world visiting us,” one fishermen said.

The Tamar project also encouraged residents to produce t- shirts, toys and souvenir boats, all bearing the Tamar label, which are sold in local stores.

Another Tamar initiative is the ‘Adopt a Turtle Campaign’ which allows tourists to contribute directly to turtle preservation.

“The success of Tamar is due chiefly to the grassroots involvement of the communities where Tamar operates. It’s a project which, in addition to preserving nature’s wonders, also preserves local cultures and communities,” Vieiras said.

Today, in addition to the enhancement of turtle reproduction, Tamar undertakes to eliminate a wide range of threats to turtle welfare such as oceanside lighting which disorients new-born turtles, causing them to crawl inland instead of toward the sea.

As a result, many newborn turtles are run over by vehicles on coast roads.

The Tamar project, which originated in Praia do Forte, now covers 600 miles of Brazilian coastline with a total of 22 Tamar centers in nine Brazilian states.

The Tamar Project supports research into turtle behavior, with an eye to enhancing conservation efforts.

For example, it is now known that a turtle’s sex is not determined at the moment of conception, but rather by incubation temperature. An egg that is incubated in warm sand will produce a female, whereas cold sand results in the emergence of males.

Biologists have also learned that it is best to disturb as few nests as possible. Currently, the Tamar project is able to leave 70 percent of all turtle nests in an undisturbed state.

While feeding fish to juvenile turtles housed in holding tanks, Nascimento says, “We changed our minds about many things. Basically, the turtles have become our allies”.

The Tamar project, which is supported by government and non- governmental organizations and private companies, has managed to return more than two million juvenile turtles to the sea in 16 years of operation. Of every thousand, one or two will reach full maturity.

At least in this part of Brazil, of the two predators that exact the highest toll on turtle population — humans and sharks — one is no longer a threat.

BRAZIL: Predators Become Saviours Of The Sea Turtle

By Fabiana Frayssinet Reprint | | Print |

Fabiana Frayssinet

PRAIA DO FORTE, Brazil, Aug 10 1997 (IPS) - A government project has dramatically boosted the survival chances of sea turtles in north eastern Brazil — by turning their former predators into their new guardians.
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