By IPS Correspondents
BARRANQUILLA, Colombia, Apr 17 2006 (IPS)

Environmental authorities released around 1,200 freshwater turtles that were seized by police in Colombia’s Caribbean region in a crackdown to halt illegal sales, which see a boom during Catholic Holy Week.

The great demand for the meat and eggs from the turtle species Colombian slider (Trachemys scripta callirostris) and Magdalena river turtle (Podocnemis lewyana) stem from the popular belief that it is a healthy white meat, like fish, says Joe García, a biologist with the Autonomous Regional Corporation of the Atlantic (CRA).

Furthermore, the eggs are high in protein, and many people in northern Colombia and communities throughout the Caribbean believe they have aphrodisiac powers, which has fuelled uncontrolled turtle hunting, García told Tierramérica.

The turtle releases in early April carried out by the Magdalena River Environmental Corporation (CORPAMAG) and CRA, are part of the programmes the two agencies are promoting to rebuild the populations of these endangered species.

Many types of turtles – freshwater and sea turtles alike – are threatened with extinction in Colombia, as well as other countries in the region, including Costa Rica, Chile, Peru and Venezuela. Some, like Mexico, have implemented conservation programmes..

“Those who consume turtle meat and eggs are totally uninformed: the products aren’t aphrodisiacs; it is not white meat, but rather red meat,” Alejandro Olivera, coordinator of Greenpeace-Mexico’s oceans campaign, told Tierramérica.

To combat the illegal trafficking of turtle products, on Apr. 9 Greenpeace launched a campaign in Mexico with Kikín Fonseca, member of the Mexican national football team, with the slogan: “Don’t Score a Goal Against Mexico! Don’t Eat Turtles!”

The football star appears on a poster with the words, “Turtles are on their way to extinction. Trade and consumption are serious crimes.”

Until the 1980s, most countries allowed hunting of turtles and their eggs, but in the 1990s, when evidence made it clear their populations were on the decline, governments declared bans and enacted laws to protect them.

Manuela Herrera, a biologist with Colombia’s public University of the Atlantic, told Tierramérica that consumption of turtle meat and eggs in the Colombian Caribbean has roots dating back before the Europeans arrived in this area more than 500 years ago. But the difference then was that “the indigenous communities were careful to preserve the reproductive cycles of the turtles and other species that they utilised in their survival.”

According to a CRA study, the awareness of conservation amongst those communities was such that for every 10 turtles in the area they only took one for their own consumption.

Research indicates that the socioeconomic situation of many rural communities and the decline of the fishing sector over the past two decades has driven indiscriminate hunting and sales of turtles in the Colombian Caribbean region.

Peasant farmer José Núñez recalls that in the 1960s on the patio of his home in the norwestern department of Córdoba, there were always 30 to 40 slider turtles that reproduced right there and were used for family meals, especially during the 40-day season of Lent leading up to Holy Week on the Christian calendar.

“Now I keep three as pets, because we believe they bring good luck,” said Núñez.

Around two million turtles are illegally captured each year in the Colombian Caribbean region, according to CRA. In the north, hunting reduced the natural population by 80 to 90 percent, and in the south by 40 to 60 percent.

To fight illegal trade and consumption of turtles catagorised as endangered by the Alexander Von Humboldt Institute, environmental groups also carry out community programmes in education and alternative production.

Turtle hunting and trade in Colombia are banned by the 1989 Law 84, and carry penalties of up to two years behind bars or fines equivalent to four or five minimum monthly salaries.

Turtles have lived on Earth more than 100 million years. Humans have long used them for their oils, meat, skin, and raw materials for crafts.

Scientific studies indicate that just 0.02 to 0.2 percent of every 10,000 turtle hatchlings reach adulthood.

(*Yadira Ferrer is a Tierramérica contributor. With reporting by Diego Cevallos from Mexico. Originally published Apr. 15 by Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme.)

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