Turtle Foundation visits projects in S. Nicolau

It was with great joy that Turtle foundation accepted the invitation of the Municipalities of Ribeira Brava and Tarrafal de S. Nicolau to attend a series of workshops that took place in São Nicolau island in the last weekend (1-2 July, 2011).

São Nicolau is thought to be the forth most important island for loggerhead sea turtle nesting in Cape Verde, recording each year 300 nests or more on its tiny beaches.

Participants in the workshop that took place in Ribeira Brava

The two workshops counted with the participation of local volunteers, authorities, government representatives, a representative of INDP and one representative of Turtle Foundation, Joana Hancock. Turtle Foundation was asked to talk about sea turtle biology, beach monitoring protocol, and the importance of conservation projects as well as socio-economic alternatives.

We were pleased to see so much interest from the local municipalities and authorities in collaborating with the local efforts. 

Currently several initiatives are taking place in the island, including "Esperança" project, with the collaboration of Camara Municipal de Ribeira Brava and the INDP, while the protection of the north of the island is assured by Camara Municiapl do Tarrafal de S. Nicolau.



Original article announcing the worshop in S. Nicolau:
http://asemana.sapo.cv/spip.php?article65940&ak=1


For more ifnormation about the Esperança project, visit their blog (in Portuguese):
http://blogdastartarugas.blogs.sapo.cv/tag/s%C3%A3o+nicolauNicolau.


For more background information about the porject in Tarrafal de S. Nicolau:
http://saonicolaunews2.blogspot.com/2009/06/s-nicolau-campanha-proteccao-tartarugas.html

Marine Park to be created on Boavista

Funding of 183 Million USD has been agreed to set up "Protected Areas" to safeguard 47 Ecosystems in Cape Verde. As part of the project 7 "National Parks" will be created including a Marine Park on Boa Vista.
Here is the article (in Portuguese):  Projecto internacional prevê criação de Parques Naturais

Up and running...

This last week has been very busy for all of us. After a few days at Lacacão Camp for some training, and also for all the team members to get to know each other, the different teams parted and headed to their own project sites.

We are very pleased that we have been able to start early this season, even though we have to report already 2 killings... it is almost unbelieveble how these turtles got caught even though no activity had yet been recorded. In any case, patrols are now up and running in all project sites, even though we haven't got soldiers yet confirmed. Our local assistants and few volunteers that already started to arrive (both local and foreign) have done a fab job so far, doing what they can to ensure that the beaches are protected most of the night.

Although the start has been slow, we have now recorded nests in each of the beaches patrolled by Turtle Foundation, 8 in total! The last few days have seen an increase in activity, and we even tagged our first two turtles already. That was a good start!

More news to follow, stay tuned!

Team Cabo Verde (so far)

2011 Team almost complete!

First row (low): Domingos, Divaldo (coord. LCC), Ronny Cleyton, Ginshu (Dog), Christian Roder (coord. TF), Red (LCC), Joana (Coord. TF)

Second row (high): Wilson, Manu (coord. Boa Esp), João II, Nais (LCC), João I, Vasco, Joana Nicolau (coord. Fundo) (in front), Kevin Methuen (LCC), Amanda Dutra (coord. LCC), Batcha (Fundo) e Vitor (coord. Fundo)

A volunteer shares her photos

Kathrin Schulte volunteered with Turtle Foundation on Boavista last here.  Here are some photos of her experience:
photos from a volunteer