Conference today in Praia, Cape Verde to discuss risks of foreign fishing in Cape Verde.

The risks on the Cape Verdean ecosystem posed by fishing on the part of foreign vessels is the theme of a conference and debate set to take place at 6:00 pm today, February 14, at the Institut Français du Cap-Vert (IFCV) in Praia.

The event is being carried out in partnership with the NGO Biosfera, and is the first in a cycle of debates on the main environmental and development-related challenges facing Cape Verde.

Tommy Melo, the vice-president and co-founder of Biosfera, will speak on the subject, after which a round-table discussion will be held with Cape Verdean and foreign specialists, who will debate the theme presented.

Director General of the Environment Moisés Borges, a representative from the Ministry of the Environment, Housing and Territorial Management, Director General of Fisheries Juvino Vieira, European Union Ambassador Jospe Coll, UNDP official Olivier Puginier and Spanish Ambassador José Miguel Corvinos Lafuente have confirmed their participation in the round-table debate.

Original article at:  A Semana

Vet's work keeps Matilda the amputee turtle waltzing

It is people like this that give me hope for the future. 
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Illegally collected eggs confiscated by police in Berau

An update from Dr. Hiltrud Cordes and Dr. Thomas Reischig of Turtle Foundation, currently in Berau:

Greetings from Berau!

Here comes an interesting story:

Yesterday we were informed, that the police confiscated a big amount of turtle eggs and handed it over to the KSDA (nature conservancy department).

We went to the KSDA-office to find out more. It is a big amount of eggs! About 4,500!!  At about 100 eggs per nest, this would be about a week's worth of eggs from all nests laid on Balembangan and Sambit together. This case clearly emphazises again the urgent need to protect those two islands from egg poaching!

We decided that we will bring the eggs to Sangalaki tomorrow and give it a try with "relocation" - even though chances might be very low that any of the eggs will hatch. But you never know - maybe there are some strong survivers!

Of course we also tried to find out where the eggs come from and who brought them to Tanjung Redeb, but this turned out to be "delicate". And that mean that most probably police- or army-members are involved. We heard rumours that a member of the marine confiscated the eggs on the river from a policeman, but this is not officially confirmed. The KSDA was not given any explanation and the case will most probably not be brought to court.

At least "somebody" lost quite a lot of money, since the value of these eggs is at least 10 million rupiah.

On one of the bags which is originally a rice-bag we could identify a written note: SAMBIT. This indicates that this bag originally was sent to the island Sambit as food supply for the guards of the lighthouse there and later was used for collecting eggs from that island or the neighbouring Belambangan.