Ixtapa, 22/10/2004 –  Juan Barnard Avila directs a small team of volunteers driving all-terrain vehicles down a stretch of beach near Petatlán. Despite the darkness of night, the team spots sea turtle tracks along the beach and calls for a stop. In the sand, just a few meters from the surf, a turtle nest lays empty and exposed.
"The poachers may be one or two hours ahead of us," says Barnard. "Some nights are like this. We arrived too late."
It's a familiar story for Barnard and the local volunteers who spend their nights trying to save turtles from illegal poaching. Their nightly treks are supported by local authorities, the Mexican environment ministry and the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC). Banamex has provided their ATVs. The work is also a community-wide effort involving the municipalities of Zihuatanejo, Petatlán, La Unión and several nearby hotels whose staff are trained to collect and protect turtle eggs on their beachfront.
"Volunteers gather as many eggs as possible into corrals to incubate, but poaching still represents a strong threat to these turtles," says Barnard, a trained biologist. "Since July, we have protected over 125,000 turtle eggs and 90,000 hatchlings are expected to be released to the ocean through the conservation efforts of this community."
It's an accomplishment William Kennedy, executive director of the CEC, acknowledged today at an event attended by international conservation leaders in Ixtapa: "We recognized a need for capacity development involving public awareness, training of key personnel in the proper protection and conservation techniques for eggs and hatchlings, and the coordination of local authorities and hotel associations. We're happy to help a great cause, and I congratulate all those involved."
The World Wildlife Fund, Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre, Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific and the Fondo Social for Banamex were also on hand to honor this community effort, which concluded with the release of sea turtles by a group of school children.
Mexico is home to the largest number of marine turtle species in the world. Seven of eight existing species inhabit Mexican seas and are born on Mexican beaches. All sea turtle populations worldwide are listed as endangered or threatened by the IUCN, the World Conservation Union.
Kennedy says the local activities to conserve biodiversity in the region are just one part of a CEC program that looks to protect migratory species such as marine turtles. The North American Conservation Action Plans announced in March, for instance, seek to protect the leatherback turtle, humpback whale and pink-footed shearwater.
Yesterday, as part of the CEC program, school children from Canada, Mexico and the United States participated in a day of turtle conservation activities that included a visit to the large turtle corrals on San Valentin beach and the release of several hatchlings from the more than 100,000 olive ridley turtle eggs now incubating at that site.
For more information, please contact Hernando Guerrero at +52 (55) 5435 4137.
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