ANCESTRAL TIDES

"Ancestral Tides" is an initiative to protect coastal ecosystems and sea turtles by connecting indigenous-led conservation efforts and revitalizing associated indigenous knowledge. For more than 25 years, the Amazon Conservation Team has partnered with the indigenous peoples of the Amazon to co-create innovative and holistic conservation projects.

During this time, we have also worked selectively by invitation with indigenous peoples outside of the Amazon. In the last two years, through natural geographic expansion and direct requests from indigenous communities in Latin America to jointly protect sea turtle this meeting, a general sation was held en the representatives a turtle conservation ts from the different included in the ve. Thus, the ption of sea turtles and importance in the iew of each indigenous was documented. e same time, the unities and difficulties ated with the work and vation of these s in relation to each unity were identified.

In July 2022, representatives of the Comcaac (Mexico), Emberá (Panama), Kuna (Panama), Kogui (Colombia), Kamëntsá (Colombia) and Kofán (Colombia) peoples met in the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, together with Tortugas Preciosas de Osa and the Amazon Conservation Team, for the creation and launch of the regional initiative "Ancestral Tides".

Ancestral Tides combines traditional indigenous knowledge, ancestral practices, biological monitoring, and conservation actions for sea turtle species and the ecosystems on which they depend, both marine and terrestrial.

This project seeks to mitigate this situation, making use of two perceptions of modern society regarding sea turtles—that they are charismatic, and that they are a flagship species—through which conservation actions can be reinforced and conservation processes initiated in communities can be improved, by means of the