NewsLetter

Conservation of Leatherback Turtles Capacity Building for the Conservation of Leatherback Turtles in Bloody Bay, Union Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Project Launch - Union Island Union Island, small in stature, is a place of grand character.

Unique in its history and rich in its natural environment, it is the birthplace of heroes, a theatre for revolution and a perfect place for pirates, poachers and pioneers. Then there are the intrepid travelers who arrive surreptitiously to bury and hide treasure on the beaches of the island. Yes, Union Island is also labour room and rest area for the renowned, record-breaking reptile known as the Leatherback Turtle. The National Trust, under the chairmanship of Louise Mitchell-Joseph decided, after consultations with Union Islanders, to create a conservation project related to the Leatherback turtle. The UN, through its Global Environmental Facility Small Grants Program GEF – teamed up with the St. Vincent and the Grenadines National Trust and thus was hatched a sustainable livelihood project entitled:Capacity Building for the Conservation of Leatherback Turtles in Bloody Bay, Union Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The project is ongoing and key stakeholders include the Ministry of Tourism and Industry, National Parks Rivers and Beaches Authority, Sus-

tainable Grenadines Inc. the Fisheries Division, Ministry of Agriculture Forestry, Fisheries, Union Island Environmental Attackers, the Tobago Cays Marine Park and, of course, the St. Vincent and the Grenadines National Trust. A number of persons representing these organisations were present on Tuesday March 1, 2011 at the launch of the Project which took place at the Hugh Mulzac Square in Union Island. At this official launching, the Trust declared and explained to the people of Union Island what the project entailed and the value it brings to the community. A segment of that community, including a group of the island’s school children, listened attentively as members of the National Trust-led group all made their contributions, building a platform for the conservation of Union Island’s most valuable visitors, the humble yet magnificent Leatherback Turtle.

Of the unfolding environmental campaign in Union Island, particularly as it relates to turtles at Bloody Bay, a large part of the cast is made up of the UIEA, a hardworking group of young people dedicated to conservation.

They are leading the fight in

< July Issue, 2011 > Union Island to protect the turtle on this eclectic community 40 miles to the south of St.Vincent.

Following the official launch ceremony, the team hiked on a fact-finding mission to Bloody Bay, led by the indefatigable Roseman Adams, a member of the Environmental Attackers and first certified turtle handler on Union Island. According to the Trust Chairperson, Louise Mitchell-Joseph, the group carried out a site analysis at Bloody Bay to more clearly discern what and how much of it needed to be declared a reserve area in order to protect the turtles’ nesting habitat. That event ended the day but the work in the name of conservation continues.

St.Vincent and the Grenadines National Trust / UNGEF Project : Capacity Building for the Conservation of Leatherback Turtles in Bloody Bay, Union Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This pro-

ject aims to conserve nesting

Highlights:  This Project was lunched on the 1st March 2011, on Union Island, SVG.  Stakeholders include: the Ministry of Tourism and Industry, National Parks Rivers and Beaches Authority, Sustainable Grenadines Inc. the Fisheries Division, Ministry of Agriculture Forestry, Fisheries, Union Island Environmental Attackers, the Tobago Cays Marine Park and, the St. Vincent and the Grenadines National Trust.  Ten persons trained in Trinidad.  A Leatherback named by Tourist

Back page stories: Turtle Training - continued

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Union Island Turtle Watch 2011

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Louise Mitchell-Joseph speaking at the project launch

Turtle Training - Matura, Trinidad & Tobago During the period April 10th to 16th 2011, ten participants from StVincent & the Grenadines were engaged in a sea turtle nesting & beach monitoring workshop in Matura, Trinidad & Tobago as part of activities related to the

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sea turtles on Bloody Bay, Union Island while providing livelihood opportunities for locals through eco-tourism related activities. The training programme was facilitated by Nature Seekers, a non-profit community based organi-

tion, which operates one of the most successful sea turtle conservation programmes in the Caribbean. Participants included representatives from the National Parks, Rivers and Beaches Authority, Fisheries Division READ MORE ON BACK PAGE

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Conservation of Leatherback Turtles

Turtle Training - continued from front page as well as eight members of the Environmental Attackers of Union Island.

Training was delivered via a series of lectures where participants were taught basic sea turtle biology, nesting beach monitoring data collection methods and received sea turtle tour guide training.

Nightly beach patrols were also a key feature of the training programme where sea turtle handling methodologies were demonstrated, including flipper tagging, passive integrated transponder (PIT) tagging and sea turtle measuring methodologies. Participants then had the opportunity to practice these demonstrated techniques on over 100 turtles seen nesting during nightly beach patrols. Mr. Andrew Lockhart, Superintendent National Parks, Rivers and Beaches Authority, commented that the training programme was well received by all the participants and was of the opinion that the acquired skills has greatly helped to increase capacity to conduct beach monitoring activities.

Stanton Gomes from Union Island, who has conducted sea turtle nesting beach patrols on Union Island as a member of the Environmental Attackers patrol group for the past 3 years, indicated that the training programme helped to increase his knowledge and understanding of the issues affecting sea turtle conversation and the practical techniques learned during this training programme, and has helped to increase his level of confidence in turtle handling. The participants are expected to help deliver similar training to locals on Union Island and all look forward to implementing their newly learned skills in their community. The National Trust would like to thank Nature Seekers, Fisheries Division and Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST) for their assistance in organizing and facilitating this workshop.

Union Island Turtle Watch 2011 Its the month of March and the Start of the Turtle Watch Season 2011 on Union Island. On Saturday 19th many members of the Union Island Environmental Attackers, a local community based organization in St Vincent & The Grenadines, were out in force. Most had already dawned their headlamps, shoes, pants and dark clothing - they had done this before, and something had kept them coming back, you are about to find out why. We arrived to the secluded path, at the crest of the hill leading down to Bloody Bay at around 10 pm. Katrina Collins, President for the group led us in a prayer of safe return, Roseman Adams gave the requisite safety/conservation talk for the first timers of the group, and we set off down the trail. The full moon peeked through the sparse clouds, shining so bright it cast shadows through the trees during our descent. Our guest of honour could not have arrived with better timing. After only twenty minutes on the beach, a huge Leatherback sea turtle bumped her way in on the surf. The excitement in the group

Above - Participants in a classroom session.

Below - Participants during a beach patrol, inserting a PIT tag into a Giant Leatherback Turtle, Trinidad & Tobago.

was remarkable. At first quiet, still, tense - so as not to discourage her from coming up. We waited while she pitted, wallowed, flung sand around, and finally settled on her spot. Then, she began to dig. With her hind flippers, which are about the size of a small dinner plate, she made her nest. Each stroke resembles the most practiced and attentive of motions. Like the hands of a surgeon, she dug a perfectly round pit, about 60 cm in diameter, and almost a meter deep. We waited, with lights off, as she finished her nest. Judging by her size, it very well could have been her first laying season. She may be as young as 25 years, or as old as 27 but it is unlikely she is much older. What that means is this may be her first time on land since she hatched a quarter century ago. She has lived with no parental care, and no instructions on nesting. Instinct has guided her through the motions to lay her eggs here at Bloody Bay. That kind of meticulous genetic programming, of complex adaptation must be a reason the species has lasted

millions of years, through mass extinctions, and environmental changes. We can only hope that they also survive perhaps their biggest challenge in an epoch: problematic primates. Roseman offered for two of the tourist guests, Germans living in Canada, to name her. They chose “Anneliese,” and so it was - a fine seafaring name. Anneliese’s name, and tag number were added to her data sheet and the group retreated back to the perimeter.

She covered her nest and finally made her way, arduous sweep by arduous sweep, back into the waves. She took a deep breath, and disappeared into the sea. Story

by J. Underwood

Anneliese’s data being collected