ZANDER SRODES was fooling around on the beach shooting fireworks, as a voice boomed through the dark ‘Stop it! Don’t you know it disturbs baby turtles trying to find their path to the water?’ An 'old lady' appeared, her authority so strong that the party was over. The next morning, as Zander walked into his kitchen and saw the same lady having coffee with his Mom, shock turned to amazement as he listened to Linda Soderquist, the State Permit Holder for Florida beach turtles, explaining the turtles’ paramount need for safe hatching grounds. From this day, Zander's world has revolved around sea turtles and protection initiatives. At age 11, he created Turtle Talks, an educational Activity Book. 250,000 free copies have been distributed to schools worldwide! Find out how to create Good Turtle Beaches in support of Zander’s projects. We can do it and it’s amazing! YL Article: http://bit.ly/XYywuw Video: http://bit.ly/XRk5bE Video2: http://bit.ly/XRk1ZB
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YL’s Eric Schneider in a conversation with Zander Srodes Eric, YL: Zander, awesome to meet you! Where are you, what's happening for your right now? University? Zander: This week, I will finish finals at Marshall University. Next week-end I will fly to Alaska to be a: Trail Guide and train to be a White Water Rafting Guide for the summer at Denali State Park.
YL: You mentioned Guatemala in our first email exchange. What's been happening there? Zander: In April I went to Guatemala to take supplies and touch base with the community of La Barrona. It is a small town on the Southwest Pacific coast, on the border with El Salvador. For the past three years I have spent a lot of time there working on a sea turtle conservation project. The sea turtle project that I have been working on since 2001, has taken me to many countries. However, I have really connected with the people in La Barrona, and return there often. In 2011, I spent seven months living in the village. When I first went to La Barrona, the village was flooded by high waves. For thrity three days, we filled sandbags and tried to save as many homes as we could from the force of the mighty ocean. Since then I have helped to improve the conservation of nesting sea turtles and aid the residents. Last year, I established a youth soccer league and this fall I started a children’s library.
YL: So, it's turtles that brought you there? Zander: Growing up on an Island off the coast of Florida, sea turtles nested on the beaches in the summer. When I was eleven years old, I realized that the numbers of nesting turtles was rapidly declining. I thought if I don’t know about this then neither do my peers. It was time to create awareness for the future of sea turtles in our oceans. Initially sea turtles were the main focus of my environmental interest. However, I soon realized that I needed to focus on people in order to make a difference in conservation. My target group is youth, I was a young teen when I began working in support of endangered and threatened sea turtles. I saw that my generation was the population that could really make a long range difference for nature.
YL: What other places has Turtle Talks brought you to? Zander: In the past twelve years that I have been spreading the word on sea turtle conservation, I have visited many island nations and countries through out the Caribbean and Latin America. YL: Wow, that's an entirely special world. I like the idea of looking at the planet through turtles' eyes. Do you have a global turtles map for us? Zander: Sea turtles are phlegic creatures, that means that they are constantly swimming in the ocean. Only female sea turtles ever come back on
land, and that is too nest. Male sea turtles are always at sea. How I picture it is, the sea turtles that nest on the beaches in Florida are not just my turtles they swim for thousands of miles every year and they are also the turtles of many other countries.
YL: Their travel routes are amazing. You mentioned that when one place is threatened, it affects the globe. Their entire population. Zander: Since sea turtles are always transversing the globe, they are vulnerable to may hazards. They can come into contact with polution, poachers, long line fishing hooks and nets. So protecting these ancient creatures is a global mission.
YL: Just like migratory birds and butterflies. Zander: They are swimming reptiles that migrate in much the same way that birds and butterflies travel across continents.
YL: What are hot spots to absolutely super priority protect? Zander: There are several species of sea turtles that are red listed on the endangered species list, by the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The most fragile and nearest to extinction is the Hawksbill sea turtle. Another vulnerable species is the largest sea turtle, the Leatherback sea turtle. These two species have
been sailing through the oceans since dinosaurs lived, and may become extinct in my lifetime.
YL: Do different turtle families have different hatching grounds? Which are the main hatching grounds? Can you mark the Baby Beaches on our global turtle map? (how about taking a world map and marking them? Or a regional map of the Carribean or wherever they travel? Would be perfect to include the photo … you can do it hand drawn, that's good for the spontaneous, casual effect; either on the computer, or a real map) Zander: On the map you can see the species and nesting areas that they frequent around the globe. (IMAGE LINK)
YL: Baby turtles have many enemies. I once watched a heart wrenching documentary showing them, so incredibly cute, taching from eggs, marching to the waters, making it just in time before the scorching sun rises, and then the waves, the many predators. So many don't make it. But the human factor is way too much, right? Zander: In the years that I have been on the beach watching nesting turtles, I have seen some sad incidents that involve dogs and vultures picking hatchlings off the beach moments before they reach the shoreline. Hatchlings face many natural hazards such as sharks, fish, birds, ghost crabs and erosion of their nests.
YL: Let's start with the beach. What are our impacts? Zander: Man is the number one threat to sea turtles. In the last few decades mankind has added new unnatural hazards in developed countries such as buildings and seawalls on the shoreline, and beach illumination in coastal area. Plastics, styrofoam and fishing line littering the beach are also serious threats. In resort areas tractors are driven on the beaches to manicure them, and people often disturb sea turtles as they nest at night. There are different hazards in underserved communities, where sea turtle nests are often poached by residents. There are also rumors in some countries that sea turtle eggs are an aphrodisiac and are sold for this purpose.
YL: Sharing the beach is not a big deal. How can we do it? What measures? Zander: Keep beaches clean-please do not leave trash on the beach, and if you feel inspired, please remove trash left by others!
YL: Is it required to leave those stretches of beach all by themselves, all year round? Zander: In a perfect world that would be the right thing to do. But, people enjoy the beach as much as sea turtles. So the answer is to share the beach and be respectful of these ancient mariners.
YL: What are great beaches for turtle watching that you've been to? Zander: My all time favorite beach is in Trinidad. It is a haven for giant leatherback sea turtles that come on the beach to nest.
YL: How come you've been to those beaches? And what other places would you still like to see? Zander: My travels began after I wrote my children’s activity book on sea turtles,“Turtle Talks.“
Sea turtles dig the dark, lighting can disorient sea turtles (such as flashlights and camera flashes) at night; the moon should be the only light present, and will guide the hatchlings to the sea.
I was successful at getting it in print and wanted to share it with children. In order to share the book I was able to travel and visit many countries. On these trips I gave away copies of the book FREE, to educate students on their role in saving sea turtles. The book is available in many different languages, I enjoy taking the book around the globe.
If you see a turtle coming ashore to nest at night, observe and enjoy from a distance, but do not approach the turtle.
YL: What are main threats today on protected beaches? Ordinary tourists? Poachers?
Avoid walking on the sandy dunes above the tide line, as you could step on a turtle nest.
Zander: The main threat would probably be from the public that is not aware that their actions can impede the nesting of a animal that has been able to survive in nature for almost 100 million years.
YL: What are reasons for policy-makers to ignore protection? Zander: My answer would be funding. In many countries the needs of the population are so great that environmental issues are not an immediate priority. Most of the sea turtle conservation efforts are not government funded. They are mainly research and conservation projects, that are privately funded and manned by volunteers.
YL: Are there hot spot beaches still unprotected? Which ones? Zander: There are numerous important nesting beaches that are still unprotected. Every year, I learn of a new program starting up in a remote part of the world. Thankfully, there are many naturalists that are willing to imersh themselves and try to make a difference for nature.
I know of a class of kids who changed their island's legislation to banning shark finning. That's huge. In their case, it just required that someone the meaningful message to the adults. Those simply haven't yet hard the comprehensive chain if sound arguments. (Environmental awareness, protection and model solutions are still new for too many people but we can change this) What's your experience with this? Zander: For years I have been a member of the International Sea Turtle Society. They work year round to make change through political chanels around the world. They also coordinate research and conservation efforts. It is a great network of like minded people that work together to improve the plight of sea turtles.
YL: What are steps to overcoming suboptimal situations and create better situations for turtle beaches? Zander: Universally conservationists continue to establish local organizations to educate citizens, conduct research, and protect sea turtle nesting sights. Conservationists are working to save sea turtle species around the world.
beloved around the world. Among the most highly migratory animals on Earth, sea turtles are bellwethers for the condition of the world's marine environments: they are found in almost all major oceans, frequent diverse habitats, and face the same threats that jeopardize not only other marine species, but entire marine ecosystems.
YL: That's huge, really. What are the most magical moments we can expect? Zander: Many sea turtle conservation organizations around the world are inviting travelers to participate in an eecotourism experience. Ecotourism is the responsible travel to natural areas that conserve the environment and improves the well-being of local people.
YL: What are the seasons for this experience? Zander: For two summers I took college students to Costa Rica to participate in the summer conservation of sea turtles along the coast. We lived with host families and assisted conservationists in their work to save sea turtles. It was benefitically and fulfilling. http://youtu.be/fP-qhV7qeDo
YL: How can we push for changes? I am thinking of tourism, petitions, offering quick win win benefits, such as reserves, funds, turtle tourism, image change... what can local populations and schools do?
YL: What benefits does it have for us humans? (such as observing the turtles, big ones coming on land, little ones hatching, off to water)
YL: I have seen the photo with the huge turtle. That's a Mum?
Zander: The effects of saving sea turtles is enormous. Sea turtles are fascinating, charismatic, and highly visible marine species,
Zander: Yes, that was a female nesting Leatherback sea turtle. The Leatherback sea turtle, is the the largest sea turtle in the world,
measuring as much as 6.5 feet in length and weighing as much as 1200 pounds. Unlike other sea turtles, the leatherback does not have a hard shell, but rather a leathery carapace. Leatherbacks dive deeper than any other species of sea turtle. The deepest recorded dive is 3/4 of a mile, slightly more than the deepest known dive of a sperm whale. Protecting the nesting beaches of leatherbacks is key to the survival of this endangered species, whose worldwide numbers have declined dramatically.
YL: Okay, this is a part we have to elaborate on. Can you tell me the story of that day? I'll sit back comfortably and listen. Zander: It is a long story. There is background info that I want to share that is more significant than that one morning on the beach. I met the people that do the conservation effort in Trinidad when I was twelve years old at an International Sea Turtle Society event in Savannah, Georgia. I was invited to come down to visit them. Several years later, after I wrote my activity book I took five hundred copies down to share with their organization the Nature Seekers. The picture was taken on one of the many trips that I took down to Trinidad over the next few years. Most important about my relationship with the Nature Seekers, is the history and work that they do. Several years ago, I nominated one of the founders of the group for a CNN Hero Award. The woman I nominated was instrumental in saving the Leatherback population that nests on Matura Beach. It is one
of the most important nesting sites of Leatherback turtles in the world. When she was a child, you could not go to the beach during nesting season. This was because the stench of rotting turtles that had been killed by poachers was so offensive. The sea turtle population was dwindling. She established an eco tourism program and employes many previous poachers in her conservation effort.
YL: So , ‌ , has this changed ever more the perception of turtles, and living beings with us on Earth? What were the most profound new revelations. Did it change your worldview? Zander: Through out this experience my world view was changed. I was a naive child when I started my conservation effort. I quickly became aware that the adults I trusted to protect the natural world were not working to secure the future of nature. As I have grown older I still believe that too be true. If we don’t work harder the wildlife on earth will only be seen by future generations of children in books and museums.
YL: What family of turtles is she? Where does she travel? Zander: The Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) is the View shared post largest, deepest diving, and most migratory and wide ranging of all sea turtles.
YL: Have you been close to babies? Even her babies?
Zander: Yes, I have seen many hatchlings. They are very small and really cute. Watching a baby sea turtle (known as "hatchlings") struggle out of the nest and make it's way to the water is an emotional experience. Some experts say only one out in a thousand will survive to adulthood under natural conditions.
YL: Have you been swimming with grown up turtles? That's must be so amazing. Zander: When I was a fourteen I was snorkeling in the Bahamas with my family and came across a sea turtle in the wild underwater. It was indeed a serendeptious experience.
YL: Is our presence as snorkelers or divers a threat to them?
Zander: No, as the turtle can choose to stay or leave the area at their own choice.
YL: Where do they eat? Do we disturb their feeding grounds? Zander: The diet of a sea turtle depends upon the species. Some are omnivores, eating a variety of plants and animals, while the hawksbill and the leatherback are specialists, subsisting primarily of sponges (hawksbills) and jellyfish (leatherbacks).
YL: So they are cool with us when we are friendly? Zander: Endangered means that sea turtlesare under threat andwe need to doallwe can to support them...If you encounter a nesting sea turtle on the beach stay clear. Do not shine lights or take flash photographs. When frightened the nesting turtle will return to the water where she will drop her eggs. If you are visiting, or live near the beach, you can help by keeping outside lights off during turtle season from May through October. Make sure to remove chairs, umbrellas and other gear from the beach each night. Level all sand castles and fill any holes dug during play. Please pick up all trash. Sea turtles mistakenly eat debris, especially plastic, which results in death.
YL: Just like with humans. Behave with respect and appreciation? Zander: The main danger for hatchlings is from artificial lighting. When the babies emerge, they instinctively move in the brightest direction. Normally, this would be the open night sky reflected by the ocean. On a developed beach, artificial lights attract the hatchelings, causing them to crawl in the wrong direction.
YL: So, our priority observance is to leave the baby chambers intact. Zander: A female can lay several nests during one season and only nests every two or three years. The hard process of nesting takes hours.
A turtle must drag her massive weight out of the water to the dunes. She uses her back flippers to dig a hole and deposits about one hundred rubbery eggs, each the size of a ping-pong ball. The turtle disguises the nest by flinging sand over it. Once she leaves the nest, she never returns.
YL: How do we do this? Zander: After incubating for two months, the hatchlings break out of their shells and thrash about together causing the walls of the nest to collapse and the bottom of the hole to rise. Once near the surface, the hatchlings wait until the sand temperature cools to emerge. Therefore most emerge after dark. Once out of the nest, the turtles scramble to the water and swim offshore where they will live for several years in seaweed beds drifting along the Gulf Stream. As the turtles grow older they move into coastal waters.
YL: Okay, that's the beaches. What other threats to turtles? Turtle soup. Is that evil still around? It's like the most unnecessary of all. Zander: There are only a few cultures that still prepare turtle soup. It is mainly freshwater turtles that are used today. However, with the depletion of many species of freshwater turtles this cuisine is also on the decline.
YL: How can we make it obsolete? What can we do on local levels? As young people and citizens.
Zander: With more and more protection for all species of turtles, there is now more awareness as to the danger that all species are facing.
YL: The kids who ended shark finning were not afraid to step up to restaurants serving shark fin soup. It's part of it. It can take courage because the chinese owners often are highly insensitive about the issue. But also, they are afraid of losing face. It's been shown menus change once young and gornw-up client populations express a NO to shark fin soup. I think it's the same about turtles. What is your experience, or knowledge about this? Zander: The new awareness in the plight of sharks has dramatically changed the perspective internationally of the ruthless killing of sharks. I think the protection of sea turtles has been going on a lot longer and has over time become increasingly more successful. It is important that more awareness is made for the conservation of many animal species.
YL: What on international levels – such as direct online petitions targeting of businesses, restaurants, hotel chains, tourist chambers? Zander: In developed coutries there are many groups that participate in conservation efforts to protect sea turtles. They encourage hotels and restaurants along the water to protect any nests that are layed during turtle season on their beach front and to keep lights to a minimum in order to not disorient nesting or hatching turtles.
More and more hotels and travel agencies are participating with conservation groups and local communities to support ecotourism. Responsible ecotourism includes programs that minimize the negative aspects of conventional tourism on the environment and enhance the cultural integrity of local people. Therefore, in addition to evaluating environmental and cultural factors, an integral part of ecotourism is the promotion of recycling, energy efficiency, water conservation, and creation of economic opportunities for local communities.
YL: What else, I think you mentioned fishing practices in your TEDx Talk? Zander: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, collaborate closely to implement conservation actions and recovery activities to protect and recover vulnerable species, in the U.S. and internationally. The two agencies recently worked with the Mexican government to develop the Bi-National Recovery Plan for the Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle. On an even broader international scale, there are several different treaties and agreements between the United States and other countries to conserve and protect sea turtles. The InterAmerican Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles — an intergovernmental treaty that helps inform turtle conservation—provides protection for six species of sea turtle in the Americas and the
Caribbean. To date, 15 nations have signed on to the Convention. As governments band together to support the efforts to save sea turtles in practice there is more effort needed in the day to day effort. To reduce this threat, the U.S. required all shrimp trawlers to install turtle excluder devices (TEDs) in their nets. The escape hatch is attached to a shrimp trawling net and is a grid of metal bars that has an opening at the top or bottom, creating a hatch that allows sea turtles and larger fish to escape. Small animals such as shrimp go between the bars and are caught in the end of the trawl.The use of TEDs has largely reduced the sea turtle bycatch in the U.S., but it is still a problem in other areas that do not use TEDs. The U.S. attempted to address this problem by passing a law in 1989 that required that all countries that export shrimp to the U.S. to use TEDs, but this is difficult to enforce. Large amounts of fishing gear lost at sea or abandoned by fishing boats are hurting the marine environment, impacting sea turtles and fish. Known as "ghost fishing" and posing a hazard to ship. According to the study, the problem of abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear is getting worse due to the increased scale of global fishing operations and the introduction of highly durable fishing gear made of long-lasting synthetic materials. Long line fishing, long lines are made of monofilament and are used mainly to catch tuna, swordfish, and shark. They range in length from a mile to over 100 miles and are
kept near the surface. At intervals of a hundred feet or so are secondary lines are attached and baited with fish or squid. These lines are often called the curtain of death to sea turtles.
YL: Wow - I am shocked to hear of the issues and inspired by the solution you mention above. It's so aweosme to be talking to you in this detail. This is important information. So, our readers have a powerful tool at hand to promote this change in their nations, by pointing at good practioce solutions already appplied elsewhere without any negetaive impacts on the oh so ever present economic profit argument. Fantastic! but the curtains of death, this really has to be done away with, fast. What needs underway?
to
change?
What
steps
are
Zander: One of the things about sea turtles is that they do not recognize international boundaries. They migrate long-distances, and spend different parts of their lives in habitats under the control of many countries. It will take a collaborative effort to recover and conserve this species. With more and more joint efforts being made for the conservation of many species. The impact is reaching accross oceans and countries. For instance: Sea turtles and sharks have no boundaries. Shark populations are severely threatened by the practice of long line fishing. Fisheries think that sharks can take the stress but biologists think it could take a very long time to rebuild threatened populations. It is a three
step process: close ports to foreign long line vessels; convince neighboring countries to do the same; and get the U.N. to ban long line fishing in international waters.
YL: Let's talk a little bit more about bi-catch. Can it be monitored or controlled? Zander: By-catch occurs when fishers, in pursuit of their primary catch, hook or trap other sea life. Its impact on sea turtles is worrisome, because all five species of marine turtles are in risk of extinction in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, where the status of the Leatherback, Loggerhead, and Hawksbill Sea Turtles is most critical. However much of this impact is avoidable with a few relatively minor modifications to gear and fishing practices. The use of "circle" hooks, reduces the capture of sea turtles up to 90 per cent and does not affect the catch of commercial species. The method of participation includes the substitution of J hooks with circle hooks, and the training of fishermen in best fishing practices.
YL: Wow, - great. This is big - another powerful tool for our readers to promote to their policymakers and industries. I am excited! I'm fantasising... Could fishermen be encouraged to just shift to super-seriously pay attention and put them into waters? Maybe by taking a positive photo and share with the world on a turtle protection site? It still depends on their
integrity to live up to it and not fake it, but it's like some step. I believe it's possible to dream up an incentive that's better than letting them die or dismember them for dollars. – How about painting a white colour code with a heart on the turtle back, as some kind of proof? - since this turtle will appear on her breeding beach, and if this happens, the ship's crew could get an honourary notice? Does this strike a note? Zander: I like your idea. Not sure if conservationists would go along with painting the heart on the sea turtle shell. Most research conducted on sea turtles has been carried out on nesting beaches and well over 90% of a sea turtle's life is spent in the water -- feeding, mating, migrating and doing whatever else a sea turtle does when no one is watching, we are missing important information that can help us better protect sea turtles. In particular, to adequately protect sea turtles in all their habitats, we must learn more about their migratory patterns, their behavior at sea, where their marine habitats are located, how the turtles use these different habitats, and the migration routes turtles travel between habitats. This is where the technology of satellite telemetry becomes useful and important in protecting sea turtles. Satellite telemetry (following an object on Earth with the use of orbiting satellites) has advanced to the stage of allowing researchers to track turtles in the open ocean after attaching a Platform Terminal Transmitter (PTT) to the back of a sea turtle. The PTT sends a signal full of information to an orbiting satellite each time the turtle surfaces for
air. The satellite re-transmits the data to a receiving station on Earth, which researchers can access through their computer. Generally, after about a year the transmitters quit working and fall safely off the turtle. View photos of a transmitter being attached using Marine Epoxy, Fiberglass, and Resin. (PHOTO?)
YL: Do only females return to the beaches? Zander: Yes.
YL: Okay, there has to be a solution. There is one for everything. We'll see it happen. Folks reading this, come up with ideas, and please contribute when we offer an approach as part of the Action-Kit. Zander, back to turtles. Getting the message out. Turtle Talks. That is just huge. If you summarize the significance of that night and the following morning for your life. What would it be? Zander: As I said, in my TEDxTalk that one morning while listening to the sea turtle permit holder for Little Gasparilla Island. My life direction changed. I went from being a free spirit kid to a person on a mission to do what ever I could to help an endangered species. In almost twelve years I have never doubted that was the path that my destiny was to take.
YL: I think there's an important message here: Someone caring stands up strong, passion and
outrage transformed to positive authority, - and even following up – to pass on the message (not to scold) in sound, honest ways … neither blaming nor ashamed, … and uplifting someone's awareness. That's a big lesson for everyone of us witnessing hurtful, unreasonable things. Thanks to the old lady! - Have you had to take such a stand, since?
Zander: While in Guatemala, I have been in confrontational situations on the beach. All the nests that are laid by sea turtles are harvested by citizens. The program that I participate in, asks that 10% of the eggs from the nest be donated to the hatchery. This is effort to try an protect the future existence of the species of tutles that nest on the beach. It is often difficult to explain to villagers on the beach, what as a conservationist I am trying achieve.
YL: Ouch, - this is so ... shortsighted... I mean, it's obvious they will decline... How did the situation(s) turn out? Zander: It is difficult to explain. However, with positive communication I have been able to make citizens agree to participate in the egg donation program in La Barrona. Many community members have told me that years ago there were many more turtles nesting on the beach and far more hatchlings leaving the nests.
YL: What gives you the solid strength to step up in the right, diplomatic, non-confrontational way? Zander: One thing that has helped is not just giving a good speech but having something to share with people. When I first started talking to youngsters, I always gave them a copy of my activity book and a washable tattoo. Now that I speak in underserved communities, I offer them community support. I have organized a youth soccer league, established a childrens library, and assisted in village projects. If you show your support for the needs of people they will listen and be willing to help you achieve your goal.
YL: You have been speaking to a huge number of people, since. What are most memorable moments? Zander: A memorable moment was when at age twelve Dr. Wallace J. Nichols a known sea turtle conservation for Oceana started talking about me during a speach he was giving at the International Sea Turtle Symposium. A few years later, he nomimated and introduced me to recieve the Peter Benchley Youth Award at the Blue Ocean Summit. I walked on stage and spoke in front of many renowned ocean conservationists. It was a thrilling experience.
they planned to name the baby boy, Zander. When I was down in Guatemala in March, I was fortunate to meet baby Zander and hold him.
YL: Wow, now that's something unexpected and a great example to what level your journey as a conservationist has unfolded and your impacts have grown! That's also showing you are doing really, really well on … addressing communities. Wow. And the most unexpected, most puzzling? Zander: I have always been puzzled at how easy it was for me to go into classrooms and speak to students. When I was eleven years old in the sixth grade, teachers would agree to let me come into their classrooms and make presentations on sea turtle conservation. I was shocked then and I still am, at how eager they were to let a kid get up in front of their students and talk about what they could do to protect sea turtles. If that hadn't happened my project would never have developed. That was the very beginning of my work that has continued for the past twelve years.
YL: A downer? Zander: I really can't think of a downer. I have been very fortunate and have really not had any doors slammed in my face. People have been very supportive and continue to be of my efforts.
YL: And the most heart touching? Zander: That is easy. Last summer I was told that a family in the village of La Barrona were expecting a baby. They wanted me to know that
YL: Biggest breakthrough?
Zander: The major breakthrough in my conservation work, would be the printing of my activity books. That really helped me to spread my message.
YL: Yes, - 250,000 copies distribited around the planet, - that's big. I'd like to spread them even more and scale up to support and involving young people. There are so many opportunities nowadyas that environmental education, global learning, education for sustainable development are well established and thriving. And school classes love to lend practical help, too, for new learning dimensions. How can our growing global readership get involved? Turtle protection ... that's a somewhat abstract idea for many... but it's so hands-on, when I think about the work on beaches and with local populations... by learning about the world of turtle protection, I can't wait to really go there, see it, get involved and contibute - how can we help you? Zander: Let me think on this.... I have expanded my efforts now becoming more focused on sustainability and conservation. From my work in Guatemala, I have become aware of the big picture approach to saving sea turtles. If the community that shares the environment with nesting turtles, can’t support themselves... how can my effort to save sea turtles make sense to them? There has to be a way for there to be cohabitation with humans and sea turtles. When I first started my efforts all I saw were the beautiful beaches of Florida, where people had very upscale lifestyles. It was easy to explain to
residents what they could do to improve the plight of nesting turtles. However, once I ventured out into other countries around the Caribbean. I saw under served populations and what it would take to improve the lives of both the humans and the animals.
YL: While we've been talking I've been thinking of turtles and clear waters all the time. I want to go volunteer. Is that possible? Zander: Sure. There are many organisations that work with turtle beaches. They monitor the nests, sometimes move them, clean the beach, help the babies, work with local populations. It's nice work, hands on, and with many surprising moments.
YL: Awesome. That's it for me, haha! We'll add destinations in the Action Pack for Good Turtle Beaches. Wow, I didn't expect all this from this interview. Thank you, man.
causes. It is impressive how pro active my generation have become and the issues they are standing up for and trying to make a difference in, for the future
YL: I know you as a great Turtle Man, by now. Are there other causes you are passionate about? Zander: Sustainable living, is an important issue in supporting our eco system and protection of endangered species. The scheme of educating youth is effective on its own, in nations that have reached a high level of development. The mission to stop the destruction of a species is more complex in less modernized populations. This in fact was the impetus that spurred me to add the educational program to my on-going work in the field of sustainable living.
Zander: My pleasure. It's great to help and receive help.
The experience actually led me to realize that multifaceted strategies need to be implemented for management and maintenance of our natural world. There is an art to combining the biodiversity of an ecosystem and the economics that will enable the lifestyle to exist.
YL: I think it's time for a pause – but I'm super excited but these avenues to achieve safe turtle populations in our lifetime. I'm really positive that this generation can make it, if they take their chances and these tools at their hands. Are you optimistic?
Observing the destructive measures that communities routinely exist in, it is imperative that quality of life is insured for all creatures. It is important that responsible practices are implemented for societies and wildlife.
Zander: I’m optimistic. I have seen the number of youth and young adults take on many new
YL: Yes... it's a big interconnected thing. It's all one, really. To finish off - do you have a message to youth? Zander: We are the generation that will make a difference in the protection of endangered species. Go outside and find your passion!
YL: Thank you – okay, time to let spirit flow – and then off to action!
WE WILL SOON ADD PHOTOS, POSTER, VIDEO AND YL TAKE ACTION PACK. Some of them are already available at www.youthleader.org