c CONSERVATION & SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS By Suzan Lakhan-Baptiste Chairman “Empowering the Community”

Over 30% of all turtles were slaughtered T HE 1970’ S & 1980’ S Meat Eggs Shell Bait Fun

P ARTNERSHIP M OBILIZATION Nature Seekers WIDECAST Earthwatch Forestry Division MINISTRY OF TOURISM

P EOPLE AND T URTLES  Main Turtle Nesting Areas Grand Riviere 1km Matura 8.8km Fishing Pond 6km We are here  Protected Areas & Major Turtle Conservation Activities  Developing Community Programmes  Other Spontaneous Nesting

Species of Marine Turtles Nesting at Matura Leatherback Turtle Hawksbill Turtle Green Turtle

C HALLENGES

L EGISLATION Fisheries Act (Chapter 67:01) View sea turtles as commercial species. Protect turtles during the months of March to September annually. Open season during the months of October to February Conservation of wildlife act (chapter 67:01) Protects nesting turtles throughout the year. Sea turtle are endangered species The Fisheries Act is more recent and than the Wildlife Act and as a result in most instance the Fisheries act prevail and governs sea turtles issues

Seasonality February – May Males and Females Seasonality February – May Males and Females Four of nine leatherbacks which stranded while entangled in a single gillnet at Matura Beach, Trinidad PHOTO COURTESY NATURE SEEKERS Four of nine leatherbacks which stranded while entangled in a single gillnet at Matura Beach, Trinidad PHOTO COURTESY NATURE SEEKERS

L ACK OF C OMMUNITY GUIDES Many Guides were Needed. (over ) visitors were on the beach.

O THER C HALLENGES Lack of Government Support No patrols were provided Reduced employment Insufficient Local Craft

S UCCESSES

Beach Cleanups Responsible and safe turtle viewing Project 1 Ensure safe nesting environment Successful nesting and hatching

Beach Cleanup Activities Removing debris that can prevent successful nesting Before During After

Beach Cleanup Activities Sand Turtle Competition Education

Project 2 Population Status Monitoring Patrolling Efforts Photo by Sandy Nesbitt

Tagging Flipper tagging Flipper tagging Population Status Monitoring PIT tagging

Evaluating Total Nesting Population Size

French Guiana - <9 Suriname - 1 Guyana - 1 Grenada – 1 Venezuela - 2 Nova Scotia – 6 New York - 1 South Carolina - 1 Florida - 1 Inter-nesting Movement International Sighting/Stranding Mediterranean Sea – 3

15 Returns tag returns Local Sighting / Stranding Tobago 20

Project 3 U NDERSTANDING THE EFFECT OF TOURISM

Nesting duration of leatherback nesting sequence Approaching Body Pitting Digging Laying Covering Camouflaging Human Influence Lights Photography Touching Size of Group

Effect of foot traffic on hatchling emergence success Three equal sized areas of with differential visitor density High Visitor Density Area (100 Nests) Moderate Visitor Density Area (100 Nest) No Visitor Density Area (100 Nest) Correlate emergence success to visitor density Project4 U NDERSTANDING THE EFFECT OF TOURISM

Successes 300 nest were excavated Involvement of community and other stakeholders U NDERSTANDING THE EFFECT OF T OURISM

P ROJECT 5 H ATCHLING P RODUCTION

H ATCHLING P RODUCTION Assessing hatching success Determining the extent of beach/nest loss

R EDUCING LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLE BYCATCH IN THE SURFACE GILLNET FISHERIES OF T RINIDAD P ROJECT 6 M ANAGEMENT M ITIGATING T HREATS

G ILLNET ENTANGLEMENT : L ARGEST THREAT TO T RINIDAD ’ S LEATHERBACKS 3,000 entanglements per year * Mortality 33% * 3,000 entanglements per year * Mortality 33% * * Eckert, S. A. and J. Lien Recommendations for eliminating incidental capture and mortality of leatherback turtles, Dermochelys coriacea, by commercial fisheries in Trinidad and Tobago, WIDECAST Information Document 1999 – 001. WIDECAST, Beaufort, North Carolina. Lee Lum, L. M An assessment of incidental turtle catch in the gillnet fishery in Trinidad and Tobago. Research Report: Institute of Marine Affairs, Trinidad and Tobago. 38pp. Lee Lum, L Assessment of incidental sea turtle catch in the artisanal gillnet fishery in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies. Appl. Herpetol. 3:

Seasonality February – May Males and Females Seasonality February – May Males and Females Four of nine leatherbacks which stranded while entangled in a single gillnet at Matura Beach, Trinidad PHOTO COURTESY NATURE SEEKERS Four of nine leatherbacks which stranded while entangled in a single gillnet at Matura Beach, Trinidad PHOTO COURTESY NATURE SEEKERS

N ARROW NETS CATCH FEWER LEATHERBACKS

E CONOMIC A SSESSMENT Using 50 mesh net will yield 10% more money per day, when fuel costs, net repair costs and time-lost-to-repair time are included. Troll fishing will provide an equivalent level of profit* as 100 mesh nets (when operational costs are included). * Underestimate actual income as this calculation assumes equal per/lb value for fish and line caught fish are usually valued more highly.

P ROJECT 7 R EFORESTATION Over the last 7 years Nature Seekers has reforested : over 300 acres of land. planted 35,000 seedlings. collected over 110,000 seeds for NRWRP Reducing forest fires (purchase 3ton truck) Cutting fire trails Slash and agriculture Illegal quarrying Illegal logging Illegal hunting Charcoal burning Marijuana cultivation road repairs

O PPORTUNITIES FOR THE COMMUNITY Forest knowledge Development of pride Appreciation of the natural resources Nature tours Kayaking tours Accommodation and meals Taxi services Local delicacies (ice cream,tullum etc )

C APACITY B UILDING Organisation Structure & Governance System in place Built Resources People Community Leadership Project Management Skills Financial Management Health & Safety Management Research

P ROJECT 8 G LASS B EAD P ROJECT Trash to Cash Regional Initiative St Kitts Trinidad Project Partners WIDECAST JO Bean Glass BHP Billiton T&T Nature Seekers

G LASS B URNING Glass is broken and then melted in the fire.

P ROJECT 9 O RGANIC F ARM Completed the preparation of the project proposal and supporting materials. Implementation is planned for October 2010

P ROJECT 10 V ISITOR F ACILITY & T RAINING C ENTER Grant Obtained from the Japan Government Conference Facility Meeting Room Offices Craft Center Visitor Center

P ROJECT 11 E DUCATION & A WARENESS Over Visitors University of Southern Caribbean & other schools EMA 6 form programme Primary and secondary schools Other communities & Caribbean Islands

P ROJECT 12 S ALYBIA R ECREATION & W ATER S PORT C ENTER

V ALUE IS CREATED WITH NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT. Co-management arrangement  Community capacity building  Training education and awareness  Wild life protection and forest management  Research and monitoring  Data collection Development of small business enterprises Nature tours, host homes, local art and craft, taxi services, food and beverages, beauty saloon, Small farmers (vegetables,fish,meat etc.)

T HANK Y OU :Trinidad & Tobago Leatherback Project Annual Report Annual Report :