Welcome Page

A big "hola" to you all!

It has been a summer of change here at Proyecto Parlama... things are looking up for the team - we have been updating and revising the whole set up of the project and after a great deal of thought and discussion we decided it was time for a total face lift......

The project is now a UK registered not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC) and we operate under the new name "Akazul". We aim to maintain the core values of PP but wish to branch out into wider conservation issues...the website is up and running and contains more detailed information of the project:

http://www.akazul.org/

As ever, we thank you all for your support!

Can egg poaching be sustainable?

Sea Turtles on Guatemala's Pacific coast

Several of the world’s sea turtle species frequent Guatemala’s Pacific waters; the olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), eastern Pacific green (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) (Higginson, 1989). Of these species, only the olive ridley (local name “parlama”) and a rapidly declining population of leatherback turtles nest on Guatemala’s Pacific coast (Project Parlama, 2006).
Egg harvesting poses the greatest immediate threat to nesting turtles, local poachers intercept almost 100% of eggs laid, and some 2 million eggs are removed annually and sold (Project Parlama, 2006).
The combination of the traditional popularity of turtle eggs as a luxury food item and the high price that can easily be found for egg sales, makes it very difficult to ban egg collecting (as is generally sought by international conservation law) as egg sales are important to the local coastal economy (Project Parlama, 2006).
Egg sales in Guatemala generate a total retail value of $3,215,530 (Handy, 2006).

The Donation System

In 1979 Guatemala ratified the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which protects all species of sea turtles from international trade or commerce (Higginson, 1989).
However, a quasi-legal situation has evolved within the country, using a voluntary egg donation system where egg collectors are asked to donate 12-20% of each nest to a local hatchery (Handy, 2006), allowing the trade of sea turtle eggs. Eggs are smuggled illegally into Guatemala from other countries, such as Mexico or Nicaragua, where poaching and trading sea turtle eggs is illegal, and once safely in the markets of Guatemala, there is no way of knowing where the eggs came from (Peterson, personal communication 2006). This is hindering conservation efforts within neighbouring countries as there continues to be an incentive for poachers despite the high risks and difficulties involved (personal communication with FUNDACIóN COCIBOLCA, Nicaragua, 2007).


Only towards the end of 2006 were regulations tightened on the trade and consumption of leatherback turtle eggs, due to their severely endangered status. A new national law in the Diario de Centro America numero 28, 5/10/2006, of Consejo Nacional de Areas Protegidas (CONAP) del gobierno de Guatemala prohibits the collection and exploitation of leatherback eggs between the 15th October 2006 until the 15th April 2007. Perpetrators face fines of up to 2.7 thousand US dollars and 5 to 10 years imprisonment (CONAP, 2007).
Despite the ethical debate as to whether or not it is morally defensible to permit the contuning harvest of endangered sea turtles eggs, the reality of Guatemala's current economic and political situation definitely highlights the virtues of having an egg donation system. Even when egg poaching was illegal, it still continued due to the lack of government funds available to police sea turtle nesting beaches. The geography of Guatemala's Pacific coast also makes this endeveor virtually impossible- some 250km of continuous coastline...where do police patrols begin and where do they end? How do you catch every poacher on 250km of beach?
The donation system ensures an above average hatching success rate....more baby turtles make it to the sea every year thanks to the 20 something sea turtle hatcheries stretching Guatemala's coast than if turtles were left to do it themselves in the wild.


Table 1: Sea turtle egg totals for Project Parlama hatcheries 2006

Hatcheries are also the perfect settings to conduct scientific research on an under studied sea turtle population and carry out environmental education programmes within the coastal communities. The donation system has its flaws, but it is an effective conservation tool that makes good use of the resources that are available. It is a great example of grass roots conservation in action.


To see the full article:
Brittain, et al. 2007. "Project Parlama- Sea turtle conservation on Guatemala's Pacific coast". In: TESTUDO, 6:4, 43-52.

Photos

El Rosario

Relaxing after a hard days work

Fishing with Alfredo & Douglas in El Rosario

Day nesting o.ridley

Leatherback nesting

Huevos

Treating "olive"

O.ridley tracks

Rachel & Bex necropsy-ing

Day nester

Scott & Sarah at the annual sea turtle symposium, Crete, 2006.

Sarah measuring a stranding

Bernado presenting at the Puerto Quetzal workshop

Cleaning up "Stumpy" the stranded loggerhead

"Olive" the stranded o.ridley

Olive Ridley/Parlama

Photo by Scott Handy

Sketch by Rachel

Leatherback/Baule

Photo by Scott Handy

The leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) can be easily distinguished from other sea turtles as it does not have a carapace consisting of scutes. It has a thick, rubbery carapace with seven keels running longitudinally. It has a worldwide distribution and under takes huge migrations for nesting and foraging. On the IUCN Red List, the Leatherback is listed as "critically endangered" (see IUCN web site).
Between November and January, a handfull of Leatherbacks return to the Pacific beaches in Guatemala to lay their eggs. It is thought that over the last 10 years or so, the eastern Pacific population of leatherbacks has declined almost 90% (IUCN).
This rapid decline can be attributed to anthropogenic stresses such as egg poaching and mortality in long-line fisheries, and their life history (few hatchlings will reach sexual maturity and sexual maturity is not reached until around 13-14 years).
Only towards the end of 2006 were regulations tightened on the trade and consumption of leatherback turtle eggs in Guatemala. A new national law in the Diario de Centro America numero 28, 5/10/2006, of Consejo Nacional de Areas Protegidas (CONAP) del gobierno de Guatemala prohibits the collection and exploitation of leatherback eggs between the 15th October 2006 until the 15th April 2007. Perpetrators face fines of up to 2.7 thousand US dollars and 5 to 10 years imprisonment (CONAP, 2007).


Sketch by Rachel

Eastern Pacific Green/Tortuga Negra

Photo by Jaime Perez

Eastern Pacific Greens Chelonia agassizii have not been recorded as nesting in the country but Guatemala hosts an important feeding ground for adults at a mangrove lagoon called Pozo del Nance near Sipacate. The area now has recently been listed as a protected turtle sactuary. PROTORTUGAS, are a Guatemalan NGO who have been running a fantastic research and monitoring project at Pozo del Nance. Through an extensive tagging program the group have discovered that these turtles nest on the Baja peninsula in Mexico. This has been a really important finding and has helped us to learn a lot about this population of turtles and will aid protection measures. Occassionally these turtles strand on the coast.

For more information see the Protortugas website.

La Barrona

In the first two years of Project Parlama, several hatcheries were funded by the EVS program and provided with several full-time international volunteers. They assisted local communities with sea turtle conservation and carried out research in the hatcheries. La Barrona hatchery was considered to be one of the greatest successes of Project Parlama; egg donations to the hatchery increased, hatchery manager Bernado is now the local sea turtle expert and the local community responded extremely positvely to the presence of the international volunteers. In the new phase of Project Parlama, we hope to work with the La Barrona hatchery once again and create a model that can be relicated all over Guatemala to aid national sea turtle conservation.

Bernado Chilin: La Barrona's Hatchery Manager

La Barrona is a small coastal community situated a stones throw from the border of El Salvador, in the region of Moyuta, Jutiapa, Guatemala. Unlike many of the other coastal villages on the Guatemalan Pacific coast, La Barrona is very isolated with limited road access....one road in, one road out. This gives the site a unique feel as there is a great sense of community spirit amoungst the villagers.
The area is characterised by a wide, flat, black sand beach that stretches for miles and is completely unspoilt. Backing on to the villages is a protected area of mangroves, full of amazing flora and fauna.

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteers are needed for 2010 turtle season

It's that time of year again... the olive ridley turtles will soon be arriving on Guatemalan beaches to lay their eggs. Proyecto Parlama are looking for volunteers to help out with sea turtle conservation activities from July to December.

Activities
Due to the unusual situation in Guatemala, the main part of Proyecto Parlama's work is helping to the government to enforce the "donation" system. Egg poaching is not banned, but the law requires poachers to hand over 12 eggs from each nest they find to their local hatchery. Proyecto Parlama have volunteer opportunities at 2 of the 25hatcheries located on Guatemala's 250 km of Pacific coast; La Barrona & El Rosario.

Typical duties include;
- collecting and burying egg donations
- recording nest temperatures (6am, 12pm, & 6pm)
- hatchery maintenence
- measuring and releasing hatchlings
- excavating and recording hatching success of hatched nests
- daily sea turtle track counts (conducted at dawn)
- night patrols (looking for nesting turtles & collecting donations off the beach)
- recording morphometric data on nesting females
- recording stranded sea turtles
- monitoring fishing activity
- community activities
- environmental education classes with local children

Other opportunities:
Very little work has been done on surveying the flora and fauna within the mangrove systems that are running parallel to the coast, and we would be very supportive of individuals wishing to carry out baseline survey work. Please get in touch for more details.
At our partner site in Hawaii there are presently opportunities in carrying out bird surveys in the mangroves, please contact us for more details.

Participation cost
Unfortunately we are unable to offer any financial support to volunteers, but we do not charge any administration or participation fee. Volunteers are expected to fund their own travel and living expenses whilst working on the project. We will however make all arrangements for the volunteer’s homestay with approved families in the local community and we will endeavour to meet all individual’s requests. We take no fee for this service and all monies go directly to the host family.
A typical homestay provides room and board (3 meals a day) for the price of approximately 80 Quetzales a day (around 10 US $ per day).

Working with Project Parlama

What is it like?
We guarantee that working with PP will be a challenging and rewarding experience. It is a three way partnership between the volunteer, project and community – and all are of equal importance. It is a unique opportunity to experience the rustic culture of Guatemala’s Pacific coast whilst contributing to conservation. We really value our volunteers because without them the important conservation work would not be possible.

What is expected?
We are by no means slave drivers, but volunteers are expected to carry out a minimum amount of work per day as these duties are the backbone of the project, and therefore we expect volunteers to have a strong work ethic. Volunteers should embark on their experience with an open mind and show respect to the culture and customs of the local community. Maintaining good relations with the community is integral to the future success of the project and will also enhance the volunteer’s cultural experience.

What is provided?
All equipment needed to carry out project duties is supplied by PP and training will be provided by a competent team member. We strongly encourage volunteers to initiate new ventures within the project, such as additional research or community activities, and we will provide support to the best of our ability. PP are strongly committed to providing both volunteers and community members with the scientific support to carry out all aspects of sea turtle conservation and research through flexible and holistic training methods. Volunteer safety and welfare is of paramount and we will not assign tasks that we feel compromise this.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING OR HAVE A GENERAL ENQUIRY PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO EITHER:

Rachel (Project staff, UK): rachbrittain@yahoo.co.uk
Luke (Project staff, UK & Guatemala):lukey92@hotmail.com

We look forward to hearing from you!

The Proyecto Parlama Ethos

Proyecto Parlama's Mission Statement:

“To provide managerial assistance that utilises international volunteers, sound scientific methodology and firm conservation practices. Thus increasing levels of community collaboration in the conservation of sea turtles, protection of mangroves, and other locally endangered wildlife”.

Our Vision:

To create a ‘model’ hatchery and sea turtle monitoring programme by training local people to establish themselves as ecological stewards to take responsibility of their local conservation issues, provided by our education programme, capacity building and our active continued community involvement.

Our Aims:

• To provide local capacity building workshops and an education programme to increase knowledge and understanding of local environment and conservation issues within the community.

• Providing hatchery management training for local people to enable sustainable management of sea turtles through education and community based conservation.

• To achieve 100% collaboration to the 1-dozen donation system and eventually increasing up to the legally stated 20%.

• To offer alternative sources of income to low income families to either restrict their need for the use of sea turtle eggs or to increase their participation to the donation system beyond 20%.

• Improving the value of volunteering for the volunteer providing insight, experience and learning opportunities which contribute to the future development of all those involved, including the community.

• Initiating a volunteer programme and a home-stay ecotourism project that will not only bring additional money into the local community but will provide a multi cultural interaction, raising the communities pride in their village and to the local conservation of their environment.

• Working with the local fishing community will allow us the opportunity to understand local fishing problems and its effect on sea turtles. Providing education into effective release of sea turtles that are captured on hooks or suffering “near drowning” from being caught in nets may save many turtles.

New port development

We have recently heard reports of a new multi million dollar development in Guatemala which is scheduled for 2010.



There have been rumours for the last few years regarding a potential development which will rival the Panama canal. Information available is scarce and it seems that this is intentional. The proposal is to build a dry canal (140 meter wide, 327 km long 8 lane highway, with a high speed railway, airport, and other associated infrastructure) that spans the entire breadth of Guatemala in order to link the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, reducing transport times between the coasts. Construction of this “dry canal” has already begun in the region of Chiqimula.In June there will also begin the construction of three new ports; 1 on the Caribbean coast of Guatemala , 1 on the Pacific coast in Guatemala (close to La Barrona), and 1on the Pacific coast of El Salvador (La Union). Investors from the US, Spain, Brazil and Japan are fronting 12 billion US $ for the project. It seems that this idea of a dry canal has been discussed since 1997 and is now coming to fruition. The following are links to the recent article:

http://www.bnamericas.com/news/infrastructure/Construction_of_US*12bn_technological_corridor_to_begin_in_June1

Coming from the angle of sea turtle conservation we are very concerned as this development is likely to have detrimental affects on the nesting populations of leatherback Dermochelys coriacea and olive ridley Lepidochelys olivacea turtles.There are obvious social and economical benefits to the countries involved however it is also important to be realistic about the immediate impacts that construction will have socially and environmentally. Looking at it from both a short term and long term perspective, the environmental effects on the nesting beach at La Barrona will be massive. Every type of pollution imaginable will occur; from water pollution to light, air, and noise pollution, whilst the 12 km of sea turtle nesting beach at La Barrona is likely to disappear completely due to beach erosion. Issues such as ballast water discharge are of great concern as this will undoubtedly introduce invasive species, contaminate water quality and ultimately affect the marine food web which will affect Guatemala’s fisheries. See this recent article on a similar development in India:

http://www.globalresponse.org/gra.php?i=3/07

All in all potentially devasting. However information available is very limited. We are anxious to obtain more comprehensive details of what the construction of the port will entail, i.e. size of the development, its exact location, its position in relation to the beach, will it be dredged etc. We are calling on anybody who may have further information to the above proposal and although we realise that there is little we can do to prevent such an influential development which is backed financially by foreign investors, we may have some leverage if we can find out as much as possible on the “super” port. Please get in touch and/or post any comments.

Kind regards

Proyecto Parlama

Links

Protortugas work with eastern Pacific green turtles in Pozo del Nance in Esquintla, Guatemala
ARCAS operate the sea turtle hatchery in Hawaii, Santa Rosa, Guatemala
Ambios are UK based and run various volunteer projects (original founders of PP)
REEF BALL project run by UNIPESCA, Guatemala
Sea turtles in El Salvador

Part one......



Part two.....



Part three.....