Costa Rican Residents
Help Turtle Population
Grow on Pacific Beach
The Associated Press
OSTIONAL, Costa Rica:
Early every morning
between July and
December, some 260
neighbors of Ostional
beach dedicate
themselves to taking
care of one of the only
nesting grounds for the
lora turtle.
The beach on Costa
Rica's Pacific coastline
is one of three places
in the world where large
numbers of the turtles
can be found. The others
are in Mexico and India.
A few years ago, the
turtles only occupied
about a kilometer (about
a half mile) of the
beach. Today, you can
find them along a
7-kilometer (4-mile)
stretch.
Gerardo Chaves, a
biologist at the
University of Costa Rica
who has studied the
turtles for 11 years,
said the population has
increased significantly
and some 1 million
turtles migrate to the
beach at certain points
of the year.
"The turtle returns to
the beach where it is
born, and the problem in
Ostional now is that the
beach can't support so
many and that could
limit the growth of the
species," he said. "That
is why man's role is so
important."
Chaves said the nearby
residents help clean the
beach and patrol for
predators as baby
turtles hatch and head
toward water, ensuring a
10 percent increase in
the survival rate of the
animals.
"These are positive
conservation results
that should be used as a
model" for other areas,
he said.
In return for their
trouble, the residents
are allowed to collect a
small portion of the
first turtle eggs laid
on the beach, many of
which would be destroyed
by the next wave of
nesting turtles.
During each of the two
large nesting periods a
year, "We take an
average of 500,000 eggs,
which is less than 1
percent of the total,"
said Gilberto Rojas,
president of the
conservation program.
"We sell them in bags of
200 eggs, each of which
costs about US$12.50."
(_ about €8.40.)
The program gets an
exemption from Costa
Rica's usual prohibition
against any sales of
turtle eggs, which were
long a local delicacy.
The community of about
900 people began
protecting the turtles
since 1984. |
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