Our trip to Playa La Flor for the sea turtles was a beautiful experience. There are five species of sea turtles that make arridabas, or mass pilgrammages up the beach to lay eggs in Nicaragua, and the species that we observed early Sunday morning was Lepidochelys oliveacea, or "tortuga paslama" (English common name: Olive Ridley turtle). Tortugas paslamas are peligroso, or endangered, and I feel that the opportunity to watch their "circle or life" was bueno suerte (good luck).
(mama turtle laying her eggs)
Here is a good site to learn more about the tortugas paslamas at La Flor. Although I only witnessed the journey of two mama turtles up the beach to "give birth" to their eggs, we also saw a nest of baby turtle eggs hatch and we helped them make their way towards the sea. In the face of environmental degradation, I believe that it is everyone's responsibility to participate in conservation of some sort, especially those that participate in the cultures of mass consumption.
What constitutes conservation? This is a question that was raised over the weekend after a disagreement with other turtle watchers and "conservationists" who disagreed with our approach to conservation and documentation of the turtles. They had traveled to La Flor from Spain for an "eco-vacation", hoping to witness an arridaba as well. Is observation without documentation conservation? Personally, I don't believe so. While I don't think that every conservation effort requires documentation, I think that in order to "save the turtles" (or any endangered species) requires thoughtful and careful study, including documentation.
(baby tortuga paslamas making their way towards the ocean)
It is very easy to criticize others without knowledge of what they are doing and the intentions for such actions or beliefs. A good example is people from developed nations criticizing indigenous cultures for participating in activities that have been part of their culture for hundreds of generations. "Why don't they just stop eating turtle eggs? It's bad for the environment." The collection and consumption of turtle eggs is a cultural tradition, a valuable source of protein and a source of supplemental income for many impoverished people. Instead of criticizing those who poach, the tourists who spend thousands of dollars and consume vast amounts of petroleum to "conserve through observation" in various forms might consider investing in microloans for the economically devastated communities surrounding the resource-rich beaches so that the people living those communities do not have to resort to poaching eggs for food and profit. While tourism contributes money to local economies, I doubt that the poorest of the poor, who rely on eggs for supplemental nutrition and income often see the economic benefits of eco-tourism.
(relocation of 114 tortuga huevos!)
That said, the Nicaraguan government takes conservation seriously. There is a print campaign to discourage consumption of eggs, and I have read that there are limits on how many eggs can be harvested by local communities abutting beaches for personal consumption only. I have been reading Environment Under Fire: Imperialism and the Ecologial Crisis in Central America by Daniel Faber, which I find absolutely fascinating. Faber has enlightened me to the concept of "revolutionary ecology", a movement inextricably linked with the Nicaraguan Revolution and the Sandinistas. After the extreme environmental degradation under the Somoza dictatorship, the Sandinistas linked the importance of environmental and ecological stewardship to the revolution and self-sufficiency through the creation of the Nicaraguan Institute of Natural Resources and the Environment (Instituto Nicaragüense de Recursos Naturales y del Ambiente, or IRENA). Faber writes that the most successful of IRENA's wildlife initiatives was the Sea Turtle Conservation Campaign.
(field station and puesto militar at La Flor)
Today, La Flor has a field station for conservation with a puesto militar - military post. As the eggs started hatching, a member of the Nicaraguan Army came to stand guard over the eggs with his gun. It was surreal - 13 American students on the beach with Dr. Pinou, cranky Spanish tourists, and the Nicaraguan Army in fatigues with very big guns. All in the name of conservation. There is no American analogue and this is an experience I could only have here. I am so grateful that I saw the turtles. One mother laid 114 eggs and the soldier relocated the eggs to help protect against animals, poaching, etc. Of all the predators of the turtles, humans are the worst.
- Mercedes
(mama turtle laying her eggs)
Here is a good site to learn more about the tortugas paslamas at La Flor. Although I only witnessed the journey of two mama turtles up the beach to "give birth" to their eggs, we also saw a nest of baby turtle eggs hatch and we helped them make their way towards the sea. In the face of environmental degradation, I believe that it is everyone's responsibility to participate in conservation of some sort, especially those that participate in the cultures of mass consumption.
What constitutes conservation? This is a question that was raised over the weekend after a disagreement with other turtle watchers and "conservationists" who disagreed with our approach to conservation and documentation of the turtles. They had traveled to La Flor from Spain for an "eco-vacation", hoping to witness an arridaba as well. Is observation without documentation conservation? Personally, I don't believe so. While I don't think that every conservation effort requires documentation, I think that in order to "save the turtles" (or any endangered species) requires thoughtful and careful study, including documentation.
(baby tortuga paslamas making their way towards the ocean)
It is very easy to criticize others without knowledge of what they are doing and the intentions for such actions or beliefs. A good example is people from developed nations criticizing indigenous cultures for participating in activities that have been part of their culture for hundreds of generations. "Why don't they just stop eating turtle eggs? It's bad for the environment." The collection and consumption of turtle eggs is a cultural tradition, a valuable source of protein and a source of supplemental income for many impoverished people. Instead of criticizing those who poach, the tourists who spend thousands of dollars and consume vast amounts of petroleum to "conserve through observation" in various forms might consider investing in microloans for the economically devastated communities surrounding the resource-rich beaches so that the people living those communities do not have to resort to poaching eggs for food and profit. While tourism contributes money to local economies, I doubt that the poorest of the poor, who rely on eggs for supplemental nutrition and income often see the economic benefits of eco-tourism.
(relocation of 114 tortuga huevos!)
That said, the Nicaraguan government takes conservation seriously. There is a print campaign to discourage consumption of eggs, and I have read that there are limits on how many eggs can be harvested by local communities abutting beaches for personal consumption only. I have been reading Environment Under Fire: Imperialism and the Ecologial Crisis in Central America by Daniel Faber, which I find absolutely fascinating. Faber has enlightened me to the concept of "revolutionary ecology", a movement inextricably linked with the Nicaraguan Revolution and the Sandinistas. After the extreme environmental degradation under the Somoza dictatorship, the Sandinistas linked the importance of environmental and ecological stewardship to the revolution and self-sufficiency through the creation of the Nicaraguan Institute of Natural Resources and the Environment (Instituto Nicaragüense de Recursos Naturales y del Ambiente, or IRENA). Faber writes that the most successful of IRENA's wildlife initiatives was the Sea Turtle Conservation Campaign.
(field station and puesto militar at La Flor)
Today, La Flor has a field station for conservation with a puesto militar - military post. As the eggs started hatching, a member of the Nicaraguan Army came to stand guard over the eggs with his gun. It was surreal - 13 American students on the beach with Dr. Pinou, cranky Spanish tourists, and the Nicaraguan Army in fatigues with very big guns. All in the name of conservation. There is no American analogue and this is an experience I could only have here. I am so grateful that I saw the turtles. One mother laid 114 eggs and the soldier relocated the eggs to help protect against animals, poaching, etc. Of all the predators of the turtles, humans are the worst.
- Mercedes
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