Community involvement works where enforcement fails

Article published in PEERJ that shows how community based management generates conservation success for Amazonian river turtles.

Community involvement works where enforcement fails: conservation success through community-based management of Amazon river turtle nests.

Illegal harvesting of eggs remains a major threat to the conservation of endangered Amazonian river turtles. In the Brazilian State of Amapá an innovative community based management approach reversed unsustainable harvest rates (75% nest removal) to levels (26%) that are likely to maintain populations i.e. inverted the status quo where the majority of nests were harvested to a situation where the majority of nests were conserved.

Our findings suggest that the widely adopted use of law enforcement patrols as a nest protection strategy have little effect on river turtle nest harvesting. During years with extensive enforcement patrols by environmental police the nest harvest rates remained at unsustainably high levels of 61%. In the absence of law enforcement patrols the community involvement in protecting the river turtles nests temporarily against natural predators was a way that community members could actively participate not only in caring for the turtle nests but also the surrounding environment. As nest harvesting by humans was not specifically targeted these actions had general support and conflicts were not generated.

Norris D, Michalski F, Gibbs JP. (2018) Community involvement works where enforcement fails: conservation success through community-based management of Amazon river turtle nests. PeerJ 6:e4856 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4856

Programa de proteção de tartarugas alcança 80 milhões de filhotes em 40 anos

Resultados do Where is My Turtle citado numa reportagem recente sobre avanços e ameaças para a conservação de quelônios no Brasil. Segue link

UNIFAP publicada notícia sobre o projeto “Onde está meu tracajá?” / UNIFAP publishes news on the "Where is my turtle?" project

A UNIFAP publicou notícia sobre o projeto "Onde está meu tracajá?" no site da universidade. Na nota o projeto e alguns resultados preliminares são apresentados.  

Na sexta-feira (02/06/2017) os pesquisadores Darren Norris e Fernanda Michalski serão entrevistados no programa da Rádio Universitária FM 96.9 (online via internet http://www.unifap.br/public/index/radio). As perguntas serão sobre o projeto "Onde está meu tracajá?".

Não percam.... 

Reportagem sobre efeitos da construção da barragem da Usina Cachoeira Caldeirão / News on the construction of a new hydroelectric dam

O Jornal do Amapá fez uma reportagem no dia 22 de maio de 2017 alertando sobre os efeitos da construção da barragem da Usina Cachoeira Caldeirão no Estado do Amapá.

Alem dos problemas sociais e econômicos relacionados com o aumento do nivel das aguas do Rio Araguari que os moradores ribeirinhos estão se deparando ainda existe o problema relacionado ao desaparecimento, devido ao alagamento, de praias que eram utilizadas pelos tracajás para desova.

O nosso grupo de pesquisa estuda justamente os efeitos que a construção dessa barragem está causando nas populações de tracajás.

Pode assistir o video aqui: http://g1.globo.com/ap/amapa/jornal-do-amapa/videos/t/edicoes/v/abertura-de-comporta-em-usina-hidreletrica-deixa-ribeirinhos-em-estado-de-alerta-no-amapa/5888059/

Meeting with FLONA residents and dissemination of project results

On January 20, 2017, the residents of the National Forest of Amapa (FLONA) and surroundings and several research institutions and inspection agencies were gathered at the ICMBio base in FLONA.

The 'Where is my turtle?' Project funded by USAID with the ICMBio analysts at FLONA provided all the logistics for the meeting.

Local residents received support to move their homes to the ICMBio base (Figure 1).

Figure 1 - Riba, a pilot hired by ICMBio helping to take the riverine residents from their homes to the meeting place at the ICMBio base.

The number of participants in the meeting broke the record. There were 79 adults (the children who accompanied the adults were not counted) (Figure 2).

Figure 2 - A public record of resident residents was present at the meeting on January 20, 2017.

Representatives from 10 institutions (UNIFAP, Bom Sucesso Association, Environmental Policing Battalion, ICMBio, Porto Grande City Hall (Deputy Mayor and Aldermen), Municipal Secretary of Endemics Diseases of Porto Grande, Municipal Secretary of Education of Porto Grande, and Municipal Health Secretary of Porto Grande, SEMA-AP, and UNB) were present.

Residents, together with representatives of institutions, discussed situations related to health, education, and biodiversity conservation (Figure 3).

Figure 3 - Riparian residents were present at the meeting discussing issues related to health, education and biodiversity conservation.

Researchers Darren Norris and Fernanda Michalski presented the partial results of the “Where is my turtle?" Project. They emphasized that the contribution and partnership of the residents is essential for the tracajás and the environment conservation (Figure 4).

Figure 4 - Darren Norris and Fernanda Michalski presenting results from the project "Where is my turtle?" to the riverside community.

Cremilson Marques, who is a field assistant for the project and a riparian resident, participated in the presentation along with the researchers, highlighting the problem related to the waste presence that was found on the beaches with nests of tracajás (Figure 5).

 Figure 5 - Cremilson Marques, field assistant of the research project highlighting the problem of waste found on the beaches where the nesting of the tracajás occurs.

In the end, the researchers presented the next steps and activities of the project to the residents and answered the questions and doubts they had about the project (Figure 6).

Figure 6 - Presentation of the next steps and activities of the project and answers to the doubts of the riverside residents.

The researchers found it a fantastic experience to present the partial results of the project to a public as important as the residents of FLONA and surroundings. They were also surprised and pleased with the high number of people interested.

The first video of the project "Where is my turtle?" is published

Researchers publish a video about the activities that took place in December 2016 in the project "Where is my turtle?". During this period of the year, turtle eggs hatch in the FLONA region of Amapá and surroundings, and the team of researchers was monitoring, evaluating and measuring the birth rates of turtle nesting in the nests.

Direct link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG-rNdTrfDg 

To illustrate some of the work, including the difficulties of navigating a river with extremely low water levels, the first video of the project was also posted on YouTube.