What do you mean sponsor a nest?

 

The Pacific Coast of Guatemala is home to both Olive Ridley and Leatherback sea turtles. Both species have been nesting on our beaches, leaving their eggs to hatch naturally from the volcanic sand for thousands of years.

Only in the last 50 years has their population been significantly affected due to an extensive egg harvest caused by the demand from the markets in the cities.

Sadly the sea turtle eggs have an economic value due to the myth that they possess aphrodisiac qualities. Many local people patrol the 250km stretch of beach in search of nesting sea turtles to collect and sell their eggs in the city markets to supply the alarming level of consumption.

Years ago, it was totally illegal to remove sea turtle eggs from the beach and to transport them for sale in the city. However, as the populations in all of the towns increased, it became impossible for the government to control a total ban on sea turtle egg collection. An informal agreement was made in that all illegality in the transportation of sea turtle eggs would be alleviated, as long as the local egg collectors made a donation of approximately 10% of the eggs collected. These donated eggs would then be reburied at specific locations in special sea turtle egg “hatcheries” along the coast.

These sea turtle hatcheries were constructed by CONAP, the government environment agency and various NGOs implemented the gathering and reburying of eggs donated by local collectors. Although the donation system is very weak, it is the only form of protection received by the sea turtles. The compliance to this donation system depends heavily on the involvement of the NGO's within the local communities. (Please read the “sea turtle egg donation system of Guatemala” document for additional information).

In a small fishing village called Hawaii there is a hatchery and conservation centre run by ARCAS . Volunteers help with environmental education events and also patrol the beach in the hope of finding nesting turtles before the local people. In probably all of the villages along the coast, there are so many egg collectors that the turtle barely has time to reach the top of the beach before she is intercepted by a local villager waiting to collect and sell the eggs. If the volunteers are lucky enough to find a nesting turtle before a local collector, the eggs are then reburied immediately in the hatchery. After 50 days of incubation the hatchlings are released the minute they are born and start their crawl to face the huge Pacific Ocean. (Please click on the “ARCAS” icon for more information).

In addition to the donation system and the help given by the volunteers, another method of collecting eggs for the hatchery, is to purchase them directly from the local egg collectors on the beach. With more money donated, everybody will be helping to save our sea turtle population.

The sponsor a nest program is not encouraging further egg collection. The demand for turtle eggs is so high, that 100% of eggs are already taken from the beach. What the program does encourage is the opportunity for the egg collector to become involved with the conservation of their population of sea turtles, safeguarding their short term income with the understanding that they are contributing to the conservation of their sea turtle population. This is an important factor, as many of the local villages are extremely poor, living well below the poverty line and often with very few other means of putting food on their family tables. (Please read the “sea turtle egg donation system of Guatemala” document for additional information).

The sponsor a nest programme is still very new. From the start in the season of 2003, till the end of 2005, the number of eggs bought through the programme has increased from 1600, to an astonishing 19,000 at 4 different sites. Donations are escalating each year and we are hoping for an ever increasing amount of eggs bought through this program. Most of the funds are generated by Project Parlama volunteers at each site who understand the need to help the turtles that little bit more. Money is raised before they arrive to volunteer and nests are bought as presents or as an additional reward for countless hours patrolling the beach. (Please click on the “Project Parlama” icon to learn more about the project and our volunteer opportunities).

For each nest sponsored we ask for GB £10 or US $20 to buy a full nest of eggs directly on the beach. A certificate of sponsorship can be generated from the website, your name will be painted on the sponsor a nest wall of fame and the sponsor a nest CD is available as a gift. The CD contains hundreds of photos and video clips of turtles nesting, hatchlings scrambling down the beach, the critically endangered leatherbacks and lots of other wildlife photos from around the area. (A small extra donation will be required to cover postal costs depending where in the world you wish the CD to be sent.) The website also contains a spreadsheet with your nest information.

The sponsor a nest program really makes a huge difference to the chances of survival for our population of Olive Ridley sea turtles. With the high demand and excessive collection of sea turtle eggs over the last few decades, our turtles don't have much time left for us to make a dramatic difference before these amazing animals disappear forever.

If you wish to participate in our sponsor a nest program, please click on the “sponsor form” icon fill out your name and e-mail address and additional names if the nest is to be bought as a present and proceed with the PayPal transaction accepting debit and credit cards or from your own PayPal account.

Thank you for your interest in sea turtle conservation in Guatemala, together we can save these amazing animals from extinction. Please help us by passing on our message and the web address to any family members or friends who may be interested also.