A Hotspot of Biological Diversity
At the beginning of 2019, a group of conservationist friends took on a challenge that contained great scientific curiosity, but above all our desire to contribute to the conservation of sea turtle species in Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula.
The Osa Peninsula is known worldwide as a hotspot for the world’s biological diversity, as it is home to 2.5% of the species on the entire planet. Given that the United States and Canada barely contain 1%, the importance of its conservation is clear. That said, this quantification has been ascertained in recent years for species on continental land, and does not consider marine species. Even so, the great importance of Costa Rica’s Golfo Dulce also has been recognized for dozens of marine species, including whales, dolphins and turtles.
With this in mind, we undertook the task of conducting a rapid assessment of the beach closest to the Golfo Dulce that presented optimal conditions for sea turtle nesting, the Playa Preciosa. The surprise was immediate: for this beach—in sight and reach of everyone for so long, since it is one of the closest to the town of Puerto Jiménez—there was neither research on nor protection for the turtles that come to nest. We found that the nesting of turtles was quite significant here, but that predation and theft took most of these nests. For this reason, the pressure on the species of turtles was alarming.
Biological Monitoring
With the support of the Amazon Conservation Team, we immediately began systematic biological monitoring to count how many turtles nested and to which species they belonged, and through day and night patrols, we counted, marked and protected each of the nests. We started with a sea turtle nursery where nests at risk of being stolen or preyed on can be relocated and the turtles can finish their development period in full protection until birth. We also began to count the newborns by species and the number that were born in our nursery, all in accordance with the regulations and ordinances of the environmental authorities.
The project, named Tortugas Preciosas de Osa, will complete its second year of work in 2021. To date, we have released 32,219 baby turtles of three different species, reduced predation and nest theft by 60%, and established a baseline of the biology and ecology of these species in danger of extinction in one of the most biodiverse places in the world. As if that were not enough, during this time we have discovered that this location is one of the most important for hawksbill turtle nesting in the Pacific region of Central America. Together with Guanacaste, it is one of the two most important aggregations in the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica for the most threatened turtle species in the world, currently recognized as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Civil Contributions to Sea Turtle Conservation
Thanks to various local, national and international volunteer groups, and to the proximity of the site to local communities, we have been able to combine our conservation efforts with those of civil society and conservation enthusiasts, at the same time that we create bonds with the communities in terms of conservation actions and environmental education. Tortugas Preciosas de Osa has gradually become an outdoor classroom where children and adults from all over the world can learn about sea turtles and their importance to our lives and actively contribute to their conservation.
The Osa Peninsula is full of surprises, and constantly doles them out. We do not know what new surprises it will bring us in the future, but without a doubt as we receive them, we will be more and more aware of our actions, more united, and above all more committed to this task that a few of us started but that now belongs to everyone. Together, we can better face this great challenge, which is the continuation of the natural processes of our ecosystems, in order to ensure our own survival.
“When the actions of man cause his own extinction, the planet will change, ecosystems will be balanced, populations will recover, even new species will be born, and balance will exist again, life will continue its course. The only difference is that humans will no longer be there. Conservation is for us; it is not for nature.”
Alvaro Ugalde Víquez
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