Marie-Louise Felix, Species Conservation Officer with the portfolio for Wildlife Management and Regional Marine Turtle Coordination, led a four-member team who spent close to one week in Region One.
For about two decades the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has financed conservation efforts in the Guianas, (Suri-name, Guyana and French Guiana) and is one of the major donors to the Guyana Marine Turtle Conservation Society (GMTCS) which monitors turtle activity on the Shell Beaches.
The team left two Fridays ago after visiting Almond Beach (one of the shell beaches) for a day to observe operations there. “Generally I am very happy with what is happening on [Almond] Beach,” Felix said, adding that “I am pleased to see GMTCS has a young team…that is enthusiastic.” She noted, however, that the small team has a big job ahead of them but was pleased that young men could be attracted to the beach.
There are nine payroll staffers on Almond Beach. Last year about 400 turtles were tagged on nearby Annette Beach, which saw 90% of the nesting turtles. But this year most of the activity has been on Almond Beach though another camp is expected to start soon on another developing beach.
The idea for the exchange visit stemmed from a bi-annual meeting for marine turtle conservationists hosted in December. Discussions had centred on threats to marine turtles and how to avoid mortality. Fishermen, teachers and personnel from the Fisheries Department comprised the Guyana contingent. French Guiana was not part of the December meeting and at the moment is not part of the exchange programme. “We decided that we were going to act right away,” Felix said so in February GMTCS Country Coordinator Romeo DeFreitas and his wife, GMTCS educator and warden Sirimavo, visited STINASU’s (the Founda-tion of Nature Conservation in Suriname) Matapica Field Station.
In assessing the team’s account of the work at the Shell Beaches Felix said that the STINASU officers said the conditions there are harsh and challenging with limited shade, mosquitoes and limited fresh water but it is just as challenging in Suriname. They also indicated areas where help could be given to boost the beaches’ monitoring programme.
De Freitas, in explaining the differences between the operation of the officers’ work in Suriname and theirs, said in Suriname the turtles are counted and their activities monitored while locally the turtles are tagged (a metal identification tag is placed on one of the turtles’ flippers) along with the monitoring of general activities. Tagging the turtles, allows the GMTCS to keep an account of them and record turtles that return to nest. When a turtle is tagged the date, time and tide are recorded. WWF Guianas funds the monitoring of the turtles on the Shell Beaches of Guyana.
Additionally, DeFreitas said he is hopeful that the exchange programme will continue, since it’s an opportunity to share ideas and to develop and learn from each others’ experiences and mistakes. Felix confirmed that WWF will do its best to ensure two persons from STINASU and two from the GMTCS participate in an exchange visit next year. Plans are also in train to collaborate with the National Parks Commission and currently assistance is being given to the Wildlife Division.
WWF Guianas’ areas of conservation include but are not limited to fresh water, gold mining impact plans, protected areas, sustainable forest management, population assessments of the Black Caiman, the giant anteater and in part supports the population assessment of macaws or parrots.
