Communities take action for turtles
By Karen Peterson
Senior Manager of Special Initiatives
There are seven species of sea turtles in the world–and six of them are endangered. So Seacology is delighted to work with communities that are working to save these amazing creatures, which are crucial to healthy ocean ecosystems.
In April, I visited two of these projects on islands in El Salvador and Guatemala with our field representative there, Marcos Terete.
El Salvador’s Jiquilisco Bay is home to the most extensive mangrove forests in Central America; at 156,200 acres, it’s the largest wetland in the country. But these coastal mangroves have long been polluted by huge amounts of trash flowing down the Rio Grande de San Miguel River, posing a risk to local wildlife. A group of 30 women on San Sebastián Island have banded together to address the problem by gathering and sorting the trash that ravages the mangroves during the rainy season, as well as rehabilitating a five-acre mangrove area. Project partner organization Asociación Mangle has helped to guide these efforts.
Seacology is supporting the women’s small businesses. These enterprising businesswomen make and sell tortillas and pupusas (El Salvador’s national dish), grow fruit, raise chickens, and make ice and smoothies to sell to visitors. The women were proud to show off the equipment funded by Seacology, explaining how it has improved their families’ financial security. They also spoke about the gravity of the trash problem, particularly single-use plastic.
Karen Peterson meets with the women's group on San Sebastián.
Our local partners remove trash from San Sebastián's coastline.
Across the border in southern Guatemala, we investigated a potential new Seacology project on El Jiote Island. Like other islands on the country’s Pacific coast, it is home to stunning black sand beaches, but is rarely visited by tourists. Its volcanic sands are beautiful, but they can make things rough for eggs of the endangered green, leatherback, and critically endangered hawksbill sea turtles that come back year after year to nest. If the sand gets too hot, it overheats the eggs, leaving them infertile. That’s where the volunteer-run Manuelita turtle hatchery comes in. In the shade of a simple structure, the eggs are given a chance to incubate. During the 2023-24 season, a whopping 32,773 hatchlings were released.
Marcos and I met with hatchery volunteers, local teachers, and community leaders, as well as representatives from our project partner Chapinisimos en Acción, to discuss a potential project. Turtle egg collectors voiced their support for donating more eggs to the hatchery, rather than selling them at an off-island market. As a result of these discussions, I recommended this project to Seacology’s board of directors, who enthusiastically approved it in June. Now three species of sea turtles, other wildlife, and mangroves will be protected on El Jiote. Seacology will fund improvements to the adjacent school, chicken-farming, and turtle-themed events to foster pride in this island’s exceptional habitat.
Meeting with community leaders in El Jiote.
Painting a sea turtle mural in El Paredón.
Our last visit was to El Paredón, where Seacology has supported another turtle conservation project. We had a small ceremony inaugurating the open-air meeting and environmental activity space next to the turtle hatchery, which had been improved as part of our project. We then cruised through a canal into seagrass habitat that is frequented by turtles. The boat operators have been key to spreading the word about the importance of the mangroves and the presence of turtles. They act as de facto guardians, reporting issues to local authorities and educating visitors.
The impact of these projects was best captured by 10-year-old Lesly Perez, who said, “In the name of the children of Guatemala, I want to thank you… for taking care of the many places in Guatemala and the world, taking care of nature. Right now, you guarantee us children a future. Destruction is advancing, but there are institutions like Seacology and Chapinisimos en Acción that are fighting to leave a legacy—a legacy of life and hope.”