Turtle heroes: Protecting Sea Turtles in Suriname

This year has been an inspiring year for us. We have been able to do new things that we have been working towards for at least two years, such as the Sea Turtle research and monitoring workshop. This workshop was organized with the Anton de Kom University and other local and international environmental organizations and led by dr. Christine Figgener, a sea turtle rock star!

We also organized activities that we have been doing for many years. Still, we have a more significant impact! One example of this is our beach cleanup at Galibi. We have been organizing beach cleanups in this indigenous coastal village since 2018. And every time, more people join or offer assistance in the form of snacks for participants or transportation to pick up the trash bags. They wrote a waste management project, and we assisted with designing billboards and posters urging people to dispose of their waste properly. These billboards were placed in the villages, and the signs were placed at various stores.

This year a local organization consisting of local tour guides organized their own cleanup and asked us to join. They aimed to remove as many nets from the nesting beaches as possible. By doing this, they wanted to prevent the fishing nets from getting back into the ocean and, most importantly, protect the sea turtles. The nets can hinder the adult sea turtles when searching for a nest location, and the hatchlings can get stuck in the nets when trying to get to the sea. Studies have shown that approximately 10% of marine plastic litter consists of fishing gear such as ropes and nets. In the ocean, these nets can continue to capture fish and other animals, such as sea turtles, whales, sharks, and rays, with no one there to remove these animals resulting in their death. That is why removing the nets from the beaches can be incredibly important for protecting our ocean, animals, and humans!

We organized our annual cleanup on World Cleanup Day and were joined by 40 children, adults, and village leaders! After collecting over 100 bags of trash at the end of the cleanup, the village leaders thanked everyone for their participation. They urged everyone to be more conscious of nature as we not only have to live with it but are a part of it. We ended the cleanup by learning the slogan “Sarame Adjemandopo Waitome,” keep your environment clean!

This work has all be enabled by your generous donations to this project. Thank you for supporting our work!

In our last report, we announced that Dr. Christine Figgener was coming to Suriname. So we finally got to organize our first Sea Turtle Research and Monitoring workshop with a ton of theory and fun and relevant fieldwork.

Christine ran an intense program while WWF Guianas and the Nature Conservation Division informed the participants about the local context. And the traditional leaders of Galibi told the students about the relationship this indigenous community has with the sea turtles. They explained how their communities have been involved in sea turtle conservation for decades.

Christine taught about the biology of sea turtles, the threats they face, and different research techniques used to study sea turtles. The students actively participated in the theoretical course. They then went into the field with Dr. Figgener to Braamspunt and Galibi. The field course was really hands-on, and at night some of the students saw for the first time a sea turtle nesting. The practical hours consisted of the students making their own sand turtles and using those to learn how to measure a sea turtle and insert external and PIT tags.

Suriname's most extensive nesting beaches are in Galibi. And the traditional leaders of Galibi shared with us how we can help them better protect the sea turtles while supporting their livelihoods. Other organizations such as WWF Guianas, the Nature Conservation Division of our Ministry of Land Policy and Forest Management, the game wardens, Stidunal from Galibi, and the Anton de Kom University of Suriname helped make this workshop a success by sharing their work, experiences in the field, and threats to these animals.

In addition to this field course, we participated in regional meetings to develop an action plan for the North West Atlantic leatherback population organized by WWF Guianas. This population is on the decline in the Guianas and Trinidad and Tobago.

Awareness-raising and formal training about sea turtles and knowledge exchange with Dr. Christine Figgener are our most important steps to inspire sea turtle heroes. We will continue our efforts with your essential support so that at least one young person chooses to follow in Christine's footsteps for Suriname.