Project Background
Soropta Beach is a black sand beach located north of the Bocas del Toro archipelago, between the river mouth of the Changuinola river and Punta Anton on Panama’s Caribbean coast. Three species of sea turtle have been reported nesting at this beach--leatherback, hawksbills and green turtles (though green turtles are rarely documented here). The most common species is the leatherback, and for this reason STC focused monitoring activities along the most active 8km of nesting beach from March thru July, to incorporate the main nesting season for this species.
This project was carried out during the 2016 leatherback turtle nesting season at Soropta Beach, Panama. Financial support from World Nomads customers and the Footprints Network provided essential resources to carry out a program that reduced illegal poaching of endangered leatherback turtles at Soropta Beach, Panama, through a rigorous monitoring and protection program overseen by Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC) and implemented by locally-trained indigenous community members.
The nearest human population is a nearby indigenous community of Ngobe-Bugle Indians, where most of the illegal poaching originates. STC implemented a proven strategy of hiring and training local community members to assist with turtle protection through a sustained program at a permanent field station. Through direct protection of the turtles and nests, combined with ongoing community outreach and education that explains the ecological and economic value of turtles (for ecotourism), STC is giving this population of leatherbacks a chance to recover.
Project Overview
Beach monitors were selected prior to the start of the 2016 leatherback nesting season; all were from local communities inland from Soropta Beach. To ensure that data were collected according to the establish protocol, a three-day training workshop was held in March during which theoretical and practical sessions were conducted to teach the monitors about sea turtles, and to show them the correct method for applying flipper tags, taking standard carapace measurements, identifying species and marking nests using triangulation.
All staff were required to complete the training course, and pass an exam before being allowed to conduct monitoring activities unsupervised. Daily track surveys were conducted (see Table 1) from 1 March – 31 July, during which all tracks were identified to species, and each track was characterized as a successful nest or a non-nesting emergence (false crawl).
|
Months
|
Leatherback
|
Hawksbill
|
|
|
Nests
|
False crawl
|
Nest
|
False crawl
|
|
March
|
89
|
14
|
0
|
0
|
|
April
|
220
|
45
|
0
|
0
|
|
May
|
219
|
39
|
3
|
0
|
|
June
|
81
|
12
|
4
|
0
|
|
July
|
10
|
7
|
8
|
2
|
|
Total
|
619
|
117
|
15
|
2 |
Table 1. Nesting Activity at Soropta 2016
During tracks surveys monitors also recorded levels of illegal take (of nests or turtles), predation or erosion (see Table 2). The poaching rate was lower than the previous several years at Soropta.
|
Fate
|
Leatherback
|
Hawksbill
|
|
Poached
|
25
|
1
|
|
Predated
|
20
|
3
|
|
Eroded
|
14
|
0
|
|
Total
|
59
|
4
|
Table 2. Summary of Nest Survivorship, March-July 2016
In addition, nightly patrols were conducted at Soropta Beach, to encounter females coming ashore to nest. Each individual was checked for the presence of flipper tags; if no tags were present, two were applied to the flippers, and standard carapace measurements were also taken. Table 3 summarizes numbers encounters for species.
|
Species
|
Number of
encounters
|
|
Leatherback
|
325
|
|
Hawksbill
|
10
|
|
Green
|
0
|
|
TOTAL
|
335
|
Table 3. Summary of numbers encountered during night patrols at Soropta, March-July 2016
In addition to the scientific monitoring of this important nesting site, STC also works to protect nests from illegal poachers and educates the local community about sea turtle issues and threats to their survival. This is done by hiring local community members to work on the project and also by conducting educational outreach activities in the indigenous community and within schools in the nearby town of Bocas del Toro. STC also conducted satellite tracking of two leatherbacks that nested at Soropta.
The satellite attachment was observed by a number of community leaders and tracks of the turtles can be observed as part of the ongoing Tour de Turtles education program available online at www.tourdeturtles.org.
What's next?
The work at Soropta Beach represents a long-term commitment by STC to monitor and protect this critical nesting beach in partnership with the local community. We foresee the program continuing for at least another decade or more.
Can I visit this project?
Soropta Beach is in a remote part of Panama, but it is accessible through the town of Bocas del Toro and an hour-long boat ride. STC does accept a limited number of volunteers at its Soropta station and would be happy to work with The Footprints Network to make the experience available to staff or paying clients.
Project Objectives, Aims and Outcomes |
Aims:
The aim of this project is to stop the illegal killing of endangered leatherback sea turtles and the poaching of their nests at Soropta Beach, Panama. This regionally-important nesting beach, though protected by law, is so remote that Panamanian authorities are unable and unwilling to enforce any protection measures.
The nearest human population is a nearby indigenous community of Ngobe-Bugle Indians, where most of the illegal poaching originates. Sea Turtle Conservancy is implementing a proven strategy of hiring and training local community members to assist with turtle protection through a sustained program at a permanent field station.
Through direct protection of the turtles and nests, combined with ongoing community outreach and education that explains the ecological and economic value of turtles (for ecotourism), STC aims to reduce the poaching and give this population of leatherbacks a chance to recover.
Objectives:
- To sustain a new, long-term research and conservation program at Soropta Beach, a regionally-important nesting site for leatherback turtles and possibly other species.
- To complete facility and equipment upgrades that support a high-quality, safe, and permanent research and monitoring program at Soropta.
- To reduce illegal poaching of nesting females and egg clutches in order to increase productivity of leatherbacks and other species nesting at Soropta.
- Actively involve local community members in the project and implement environmental education programs in nearby communities to build local awareness and stewardship.
Outcomes:
The project’s long-term goal is to eliminate all poaching at this site and fully recover the leatherback population nesting at Soropta. A similar program STC has carried out at nearby Chiriqui Beach since 2003 is showing amazing results, with reduced poaching and a rapidly-growing nesting population, so we are optimistic that similar results can be achieved at Soropta. In addition, a 50-year-long program by STC at Tortuguero, Costa Rica, has helped fully recover this renowned green turtle nesting colony and is a model for sea turtle conservation around the world. The Soropta Program will mimic STC’s proven tactics to achieve similar successful outcomes.
What is Covered in Project Costs
The total annual budget for this project is $48,500. These costs include salaries for the project coordinator and a team of part-time beach monitors who live and work at the station for stretches of two weeks each. A local cook and food for all project workers during the nesting season is included as well. Lastly, the budget includes funding for needed repairs to two buildings at the station – the main camp building and kitchen, along with a separate dorm building for workers. These rustic wood buildings need new screens, some repaired support beams and a variety of wood replacements where termites have gotten into the wood. STC has raised some funding from other sources and is seeking $15,000 through this campaign to fully fund the project.
Background on Current Situation
Soropta Beach, located north of Bocas del Toro, Panama, on the Atlantic Coast of Central America, is an 8-km-long beach that hosts up to 700 endangered leatherback nests per year--making it one of the most densely nested leatherback beaches in the Caribbean.
For decades nearly 100% of leatherback eggs deposited at Soropta were taken by poachers from nearby communities. Nesting leatherbacks also were regularly being killed so their flippers and undeveloped eggs could be harvested. STC, which conducts long-term monitoring and protection of nesting beaches, launched a research and protection program at Soropta in 2013 and in the process purchased an old beachfront farm to serve as a modest field station. The rustic buildings are ideally located for carrying out a long-term recovery program at this important leatherback beach, but they are in need of significant repairs.
STC hired a field biologist to oversee the project and trained half a dozen local indigenous community members to assist with the project. This well-trained team now implements a rigorous, standardized protocol for monitoring nests, tracking survivorship and carrying out nightly monitoring activities to deter poaching. The project also conducts community education to raise awareness and to deter poaching. After two years of operation, poaching has decreased significantly, but the problem still remains. It’s imperative for STC to maintain a permanent presence at Soropta Beach to protect nesting leatherbacks and their eggs.
Project Partners / Community Involvement:
The main partners in this project are the indigenous Ngöbe-Buglé community members—a semi-autonomous native Indian community in this region of Panama. The majority of staff members are from a local community, just inland of the nesting beach. All of the people conducting the monitoring and conservation activities at Soropta Beach are members of the indigenous community, except for a single field biologist who coordinates the program. The coordinator is Panamanian, though not a member of the indigenous community.
STC also partners with the Wildlife Conservation Society and their local research team of Drs. Anne and Peter Meylan, who conduct turtle research and protection at the Zapatilla Cays (two small islands offshore of Soropta Beach). We collaborate closely with the Meylans to provide each other with logistical support and combine transportation needs. STC also partners with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, which maintains a large research station in Bocas del Toro. Last year, STC conducted a park guard training program at the STRI station designed to give Panamanian authorities more information and experience in how to recognize and prevent illegal turtle poaching.
How this project fits into a larger strategy
For nearly 60 years, STC has conducted sea turtle research and protection on the Caribbean coast of Central America. This project fits well with the organization’s long-term strategies and goals for sea turtle recovery. In addition to the long-term program at Tortuguero, Costa Rica, since 2003 STC has operated a monitoring and protection program at Chiriqui Beach, Panama, aimed at recovering hawksbill turtles. The Soropta program is just down the coast from this other project and focuses on leatherbacks, which are under more threat on that particular beach.