April & May Billion Baby Turtles Update

It has been a busy few months helping community organizations protect important turtle nesting beaches around the world. Many of our partners are in full swing in their seasons for the next couple of months.

During April we provided a total of US $20,500 to our partners through our Billion Baby Turtles program to turtle nesting beaches and $2,400 for one Inclusivity Fund grant to create a coordinator post for a woman from the community of El Jobo in Costa Rica working with our partner Equipo Tora Carey. In May, Billion Baby Turtles supported 4 different projects in Indonesia, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Cuba with US $23,500. So far this year, we have provided $73,000 for this program in 2023, helping to save an estimated 230,000 hatchlings.

June is the month of Sea Turtle Week and we are very excited with lots of fun things during the best week of the year! If you haven’t, please, check all them out here: seaturtleweek.com

BILLION BAY TURTLES GRANTS

Provita, Paria Gulf, Venezuela

Provita has protected marine turtles in Venezuela for almost 2 decades. During the 2022 season Provita protected 39 hawksbill nests, from 5 weekly patrolled beaches from April to September. They were able to maintain the illegal nest collection at 5% (7 nests), the most important threat in the area. The total number of baby hawksbills protected were 9,226, 27% more than in 2021. Billion Baby Turtles supported this project with US $4,000

Equipo Tora Carey, El Jobo, Costa Rica

Equipo Tora Carey (ETC) was created as the result of a successful cooperation between fishermen, local tourism operators and biologists in protecting sea turtles around Punta Descartes in 2015. In the present, local residents patrol 5 different beaches every night. SEETurtles has partnered with ETC since 2018, they protect around 250 nests of olive ridley, black and sporadic hawksbill nests. With US $2,500 this season, Billion Baby Turtles supports the protection of around 3,500 baby turtles. 

Ecosystem Impact, Bangkaru Island, Indonesia

This nonprofit organization works in Bankaru Island protecting especially green turtles and sporadic nesting leatherbacks. In addition to the protection of nesting turtles, Ecosystem Impact develops law enforcement capacity, campaign and advocacy work, community awareness, rangers training and social media education, all of these programs have as a goal the increase of global awareness of the conservation of marine turtles and other wild species included in the Bangkaru Project. With US$ 10,000 our Billion Baby Turtles program supported Ecosystem Impact for this upcoming season. With this, they may protect more than 11,000 baby turtles.

Photo courtesy Ecosystem Impact / Alex Westover

Sea Turtle Conservancy, Panama

After more than 20 years of sea turtle research in Bocas del Toro Province, Anne and Peter Meylan formed a partnership with STC in 2003 to monitor increasing nesting hawksbills along the Bocas coast (covering ~50 km of beach in recent years). The area of concentrated work by the Meylans has been three important nesting beaches: Small Zapatilla Cay, Big Zapatilla Cay (both since 2003), and Playa Larga (since 2006), all of which lie completely within the boundaries of the Bastimentos Island National Marine Park (BINMP). In the last 8 years and thanks to the protection of the area, the number of nests have been increasing from 688 in 2014 to 1104 last in 2021. With US$ 4,000 Billion Baby Turtles supported the protection of at least 10,000 baby hawksbills. 

Yayasan Penyu Laut Indonesia /Indonesia Sea Turtle Foundation, Pesemut Island, Indonesia

Since 1999 ISTF has done nesting beach conservation and eggs protection for critically endangered hawksbills as well as green turtles at Presemut Island in Indonesia. Most of the work is focused on preventing illegal nest collection and predation. During the 2022 season Billion Baby Turtles is supporting this project with US $10,000. Last season with the same amount they were able to protect 902 nests of hawksbill and 726 of  green turtles and helped to get into the ocean 40,819 hawksbill and 14,385 green baby turtles.

Sea Turtle Conservancy, Soropta, Panama 

This project is to address on-going threats facing the leatherback population at Soropta Beach, Panama, while carrying out an in-situ research and recovery program. The 14-km Beach hosts between 200 – 1,200 leatherback nests per year, making it one of the most densely nested beaches for this species in the region. Unfortunately, illegal hunting of leatherback nests remains an issue at Soropta, due to its isolated location, relative ease of access and cultural tradition of sea turtle egg and meat consumption in the area. For this season Billion Baby Turtles supports this project with US $5,000 helping to get into the big blue more than 5,000 baby leatherbacks. 

Photo courtesy Sea Turtle Conservancy

Vida Marina: Puerto Rico

The Sea Turtle Project of Western Puerto Rico is one of the projects operated by Vida Marina through the Center for Ecological Restoration and Conservation of the University of Puerto Rico at Aguadilla. This group is in charge of monitoring the beaches for sea turtle activity all year round. The program staff monitors beaches for nesting activity, performs night-time watches, to tag and measure female leatherback turtles, using metal and pit tags, and performs nest inventories. With US $5,000 our Billion Baby Turtles program is estimated to help with the protection of at least 10,000 baby turtles.  

Ocean Foundation: Guanahacabibes National Park, Cuba 

Since 1998 the Ocean Foundation’s Cuba Marine Research and Conservation Program (CMRC) has built strong scientific collaboration and conservation programs between Cuba, the United States, and neighboring countries that share marine resources. Eight beaches are patrolled during the nesting and hatchling seasons (May to October) in Guanahacabibes Peninsula. As for green turtle nesting population, it is the second largest of the Cuban archipelago and also exhibits high levels of hatching success. Billion Baby Turtles support this organization with US $3,000 for this season, helping approximately 18,000 baby turtles to get to the ocean.