THS IS AN EMAIL I RECEIVED A FEW YEARS AGO
Apicture is worth a thousand words
For all of you who have heard about global warming causing the decline in seaturtles
Aha.. maybe we have just discovered why the sea turtle is becoming extinct; andit is not global warming!
COSTA RICA
On the beaches of Costa Rica...so that you have an idea of the 'attack againstnature'....!
please send it to every one.
World Wide shame in COSTA RICA Please distribute widely
For all of you who have heard about global warming causing the decline in seaturtles
Aha.. maybe we have just discovered why the sea turtle is becoming extinct; andit is not global warming!
COSTA RICA
On the beaches of Costa Rica...so that you have an idea of the 'attack againstnature'....!
please send it to every one.
World Wide shame in COSTA RICA Please distribute widely
The Turtle eggs are stolen - harvested if you prefer - to be sold.
The planet is thankful for the forwarding of this email.
NOTHING LIKE A PICTURE TO EXPLAIN AN EXTINCTION -
PLEASE SPEAK UP FOR THEM AS THEY ARE UNABLE TO ASK FOR HELP THEMSELVES.
The planet is thankful for the forwarding of this email.
NOTHING LIKE A PICTURE TO EXPLAIN AN EXTINCTION -
PLEASE SPEAK UP FOR THEM AS THEY ARE UNABLE TO ASK FOR HELP THEMSELVES.
This widely circulated series of images depicting the collection of turtle eggsfrom a beach in Costa Rica is a case in point. The photographs themselves areperfectly genuine and they certainly do show the harvesting of turtle eggs.However, this egg harvest is not an illegal poaching operation nor is it anenvironmentally destructive "attack against nature" as suggested inthe text that accompanies these photographs.
Instead, the turtle egg harvest is an important part of a long-termenvironmental project developed and managed by the Costa Rican government. Thephotographs show an egg harvest by villagers at Ostional beach, a remotecommunity near Punta Gurones on Costa Rica's Pacific coast. In 1983, the CostaRican government created the Ostional Wildlife Refuge in the area and laterinitiated the Egg Harvest Project (EHP). The EHP allowed villagers to continuetheir traditional practice of harvesting eggs while furthering the long termgoal of assisting in the conservation and recovery of the Olive Ridley turtlespecies. The harvests are strictly controlled, with villagers only allowed totake eggs within the first day and a half of each egg laying event, known as an"arribada".
Information about the Project published on Seaturtles.org explains:
Instead, the turtle egg harvest is an important part of a long-termenvironmental project developed and managed by the Costa Rican government. Thephotographs show an egg harvest by villagers at Ostional beach, a remotecommunity near Punta Gurones on Costa Rica's Pacific coast. In 1983, the CostaRican government created the Ostional Wildlife Refuge in the area and laterinitiated the Egg Harvest Project (EHP). The EHP allowed villagers to continuetheir traditional practice of harvesting eggs while furthering the long termgoal of assisting in the conservation and recovery of the Olive Ridley turtlespecies. The harvests are strictly controlled, with villagers only allowed totake eggs within the first day and a half of each egg laying event, known as an"arribada".
Information about the Project published on Seaturtles.org explains:
Other photographs of Ostional available onlineclearly show that the photographs in the above sequence do indeed depict thebeach at Ostional. And, if the images really did depict an illegal poachingactivity, the large crowd of would-be poachers shown would very likely be moreclandestine in their activities. Those egg harvesters shown in the images areobviously conducting their activities in a very open manner and clearly show noobjection to being photographed. Not the sort of behaviour one would expectfrom callous poachers engaging in illegal activities.
It should be noted that, at the time of writing, scientists are yet to conclusively prove that egg harvesting does actually improve turtlehatchling success in the long term. For those wishing more technicalinformation, a 2012 paper by the Chelonian Research Foundation discusses indetail the long term viability of the harvest as a management tool and presentsvarious management recommendations for its future.
But whatever the future of the project, the suggestion in this"protest" message that the images depict an event of "world wideshame" and an 'attack against nature' is misguided. And the request tosend the message on in the hope of stopping the egg harvest is also misguided.As noted above, the Egg Harvest Project at Ostional is intended to help protectand sustain this precious species. The project represents an innovativeapproach to species protection. Spreading misinformation in the form of thisinflammatory and misleading protest message will serve only to divert attentionaway from genuine environmental concerns. The illegal and uncontrolled poachingof sea turtle eggs, meat and shells in many parts of the world represents areal and ongoing threat to turtle species. But, castigating and misrepresentinga group of people who have, for many years, participated in a perfectly legalegg harvest aimed at improving the long term outlook for Olive Ridley turtlesis counterproductive to say the least.
It should be noted that, at the time of writing, scientists are yet to conclusively prove that egg harvesting does actually improve turtlehatchling success in the long term. For those wishing more technicalinformation, a 2012 paper by the Chelonian Research Foundation discusses indetail the long term viability of the harvest as a management tool and presentsvarious management recommendations for its future.
But whatever the future of the project, the suggestion in this"protest" message that the images depict an event of "world wideshame" and an 'attack against nature' is misguided. And the request tosend the message on in the hope of stopping the egg harvest is also misguided.As noted above, the Egg Harvest Project at Ostional is intended to help protectand sustain this precious species. The project represents an innovativeapproach to species protection. Spreading misinformation in the form of thisinflammatory and misleading protest message will serve only to divert attentionaway from genuine environmental concerns. The illegal and uncontrolled poachingof sea turtle eggs, meat and shells in many parts of the world represents areal and ongoing threat to turtle species. But, castigating and misrepresentinga group of people who have, for many years, participated in a perfectly legalegg harvest aimed at improving the long term outlook for Olive Ridley turtlesis counterproductive to say the least.
