By Nancy Rivard | Project Manager
Airline Ambassadors was instrumental in getting 24 fishermen of Barra de Santiago official licences to participate in turtle conservation. The Ministry of the Environment even produced a new pamphlet about our program, which our Project Manager Ruben holds in picture above.
Nesting season began in August and Ruben is already overseeng the incubation of over 23,,000 eggs. They will began hatching in mid October.
Ruben, who has been doing this on his own since he was a boy, pays fishermen $3.50 per dozen eggs. This program has been newly adopted by the Ministry of the Environment (MARN) and the Agency of Water Security (ASA).
The program was required because the former turtle conservation program of over thirty years did not incentivize or educate the familes who depend upon ocean resources. Poachers recently caught from Mexico are selling the eggs from Barra de Santago to Mexican restaurants for $1.00 ea.
This AAI program has fnally caught the eye of both ASA and MARN, who call it "Programa de democratización de la conservación" (the democratization of conservation program). They have recently agreed to hire 50 fisherman, and importantly, give them "scentific permits" so they can become an official part of conservation efforts. AAI will also help these fishermen to write scientific papers. Fishermen can now be a part of the scentific community!
This program empowers local fishermen to support conservation efforts and they are employed in this effort.
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