Marine turtle monitoring and conservation hand-in-hand.

A
three year review from Playa Norte, Costa Rica
*Stephanny Arroyo Arce1, Wing Tsui1, Diogo Verissimo1, Julie Jackson2, James
Lewis2, David Aneurin Jones1 and Rebeca Chaverri1
1
Global Vision International Costa Rica, Apartado Postal 78-7209, Cariari de Pococí,
Limón, Costa Rica. Email: costarica@gvi.co.uk. 2University of Exeter, Devon, EX4
4QJ, UK.

Presented to the XIII Mesoamerican Congress of Biology and Conservation,

Belize 2009.

Situated just north of Tortuguero National Park (TNP) on the Caribbean coast of Costa
Rica, Playa Norte is an edge land that faces many challenges. An area rich in
biodiversity, marine turtles are no exception with Dermochelys coriacea, Eretmochelys
imbricata, Chelonia mydas, and occasionally Caretta caretta, congregating in the area
each year in their thousands to make use of the beaches to nest. Tortuguero is named
for the turtles it receives, most notably C. mydas, and due to the work of Archie Carr
and the subsequent longstanding presence of the Caribbean Conservation
Corporation, who work within the Archie Carr Refuge and TNP. Every year tens of
thousand of tourists flock to the town to witness the nesting and hatching of these
ancient reptiles. Less than a kilometer away, separated only by a river mouth, sits
Playa Norte in the southern tip of the Barra del Colorado Wildlife Refuge. In the
shadow of Tortuguero but afforded little of its attention or protection, both legislatively
and actually, Playa Norte has long been viewed as a municipal beach as opposed to
its restricted neighbor, with consumptive use of its natural resources, including the
marine turtles.

We present the current incarnation of the monitoring and conservation efforts and
practices taking place on Playa Norte and the surrounding area, during the years 2007
– 2009. We will discuss the results of our work with the turtles of Playa Norte over the
years, their numbers, the year-on-year decrease of nest poaching, hatchling success
rates and more, and discuss the management techniques employed and challenges
faced that have led to dramatically improving the situation for the turtles and the
awareness of the plight on Playa Norte. We will also discuss the community work and
the role that ecotourism can play in the future directions of the program.

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