Blog Cape Verde

Report of 2nd annual meeting of Cape Verde Sea Turtle Network

zindel@turtle-foundation.org — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:00:00 GMT

Here is the English translation of the minutes of the Second Annual Cape Verde Sea Turtle Network, now known as TAOLO.

Poachers arrested in Curral Velho

zindel@turtle-foundation.org — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:00:00 GMT

From Joana Hancock - Turtle Foundation's Field Coordinator on Boavista:

Two adults and one teenager were arrested last week on Curral Velho Beach.
Just before the start of a patrol a turtle was caught and taken away by car. Soldiers were alerted to this suspect activity, and when the car was found with a bucket and ice near the area where the turtles had been taken before, the soldiers did not hesitate to find the poachers and arrest them. One of them is a local driver, who took his son for his first "turtle hunt".

Fortunately no turtle was killed that time, but problems in the Curral Velho beach remain, with turtles often disorientated from the headlights of many cars that make illegal tours in the beaches of Curral Velho and João Barrosa. There is intense traffic of unknown origin in that area at all times of the night.

In Lacacão beach, the effects of the light coming from the construction site of the new hotel RIU TUAREG are noticeable, with less than 150 nests recorded so far in this beach and an average time of 2.5h of nesting time (followed by disorientation) by the females. Often these turtles need to be "rescued" from the construction site, where they get trapped, and are not able to find their own way to the sea. Falling easy prey to potential poachers living at the construction site, our teams have been doing everything they can to rescue these turtles as much as possible, and avoid the slaughtering. Lacacão remains the most problematic area, as 4 turtles were found recently killed in the construction site. On the other side, mass flooding of the beach two weeks ago by broken pipes and sewage run-off, coupled with extreme high tides have probably compromised all the nests of the season.

Arrested!

zindel@turtle-foundation.org — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:00:00 GMT

Two poachers were arrested last night in the little beach of Água Doce, near Boa Esperança!!...

"Escola na Natureza" (ENGLISH)

zindel@turtle-foundation.org — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 23:00:00 GMT

Its with great joy that we announce that we are already on the 3rd "Escola na Natureza" camp in boa Esperança beach, a project carried out in partnership with Clube Ambiental da Boavista, with financial support of the UN GEF Small Grants program...

"Escola na Natureza" (PORTUGUÊS)

zindel@turtle-foundation.org — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 23:00:00 GMT

É com grande alegria que anunciamos que já estamos no terceiro acampamento para jovens inserido no projecto "Escola na Natureza" na praia de Boa Esperança, um projeto realizado em parceria com o Clube Ambiental da Boavista, com o apoio financeiro do Programa das Pequenas Subvenções das Nações Unidas...

Update on the Curral Velho camp and the equipment containers

zindel@turtle-foundation.org — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:00:00 GMT

After 1 and half month delay, and too many turtles unprotected and killed because of this ridiculous situation, we have been finally granted access to our containers and thus our camp equipment, and will be able to start setting up the Curral Velho camp soon!

TAOLA - Cape Verdian Sea Turtle Network meets again!

zindel@turtle-foundation.org — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:00:00 GMT

The Cape Verdian Sea Turtle Network had its second annual meeting on the 28-30 June, which was organized in the Hotel Marine Club in Boavista.

Slowly slowy getting there... BOA ESPERANÇA (Good Hope)!

zindel@turtle-foundation.org — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 23:00:00 GMT

The first turtles arrived a few weeks ago, filling our teams with hopes and expectations of a great season. With adequate funding, a team of local assistants formed, and a dedicated group of camp coordinators, we could only hope that the season would start smoothly and without any major trouble.

However...

TF staff receives trainning at Ervatão Camp

zindel@turtle-foundation.org — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 23:00:00 GMT

From the 8th until the 10th of July this year, the Turtle Foundation camp coordinators Amanda, Mafalda and Sara and our local coordinator for the village “Fundo das Figueiras” Manuel, were sent to the sea turtle camp at Ervatão beach at the east coast of Boavista, to receive additional training.

Article about Turtle Foundation in Portuguese paper A Semana

zindel@turtle-foundation.org — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 23:00:00 GMT

Starting this Monday the Turtle Foundation begins to open camps on the beaches of Boa Vista. The aim is to guard the main locations where the turtles make their nests, which are being threatened primarily by human hunting. Biologist Joana Hancock has been talking to “A Semana” about the experiences of protecting these ancient creatures, which existed at the time of the dinosaurs, from extinction. This includes the efforts that are being made to change the mentality of local people as well as explaining that the turtles could disappear for ever in just a few years. Over a period of four months there will be patrols on the beaches helped by soldiers from the Cape Verde Army.