WWF's work in Central America - Species
WWF Central America has supported a number of projects for the long-term protection of particular species: squirrel monkeys, harpy eagle, olive ridley turtles, white-tailed deer, green iguanas, and scarlet macaws. A special project on caimans seeks to control the illegal trade of this reptile of tropical streams.
By working in freshwater conservation in the Izabal Lake and the Rio Dulce systems in Guatemala, WWF is also helping to protect an important refuge for threatened species, such as the manatee (trichechus manatus).
For more information, please contact Sandra Andraka, sandraka@wwfca.orgCosta Rica
Tortugero, an initiative developed by the Caribbean Conservation Corporation, is now a success story in demonstrating the economic benefits of live turtles versus dead ones.
Tortugero, in the Atlantic coast of Costa Rica, is the largest nesting site of the green turtle in the Atlantic Ocean. Leatherback, hawksbill, and loggerhead turtles also nest here. During the 1960's nearly every green turtle coming to nest there was taken for the turtle soup export market.
Today, some 50,000 tourists come to Tortugero to see the nesting turtles and other wildlife. The local community benefits directly from the tourism through becoming certified guides for night turtle watching excursions, and by other tourism related services, which generate an annual gross income of close to $7 million dollars.
WWF is supporting a Leatherback Sea Turtle Anti-poaching project, also developed by the Caribbean Conservation Corporation, as a way to contribute to the recovery of the Atlantic leatherbacks and to emphasise that a marine turtle is worth more alive than dead.
Panama
Playa Chiriqui, a beach in western Panama, was historically the most important nesting site of hawksbills in the Caribbean. However, overexploitation of the turtles for the international shell trade has reduced the population by over 85%.
Recently, one of the two communities of the Ngöbe-Bugle Amerindians, custodians of the beach and its natural resources, has decided to protect the turtles. WWF is working in partnership with the Caribbean Conservation Corporation to secure the recovery of the hawksbills at Playa Chiriqui by building capacity among the Ngöbe-Bugle for the design and implementation of a tourist scheme that translates conservations efforts into tangible community benefits.
