Watch the animation below about the effects of climate change on marine turtles and local communities, and possible solutions.
Adaptation to Climate Change for Marine Turtles (ACT)
Latest news
October 2009 - Adaptation Toolkit release
The Adaptation to Climate Change Toolkit, a series of tools for anyone interested in marine turtles, climate change and/or climate adaptation, is now available for download here.
Downloads
- What is adaptation? 61 KB pdf
Project Partners
VIDEO
- Climate change, tourism and marine biodiversity - a presentation by Carlos Drews (22min)
- Carlos Drews' interview with CNN en Español on September 13, 2007
- Adaptation of turtle beach Junquillal to climate change (8 min)
- Flooding due to sea level rise in Junquillal
- Flooding due to sea level rise in playa Grande
Contacts
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Marianne Fish
Marine Turtle & Climate Change Program Leader for Latin America and the Caribbean
cctortugas@wwfca.org
Dr. Marianne Fish
Marine Turtle & Climate Change Program Leader for Latin America and the Caribbean
cctortugas@wwfca.org
The Adaptation to Climate change for marine Turtles (ACT) project is addressing how marine turtles are affected by climate change and the best ways to reduce their vulnerability to changing environmental conditions.
Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are projected to result in higher surface, ocean and air temperatures, a rise in sea level, changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and altered precipitation patterns. The life history and biology of sea turtles are finely tuned to environmental conditions and climate changes in the ocean and along coastal interfaces may affect them in numerous ways.With heightened awareness of climate-related impacts on ecosystems and species, has come increased interest and research into climate change adaptation.
Adaptation has many meanings (see download What is adaptation?), but here we refer to it as management actions that are put in place now to reduce vulnerability to climate change in the future.
Adaptation requires an understanding of likely future scenarios and also of how species, habitats and communities will be affected by climate change. We can then plan on the best strategies to prepare for those changes.
Sea turtles are excellent indicator species for examining adaptation in coastal areas because of their dependence on multiple, interlinked terrestrial and marine habitats. The habitats used by sea turtles (beaches, seagrass beds, coral reefs and deep ocean areas) also provide essential resources for coastal communities. Maintaining habitats for sea turtles may, therefore, have additional social and economic benefits.
Funded by the MacArthur Foundation and focusing on hawksbill turtles in its initial phase, the project has examined the following questions:
- What is our current state of knowledge about how sea turtles will be affected by climate change?
- What are the projected changes in temperature, precipitation and sea level for the region?
- What are the adaptation measures available to us to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change on hawksbills and the coastal and marine habitats on which they rely?
- Which of these can, and should, be implemented given our current level of knowledge?
The results of the first project phase are now available in the form of an Adaptation Toolkit. Click here to access the Toolkit.