¿Hablas Tortuga? , what's that ?
Everything began 2 years ago, when two students from AgroParisTech (a french school of agronomy in Paris) worked as volunteers in a Panamenian association fighting for turtles protection, "Tortugas Pedasi".
After being in 3 schools, they figured out that pupils didn't know what are endangered species !
Thanks to the work of 3 new students of Agroparitech, Marc, Appoline and Marguerite, the association "¿Hablas Tortuga?" was created in February 2016. Its goal is to sensitize children in Panamanian schools about turtles protection.
The poaching and mass consumption of eggs are the main causes of the disparition of turtles, in addition to a high polluted water and environment.
Today, Camille, Kyrian and Antoine are taking up the torch ! They stay in Panama until the 31th of July in order to follow the goals of ¿Hablas Tortuga? !
Our goals ?
Turtle, where are you ?
All the species of turtles around the world are endangered because of polluted oceans, but also because of massive fishing and poaching of their eggs. We regulalry organize monitoring on the several beaches around Pedasi in order to protect the eggs (creation of new nests keeping the eggs away from 4*4 wheels or poaching). Those night patrols are also the way to collect datas about turtles, about their behaviour while nesting.
Education, our priority !
In order to make Panamenians aware of the dangers existing over turtles, we go directly in their schools. Our goal is to make the youngest ones aware of their environment and the extraordinary biodiversity of their own country. During these visits in schools, we will show in a playful way the different species of turtles living in Panama (life cycle, areas for nesting, caracteristics), their importance in our ecosystem and the threats they are facing (issue of eggs consumption). We will also show them several alternative solutions existing to resolve this problem. It is really important that future generations are aware of this, they are the future of this country.
That's not only about turtles ...
Unfortunately, that's not only a matter of turtles... Even though this country owns a huge biodiversity, environmental problems are quite common. Little or no sorting of the wastes, few bins in the street, a population not well-educated about its environment, a government that has other priorities. The result : more an more hectares of forest are burnt unlawfully each year, reducing the size of endemic species'habitat, like monkeys. Marine resources are not managed at all (no quota, no surveillance). As the fish stock is nealy empty, sharks are hunted massively, especially for their fins.
We are making contact with several associations in Panama, more often the ones related to the sea and we are discussing about those problems. The other side of the scene is alarming. We must change that.