Government-funded projects to protect the world’s turtles and mangroves have been praised by the Environment Minister on World Wildlife Day on March 3.
The theme for this year is ‘Life below water: for people and planet’. One of the key animals whose plight is being highlighted is the turtle, targeted for its eggs, meat and shells. Turtles have also suffered from habitat loss due to construction on coastlines.
The UK Government’s Darwin Initiative has supported the work of Fauna & Flora International to help them. One such project to protect leatherback and hawksbill turtles in Nicaragua has achieved a significant reduction in the illegal harvesting of their eggs.
Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said: “I am pleased to see this successful work to protect turtles in Nicaragua. The Darwin Initiative is critical in supporting this type of international conservation project.”
Fauna & Flora International has been working to protect marine turtles in Nicaragua for 15 years and a key part of that work has been ensuring local communities are central to conservation initiatives.
The most recent project received £385,617 from the UK Government’s Darwin Initiative in 2017 and has been achieving significant success for young turtle hatchlings.
Joanna Elliott, senior director, Conservation Partnerships, Fauna & Flora International said: “In Nicaragua we have worked with our community partners to bring about a 95% reduction in the number of turtle eggs that are illegally harvested and ensured more than 190,000 leatherback and hawksbill hatchlings have begun their ocean lives that otherwise would have been lost.
“Support from the Darwin Initiative has been critical in helping us find a solution that has not only benefitted biodiversity but also directly improved the lives and livelihoods of local people through jobs and business opportunities in tourism and related sectors.”
BLUE FORESTS
In 2016, the UK Government funded the establishment of the Blue Forests initiative run by British organisation Blue Ventures. Its aim is to reduce deforestation of mangrove habitats, create new sustainable livelihoods, support community health and women’s empowerment and increase climate resilience in coastal communities.
This initiative has been funded through the UK’s International Climate Finance programme. So far, Blue Ventures has worked with more than 6,000 coastal people, empowering local management of 160,000 hectares of mangrove forests at six sites across three countries, and partner villages have replanted 652,000 mangrove trees.
