A program to help local environmental projects has taken a big step forward with the decision to help the Playa Matapalo Sea Turtle Conservation Project by helping fund the work of the Association of Volunteers for Service in Protected Areas in Costa Rica.
ASVO is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that promotes conservation and environmental education through the participation of volunteers and has been recognized by the Government of Costa Rica for its work with the youth of Costa Rica and visiting international students. by providing “hands-on” education as they work to save ecologically sensitive areas.
For more than 16 years, ASVO has been working in Costa Rica and its volunteers have played an active role in working in almost 25% of the area of the country that has been set aside for nature conservation. You can find ASVO volunteers donating their time in many of Costa Rica’s National Parks wildlife reserves, in addition to a number of other projects; annually there are about 1,500 volunteers who strive to make a difference here.
The Matapalo Sea Turtle Conservation Project began in the 1990s when a group of students from the Matapalo Professional Technical School partnered with different members of the community to develop an initiative to protect sea turtle nests from poachers. and some natural predators.
In 2005, the local organization began coordinating with ASVO and the Hacienda Matapalo Developers who were able to supply volunteers in the form of university students from both Costa Rica and abroad. Most of the students worked on the project for 15-day periods under the supervision of biologists, helping to build fences around the nesting areas and collecting eggs from isolated nests, then transferring them to protected areas (eggs that might otherwise be stolen by “egg players” who sell turtle eggs, a practice prohibited by law).
On nights when sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs, volunteers wait patiently as the turtles dig their nests, while egg laying is taking place, the turtles are measured and numbered identification bracelets are attached so that can be traced for immigration purposes. When the eggs are transferred to the new protected nests, they are identified according to the species, the number of eggs and the date of laying. From that moment on, the new nests are watched day and night. The monitoring work of the Playa Matapalo nests is under the jurisdiction of the National System for the Conservation of Areas, which is part of the Ministry of Atmosphere and Energy.
Turtles that lay eggs in Playa Matapalo
The olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricatta) and the Pacific black turtle (Chelonia mydas agassizi) visit Playa Matapalo and all are in danger of extinction.
The olive ridley turtle is the smallest of the sea turtles. Adults are 55 to 70 cm long in their shell, with a gross weight of 35 to 45 kg. They reach sexual maturity between 10 and 15 years and probably live around 50 or 60 years, however they are reproductively active for only a little over 21 years. The egg-laying season mainly for the dark brown turtle begins around June 1 and runs until November 30 of each year.
They lay an average of 110 eggs per nest and the incubation period is 46 to 65 days, depending on the temperature. Olive Ridley’s are famous for their massive strandings when literally dozens and dozens of females come ashore to lay. Females return every one to two years. The same turtle can lay eggs up to 2 times per season, in an interval of 17 to 28 days.
The hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricate) is most commonly found in reef and hard bottom habitats that contain sponges. They also reside in shoals, oceanic island lagoons, and continental shelves. They are generally found in waters no higher than sixty feet (18.3 m). When hawksbill turtles are young, they cannot dive into deep water and are therefore forced to live in masses of floating marine plants, such as sargassum. Mating of the mature hawksbill occurs approximately every two years and the females always return to the beach where they were originally born.
The black sea turtle (Chelonia mydas agassizi) is closely related to the common green sea turtle, but is slightly smaller and weighs between 150 and 280 pounds. Their range is the tropical eastern Pacific and nesting areas can be found along the Central American coast and are the only species of tortoise found nesting in the Galapagos Islands.
Sea turtles return to lay eggs on the same beach as they were born once they reach sexual maturity. The exact way the turtle knows which beach is the correct one is probably a combination of scent and some kind of internal tracking (we asked and they’re not talking). Once the eggs hatch, the turtle hatchlings emerge from the shallow nests and head out to sea.
According to data from Hacienda Matapalo taken between 2005 and 2008, 900 turtles were registered in Playa Matapalo; in total, 42,743 eggs have been protected and 35,794 hatchlings were released. Despite ongoing monitoring, around 20% of the eggs laid on Costa Rica’s beaches are expected to be taken by egg poachers. Natural predators include wild pigs, coatis, and birds.
Threats of man
Turtle populations can survive natural hazards, but human intervention has caused a remarkable acceleration in the loss of populations. The main threats from man are the alteration of the turtle habitat: the extraction of eggs for consumption or trade, pollution, urban development in coastal areas with increased artificial light in nesting areas; plus bycatch in commercial fishing operations and finally egg predation by domestic animals such as wild cats and dogs.
Through the sponsorship of Hacienda Matapalo, the sea turtle project has received all the materials and equipment to build safe nesting areas. In addition, the cost of maintaining the labor for its construction was also covered. The hatchery has an area of 200 square meters (over 2,100 square feet) that will house around 200 nests for this season.
Likewise, Hacienda Matapalo has donated funds for the purchase of instruments and software for recording soil and water temperature data and the relative humidity of the nests in order to determine how these factors influence the sex of the hatchlings. turtle. These instruments will allow us to monitor around 30 nests for a period of approximately two months, which covers the timeline from egg laying to hatching. Around 60 nests will be monitored throughout the season.