Residents of northern Colombia are working with environmental agencies to preserve the rich marine and onshore biodiversity at Los Corales national park, engaging in activities that also secure their livelihoods, officials said.
Under the program, residents return nesting turtles to the sea as part of a research project.
Most of the Afro-Colombian residents of 12 towns around the park make a living from fishing and tourism, activities that have a major impact on the ecosystem.
As a result, officials at Los Corales del Rosario and San Bernardo Natural Marine National Park carry out periodic outreach activities in nearby communities, organizing plays for children that teach environmental protection.
The plays “are staged to show what is being done in each community” and educate people “about why we must protect” the environment, Claudia Patricia Salcedo, environmental outreach coordinator at the park, told EFE.
“The real purpose is that the children, who are the turtles’ main custodians, convey through clear expression the message about the protection of marine turtles,” Salcedo said.
Since children living in coastal areas usually become fishermen, “the intent is to have these children grow up with more awareness,” Salcedo said.
One success so far is that children living on Mucura Island and Santa Cruz de Islote, in the southern part of the park, have refused to eat turtle meat, a traditional dish, and have scolded their fishermen fathers for taking the animals, Salcedo said.
Under the project, many families have replaced turtle meat with other sources of protein, such as beef or chicken, and eat fish only if it has reached an appropriate size for consumption and as long as it does not belong to an endangered species.
“The goal is to gradually change from fishing to other more productive activities in an effort to protect all marine species,” Salcedo said.
The task is not easy because many coastal communities live in extreme poverty and eat what they can catch in the sea.
Despite advances in education policy, lobster is still sold to tourists visiting the park and, in many instances, the offerings include specimens that have not reached maturity, prompting officials to also focus outreach efforts on visitors.
“If the fisherman doesn’t have anybody buying (lobster), he will not go out and capture lobsters, because he knows he’d be wasting his fishing day,” Salcedo said.
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