VZCZCXRO8025
PP RUEHGR RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD
DE RUEHWN #0040/01 0221631
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 221631Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6007
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRIDGETOWN 000040 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR OES/MC - DAVE HOGAN, AND JOESPH GRUBICH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EAID EFIS PGOV PREL XL
SUBJECT: SEA TURTLE SANCTUARIES STAVING OFF EXTINCTION 
 
¶1. Summary: Operators of sea turtle sanctuaries in 
Barbados, Dominica and St. Vincent are expressing optimism 
about the long term viability of sea turtles in the region, 
but noted that obstacles remain in ensuring long term 
survival. There is growing awareness throughout the 
Eastern Caribbean that sea turtles are endangered and must 
be protected. End Summary 
 
Old Hegg Sea Turtle Sanctuary in Bequia Island, St. Vincent 
 
¶2.  ESTHOFF, accompanies by POLOFF, visited the Old Hegg 
Sea Turtle Sanctuary, located in Bequia Island, one of the 
Grenadine islands in St Vincent and the Grenadines.  The 
sanctuary has been operated for 12 years by a retired 
fisherman, Orton King, who has for 12 years been rescuing 
sea turtles from poachers and raising them in his sanctuary 
until they are three years old, when he releases them into 
the wild. He claims that he has rescued over 2,000 sea 
turtles during the last 12 years. His sanctuary has been 
operating with almost no outside funding, and depends upon 
donations and money he earns from operating a dive shop 
on the side. 
 
¶3. Mr. King offers tours of his sanctuary to school 
children and said he has had an impact on the younger 
generation. He claims that the biggest threat to the 
continued survival of sea turtles is from proachers, as 
local populations continue to eat turtle meat and eggs. 
He also noted the continued problem with overdevelopment 
of beaches as having a negative impact on sea turtles 
as well as the gradual degradation of the coral reefs 
in which they live.  In addition to the project on 
Bequia, an American couple, Mr and Mrs. Haze Richardson, 
who own and operate the island resort of Petit St. Vincent 
(PSV) in the Grenadines have also started their own 
turtle conservation project. It is much smaller in scale, 
rescuing around 12 turtles at a time, and it is also 
completely privately-funded. 
 
Sea Turtle Project at UWI Cave Hill Campus Barbados 
 
¶4. ESTOFF accompanied by OES Regional HUB ESTHOOF, visited 
the Sea Turtle Project at the Cave Hill Campus, University 
of the West Indies in Barbados which has been in operation 
for over 10 years.  Their mission is mostly monitoring sea 
turtle nesting activity in Barbados.  They do not rescue 
sea turtles and disagree with the approach taken by the Old 
Hegg Sea Turtle Sanctuary as they do not want to disturb 
sea turtles in the wild.  They have been working with the 
local tourism industry to promote sea turtle watching as 
an eco-tourism project. They have also worked with the 
local hotels to replace lighting on hotel beaches with low 
sodium lights which are more turtle friendly. Turtles are 
attracted to certain kinds of light and often wander up to 
lighted beaches only to be run over by cars. The Project 
said that sea turtle numbers are up each year and that 
Barbados is a sea turtle friendly country as native 
as native Barbadians do not eat turtle meat or eggs 
so they have very little problems with poaching. They 
were relatively optimistic about the long term viability 
of sea turtles in the region.  He also pointed out 
that sea turtles in the Eastern Carribean do not face 
problems with shrimp nets as the Eastern Caribbean 
does not have an established commercial shrimp fishing 
industry.  He also said that fishermen are becoming 
increasingly "pro-turtle" in their attitudes. 
 
¶5. ESTOFF met with an American citizen women, Amy Beam, 
who has been active in environmental issues in Barbados 
for years. She disputed the claim that the Sea turtles are 
doing well in Barbados and also noted that the hotels and 
local authorities are not installing very many turtle 
friendly lights. She claims that sea turtles are still 
dying in large numbers as the hatched sea turtles wander 
off in search of light reflected off the water which they 
confuse with road side lighting and are quickly run over. 
Sue Springer, Executive Vice President of the Barbados 
Hotel and Tourism association, meanwhile stated that her 
association is very involved with programs to protect 
sea turtles as she feels that is a vital element of 
sustainable tourism, which is a priority of 
their association. 
 
Other Projects in the Eastern Caribbean 
 
¶6.  There are numerous other sea turtle programs in the 
region, most of which are small in scale.  For example, 
according to the Observer Newspaper, the Environmental 
Awareness Group, in collaboration with the Fisheries 
Department of the Government of Antigua has embarked 
 
BRIDGETOWN 00000040  002 OF 002 
 
 
on an island wide project, referred to the as the 
"EAG Sea Turtle Conservation Project." The organizer 
of the project pointed out that only one out of 3,000 
sea turtles will survive to adulthood. He further 
explained, "the sea turtle populations have plummeted 
in recent years, as a result of a number of factors, 
including commercial fishing, entanglements at sea, 
ingestion of marine destruction and habitat destruction, 
which is the biggest threat in Antigua."  According to 
the account, the government of Antigua has embarked 
on implementing new regulations to protect the sea turtle. 
The EAG project features among other things a turtle hot 
line to report sea turtle sightings to the EAG project 
team. 
 
¶7. The University of Wales and the Government of Dominica 
have been operating a sea turtle satellite tagging project, 
dubbed "Project Aware" since May, 2007. They have been 
tracking the movements of two sea turtles, Doris and Mabel 
in real time on the internet. 
http://www.aber.ac.uk/ dbswww/prospective/seaturtles.html 
They have recorded invaluable information on sea turtle 
migration patterns. The project is on an on-going monitoring 
program. 
 
¶8. ROSTI (Rosaie Sea Turtle Initiative) is a sea turtle 
conservation initiative operating in Rosaie beach, Dominica 
monitoring sea turtle sightings along the beach. The 
Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Agriculture in a 
join press conference in June, 2007 endorsed the efforts of 
ROSTI and other groups to save the sea turtles and called 
upon local populations to protect the sea turtles and 
eliminate poaching and hunting of sea turtles. ESTOFF 
visited the site, which is run by an AMCIT, Bev Deikel, 
who is developing a resort at the beach, which will offer 
visitors the opportunity to see sea turtles in the wild. 
ESTOFF also met with the Ministry of Fisheries and Forestry 
officers who follow sea turtle conservation programs. They 
explained that four beaches are part of the sea turtle 
monitoring program. The ministry is interested in obtaining 
funding to expand the number of beaches they monitor.  They 
also noted that local residents have been calling in with 
sea turtle sightings and in one case, local police rescued 
young sea turtles who were being attacked by roving dogs. 
 
¶9. In St Lucia, a local community based sea turtle 
conservation project, "The Desbarras Sea Turtle Watch 
Project" has been successful in getting locals involved 
in monitoring and protecting sea turtles in St Lucia. 
The Department of Fisheries, The Heritage Tourism Program 
and the Saint Lucia Natural Trust have provided training 
and funding to the local based NGO. 
 
¶10. St Kitts has an active Sea Turtle Monitoring network 
founded by an American college student a number of years 
ago. They have reported a sharp decline in poaching of sea 
turtles.  St Kitts though still has an official sea turtle 
season when it is legal to hunt sea turtles.  Several of 
the other islands in the Eastern Caribbean also have open 
seasons.  Barbados is the only island in which hunting of 
sea turtles is banned all year. 
 
¶11. Comment: Sea Turtle conservation programs in the region 
tend to be small scale and suffer from not only a lack of 
funding and capacity, but also from a real commitment by 
the regional governments to preserve and protect endangered 
sea turtles. Although the local governments are making 
efforts to protect sea turtles, they do not have sufficient 
resources to spare for such programs. Sea turtles are also 
endangered because of rampant over development along beach 
front properties as well as degradation of coral reefs. 
Despite these continuing threats, awareness of the plight 
of sea turtles in the region is clearly on the rise and 
appears to be sustainable, making the prognosis for their 
recovery cautiously optimistic - provided conservation 
programs continue to receive funding. End comment 
 
OURISMAN