Local community perceptions of sea turtle egg use in Tortuguero, Costa Rica

Mejías-Balsalobre, Carmen; Restrepo, Jaime; Borges, Gilberto; García, Raúl; Rojas-Cañizales, Daniela; Barrios-Garrido, Héctor; Valverde, Roldán A.

doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2020.105423

Cited by 14 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…It is unlikely therefore, that people with employment, living close to a nesting beach would spend time searching for a nest, and are more likely to only take one they encounter opportunistically or close to home. Mejías-Balsalobre et al (2021) found this to be the case in Tortuguero, where despite the high volume of turtles and therefore reduced effort of poaching, most consumers questioned in the study, stated they purchased turtle eggs from poachers, rather than actively poaching themselves. Therefore, while the demand is high, the illegal trade is predominately supply driven.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…This was particularly apparent in Tortuguero, where the abundance of turtles offers a low search effort and high reward, for a seemingly low risk activity. To that end, villagers from San Francisco reportedly poach on Tortuguero beach (Mejías-Balsalobre et al, 2021). If true, this implies that despite the increased risk of arrest, the benefit of poaching on Tortuguero is greater than the search costs associated with finding turtles closer to home.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies in the region indicate that turtle eggs offer an opportunity to generate small but fast revenue. Easy sales occur door-to-door in short supply chains, directly from poacher to consumer (Hart et al, 2013;Pheasey, 2020;Mejías-Balsalobre et al, 2021). Understanding supply and demand dynamics enables targeted conservation interventions (McNamara et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantifying Illegal Extraction of Sea Turtles in Costa Rica

Pheasey

Glen

Allison

et al. 2021

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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Estimates of illegal wildlife trade vary significantly and are often based on incomplete datasets, inferences from CITES permits or customs seizures. As a result, annual global estimates of illegal wildlife trade can vary by several billions of US dollars. Translating these figures into species extraction rates is equally challenging, and estimating illegal take accurately is not achievable for many species. Due to their nesting strategies that allow for census data collection, sea turtles offer an exception. On the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, three sea turtle species (leatherback, Dermochelys coriacea; green, Chelonia mydas; and hawksbill, Eretmochelys imbricata) are exploited by poachers. Despite the consumption of turtle eggs and meat being illegal, they are consumed as a cultural food source and seasonal treat. Conservation programmes monitor nesting beaches, collect abundance data and record poaching events. Despite the availability of robust long-term datasets, quantifying the rate of poaching has yet to be undertaken. Using data from the globally important nesting beach, Tortuguero, as well as beaches Playa Norte and Pacuare on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, we modelled the spatial and temporal distribution of poaching of the three sea turtle species. Here, we present data from 2006 to 2019 on a stretch of coastline covering c.37 km. We identified poaching hotspots that correlated with populated areas. While the poaching hotspots persisted over time, we found poaching is declining at each of our sites. However, we urge caution when interpreting this result as the impact of poaching varies between species. Given their low abundance on these beaches, the poaching pressure on leatherback and hawksbill turtles is far greater than the impact on the abundant green turtles. We attribute the decline in poaching to supply-side conservation interventions in place at these beaches. Finally, we highlight the value of data sharing and collaborations between conservation NGOs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantifying Illegal Extraction of Sea Turtles in Costa Rica

Pheasey

Glen

Allison

et al. 2021

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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“…More recently, sea turtles are recognized for their non-consumptive values as flagship species for conservation and symbols for commercial purposes such as tourism (Waylen et al 2009, Godley et al 2020. Studies from Australia (Tisdell and Wilson 2002), Indonesia (Putra and Bailey 2007), Brazil (Pêgas 2009), Costa Rica (Campbell 2007, Mejías-Balsalobre et al 2021), and Nicaragua (Madrigal-Ballestero and Jurado 2017 show that tourism as a local economic alternative has helped reduce the commercialization and consumption of turtle eggs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cultural practices such as sea turtle egg consumption are dynamic, influenced by changing social norms and by the community's exposure and access to different knowledge types and resources (Campbell 2003). Gaining insights on the people's demographics, perceptions, and consumption patterns and the links between these aspects will help design appropriate behavior change interventions relevant to the context (Campbell 2010, Mejías-Balsalobre et al 2021. Moreover, to understand consumption behavior it is also necessary to examine how people perceive the conservation status of, threats to, and importance of sea turtles (Pêgas 2009, Senko et al 2011.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing trends and perceptions of sea turtle egg consumption in Redang Island, Malaysia

Poti¹,

Long²,

Rusli³

et al. 2021

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Sea turtles have been exploited at unsustainable rates globally. In Malaysia, their populations have faced serious declines because of diverse anthropogenic stressors including turtle egg consumption. Redang Island, off the northeast coast of Peninsular Malaysia, is an important rookery for green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) in Southeast Asia. The local community has depended on turtle eggs as a food and livelihood source for decades. Owing to the precipitous decline in sea turtles, the main nesting beaches became legally protected in 2007. Some turtle egg consumption continues despite the protection measures and long-term awareness raising. In our study, we assess the prevalence, motivations, demographic factors, and perceptions influencing turtle egg consumption and conservation. Through semi-structured interviews, we surveyed 73 respondents in Redang village. The interviews show that turtle egg consumption has decreased since the initiation of protection measures, making the eggs expensive and difficult to access. Using binary logistic regression, we found that the respondents' education level and occupation were significant predictors. Education level was negatively correlated with age. People with higher levels of education (younger people) were less likely to eat turtle eggs, possibly on account of changing cultural beliefs and taste preferences, as well as increasing awareness. Those working in the tourism industry were less likely to consume eggs. The growth in tourism has served as an alternative to livelihoods that were dependent on the consumptive use of natural resources such as fishing and turtle egg collection. Further, tourism has catalyzed a shift from consumptive to nonconsumptive uses of sea turtles. Many locals perceived the protection of beaches as important, without which they claimed that turtle populations would go extinct. This research shows that addressing sea turtle conservation requires a multi-targeted approach of regulating sea turtle egg collection, providing economic alternatives such as tourism and long-term awareness raising.

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