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WORKSHOP FOR COASTAL LANDOWNERS WILL FOCUS ON SEA TURTLES
Sea turtles are an important attraction for eco-tourism and a symbol of the ocean’s rich biodiversity. Solitary nesting sea turtles are extremely important to conservation. The eggs and hatchlings from solitary nests represent the future for the critically endangered Hawksbill, Green, and Leatherback Sea Turtles that nest at various locations near San Juan del Sur. Individual citizens, landowners, and developers can play a central role in protecting these nesting turtles at beaches across the San Juan del Sur municipality.

On January 11th, 2008, there will be a community workshop designed for landowners and developers who would like to know more about the sea turtles nesting in the area. The workshop will be held at 2 p.m. at the Galería del Sur in downtown San Juan del Sur. The conservation organization Paso Pacífico will lead the workshop and will share the latest science on Nicaragua’s turtles from the internationally acclaimed booklet “SWOT - State of the World’s Sea Turtles”. Paso Pacífico will also address the potential for protection through appropriate beach lighting and landowner-directed beach patrols. The goal of the meeting is to open a dialogue for protecting solitary nesting turtles near San Juan del Sur. Paso Pacífico’s Nicaragua Director Liza González states that “this is a first-time opportunity for us to meet with landowners and share with them the global importance of beaches where they have invested. We hope they will be interested to know more.” González has scientific expertise in coastal-marine conservation.

The workshop is made possible through generous support and participation of the Fundación A. Jean Brugger, Galeria del Sur, Pelican Eyes…Piedras y Olas, Stones and Waves Veterinary Clinic, USAID, US Forest Service, and Fauna and Flora International. The State of the World Sea Turtles also made a generous contribution of books for this meeting.

For additional information on the upcoming Sea Turtle workshop, contact Sarah Otterstrom at sarah@pasopacifico.org.

ABOUT PASO PACIFICO – a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring and conserving the ecosystems along Central America’s Pacific slope. Paso Pacífico partners with landowners, local people, and the private sector to achieve its mission. Currently the organization is focused on restoring and conserving the Paso del Istmo wildlife corridor, a biological hotspot that extends from Cárdenas to the Pacific coast and includes tropical forest and coastal-marine habitats. San Juan del Sur is an important center within this biological corridor.

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