by Jane Furchgott

The leatherback hatchery, with Perla Torres, technical
assistant, and SCP facilitator Alma Susana ChávezThis year's environmental program is based on the recommendations of SCP facilitator Alma Susana Chávez. Environmental education, the leatherback sea turtle hatchery, and community clean-up were three important projects on her list.

Alma Susana (a former teacher who has worked with sea turtles) is presenting ten educational sessions focused on sea turtle conservation to the children in the four Chacocente villages, using interactive puppets to illustrate her points. Her students will also include the adult villagers who work with MARENA (Nicaragua's DNR) monitoring the olive ridley sea turtle arribadas.

This year SCP will again be paying the Veracruz community members working at the Chacocente leatherback hatchery run by José Urteaga of FFI (Fauna and Flora International). The community members -- some of them ex-egg poachers -- have an 8-hour rotation for the 24-hour watch required. They find the nests, guard the eggs, and monitor the nest conditions in the hatchery. A leatherback sea turtle hatchling

Last season's hatchery results were mixed. Although more of the critically endangered leatherbacks nested at Veracruz, the hatching success was lower than in previous years, perhaps due to very hot weather during the incubation period. This coming season Jose plans to protect some of the nests on the open beach, comparing the results with those relocated to the hatchery.

The ugliest thing about Nicaragua, besides its poverty, is plastic trash. In the cities, where vendors sell fruit drinks in tied-off baggies, plastic bag litter carpets the streets. Outdoor trash cans are rarely to be found.

As you you walk through the beautiful Chacocente forest, plastic debris is increasingly evident, especially along the stream bed ravines, often hanging from bushes at the old high-water mark. In the past, trash left around by Chacocente residents would soon biodegrade, but not so with modern plastics.

Perhaps with possible ecotourism in mind, Alma Susana has started community clean-ups -- on the beach where debris could harm the turtles and in the Refuge's ravines and communities. Trash cans have been placed near each community's school.

The school children participate in the clean-ups. We are funding their materials and snacks. The children helped with a community clean-up day recently held in El Astillero, the fishing community adjacent to Chacocente Wildlife Refuge.

Casto Vado places the new trash can in the Escalante schoolyard.