Local students releasing baby turtles.

This project will be developed in the north coast of Costa Rica Caribbean coast, 40 km north of Limon city. Pacuare Beach is a public beach with 7.1 km of black magnetic sand. Main problems for Sea Turtle nesting rookery are human illegal activities on this nesting beach affecting the nesting females. Leatherback, Green and Hawksbill turtles are threatened by hunting and egg poaching, due to a low income area (poverty, Pacuare area has one of the lower social and development indexes in the country), low education level in communities and missing opportunities for an alternative livelihood.

The projects conservation activities mainly aim to reduce the impact of these threats by beach conservation patrols to relocate nests into a hatchery and implementing an outreach strategy to raise awareness and to educate about sea turtle conservation and develop together alternative livelihood as voluntarism, local handcrafting, etc in local communities. As a part of this effort a rescue center will focus on injured, sick or confiscated Green and Hawksbill turtles. Rehabilitation will help towards their recovery and reduce mortality, particularly because of the population and reproductive value of some of these rescued turtles.