UN NUEVO PLAN DE ACCIÓN PARA LAS TORTUGAS LAÚD DEL PACÍFICO ORIENTAL
In 2012, with support from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, more than thirty regional and international experts came together to develop a plan to stabilize and recover East Pacific leatherback turtle populations within ten years. The plan sets realistic but ambitious population goals, defines key activities to address major threats to East Pacific leatherbacks, and outlines specific actions, metrics, timelines and financial needs to ensure success.
The East Pacific Leatherback Turtle Action Plan was produced by a collaboration of more than thirty regional and international experts. The effort was made possible by funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and was coordinated by the IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group.
Bryan Wallace* – Oceanic Society (E.E.U.U.), Jeffrey Seminoff y Peter Dutton – Southwest Fisheries Science Center–NOAA (E.E.U.U.), Vincent Saba – Northeast Fisheries Science Center–NOAA (E.E.U.U.), George Shillinger – Stanford University (E.E.U.U.), Michelle Pico – NFWF (E.E.U.U.), Laura Sarti y Ana Barragán – CONANP (México), Raquel Briseño-Dueñas* – UNAM-Mazatlan (México), Francesca Vannini – Oaxacan Wetland Network (México), Celina Dueñas – MARN (El Salvador), Emilio Leon – FUNZEL (El Salvador), Mike Liles – Texas A&M University (E.E.U.U., El Salvador), Colum Muccio – ARCAS (Guatemala), Jose Urteaga y Perla Torres – Fauna y Flora Internacional (Nicaragua), Pilar Santidrián Tomillo – The Leatherback Trust (Costa Rica), Rotney Piedra – MINAE (Costa Rica), Randall Arauz – Pretoma (Costa Rica), Jacinto Rodriguez, Ozzy Vasquez – Fundación Agua y Tierra (Panamá), Hector Guzman – STRI (Panamá), Andres Baquero – Equilibrio Azul (Ecuador), Joanna Alfaro-Shigueto y Jeffrey Mangel – ProDelphinus (Peru), Javier Quiñones, Evelyn Paredes, Nelly de Paz – IMARPE (Peru), Shaleyla Kelez – ecOceanica (Perú), Jorge Azocar – IFOP (Chile), Miguel Donoso – Pacífico Laúd (Chile), Paula Salinas – Universidad Arturo Prat (Chile), Veronica Caceres – Convención Interamericana para la Protección y Conservación de last Tortugas Marinas, Martin Hall – Comisión Interamericana del Atún Tropical, Diego Amorocho*, Sandra Andraka, Alvaro Segura, y Liliana Rendón – WWF.
Both anthropogenic (e.g., bycatch, egg harvest for human consumption) and environmental (e.g., limited food resources) drivers for this decline have been described in detail (vea Wallace and Saba 2009). Long-term monitoring and conservation programs at the most significant nesting beaches in Mexico and Costa Rica have almost completely eliminated threats such as human consumption of eggs and nesting females, increasing the effectiveness of conservation efforts at important sites like Nicaragua (Urteaga et al., 2012). Despite these major advances in the conservation of leatherback turtles, the population abundance of this RMU is still low and continues to decline progressively towards extinction in the region (see figure).
Therefore, it is now time to reflect and act so that we can achieve leatherback conservation in the region through the implementation of an Action Plan in the EP. This document highlights the priority actions identified by a group of regional experts to reverse the decline and promote the long-term recovery of leatherback turtles in the EP.
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