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The Eizaguirre Lab

The Turtle Project

Evolution and Conservation of sea turtles

The Turtle Project
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  2. The Turtle Project

Subtropical marine areas represent biodiversity hotspots, but their ecological integrity is threatened by anthropogenic impacts. One of the most direct and pervasive menaces is the global decline of large marine vertebrates such as sea turtles, key for the maintenance of the structure and functioning of their habitats. Located in the middle of the Atlantic, Cabo Verde is one of those unique biodiversity hotspots. This archipelago supports the largest nesting aggregation of loggerhead sea turtles in the world, making it not only of local but also of global conservation concern.

Location of Cabo Verde:


The Turtle Project

Research, Conservation and Community Engagement

The Turtle Project was created by the Eizaguirre Lab in collaboration with conservation NGOs from every island of the Cabo Verde archipelago, as well as the University of Cabo Verde and the National Institute of the Sea (IMar).

The Turtle Project is built as a citizen-science research programme tat involves local University students, local communities and authorities. This strategy has proven efficient to develop different conservation strategies with the final objective of improving the state of the sea turtle population.

The Turtle Project:

  1. Develop new tracking techniques and molecular methods to improve conservation. 
  2. Supports the development of conservation programmes led by NGOs and national authorities to maintain a sustainable turtle population;
  3. Engages in capacity building of local biologist to modern conservation techniques;
  4. Improves the transfer of knowledge amongst the different stakeholders in Cabo Verde;
  5. Informs local and national authorities in the management of natural resources based on scientific evidence.

As a result, the Turtle Project has had a great impact in three main areas: conservation, research and public engagement.

Conservation

The overall objective of our projects is to improve the conservation status of sea turtles, and we do improving capacity of NGOs working on the field.
Conservation

Research Programmes

We connect fundamental research with applied conservation to answer the many questions and needs from conservation groups and stakeholders.
Research Programmes

Public Engagement

We engage with diverse audiences to explain our research, make them aware of the threats sea turtles face and to encourage positive life changes.
Public Engagement

Resources

At the same time, to maximise the impact of our research and to help others reach the same goals, we have created different open-source tools based on the results of our work that can be used worldwide.

Turtle Base

The largest public database of sea turtles with information of more than 6.000 loggerhead turtles, based on our community-based research project.
Turtle Base

Atlantis VR

Atlantis is a VR tool that allows us to visualise the real movements and behaviours of a turtle, based on accelerometers deployed on turtles.
Atlantis VR

HatchIt

Coming soon! HatchIt is an online platform designed to help conservation groups. We are working on it!
HatchIt

Public Engagement

Our group is committed to Public Engagement both in Cabo Verde and in the UK. Through taking part in public events (fairs, seminars and others), supporting educational activities, and creating new freely accessible resources, we have engaged thousands of kids and adults, and helped raise the awareness on marine conservation issues.

Distribution of educational booklets in the island of Maio
Distribution of educational booklets in the island of Maio

Our community-based, citizen-science approach was awarded the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement 2016 finalist award in the STEM category for its outstanding results. 

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