GVI Monthly Achievement Report September .pdf

7/29/2019 GVI Monthly Achievement Report September .pdf

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Seychelles Sea Turtle Festival

GVI Seychelles September 2013

Sea Turtles in theSeychelles

The Seychelles has a long tradition of harvestingturtles. Up until the 1990s green turtles were seenas an important food source and killed for theirmeat, while Calipee, the glutinous layer found

beneath the lower shell was considered to be adelicacy.

Hawksbills were not traditionally eaten due to

History

Logo DesignThere were dozens of entries for the

competition to design the logo for

Seychelles Sea Turtle Festival and it was

extremely difficult choosing a winner. In the

end the above design created by Stephanie

Pool from Plaisance Secondary School was

the overall winner.

There are five species of marine turtle that arefound in Seychelles waters. They are theHawksbill, Green, Loggerhead, Leatherback andGreen Ridley. However, it is only the Hawksbillturtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) and the Green turtle

(Chelonia mydas)that nest on Seychelles shores.

Green turtles are listed on the IUCN red list asendangered. Within the Seychelles they mainlynest within the outer islands and in particular theUNESCO world heritage site of Aldabra.

Hawksbill turtles are listed as criticallyendangered on the IUCN red list of threatenedspecies. Today most populations are declining orremnants of larger aggregations. The Seychelles

Hawksbills are one of only five remainingregional populations with over 1000 femalesnesting annually and the largest remaining in thewestern Indian Ocean. It is believed that globalHawksbill numbers have declined by between 84-87% (Mortimer and Donnelly, 2008).


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GVI Seychelles Turtle

Monitoring Programmes

GVI Seychelles currently has two

turtle monitoring programmes which it runs in

conjunction with the Seychelles National Parks

Authority. At the Cap Ternay Marine Expedition,

staff and volunteers conduct weekly in-water turtle

behavior studies to assess foraging behavior of bothhawksbill and green turtles within the Baie Ternay

Marine Park. During nesting season weekly patrols

of beaches along the coast of northwest Mahe are

conduted. Unfortunately, the area along this coast

has experienced a great deal of human disturbance

over the years and today only a handful of turtlesreturn to nest each year.

Curieuse Island is home to the GVI Seychelles

Terrestrial Expedition and some of the most

important hawksbill nesting beaches remaining

within the inner islands. During nesting season GVI

volunteers and SNPA rangers conduct daily surveys

of the islands nesting beaches to record critical data

on the turtle population.

History (continued)

biotoxins in the animals flesh, however theywere not spared as their shells were highly prizedand exported to make jewelry and ornaments.

In 1994 sea turtles were given full protection andit is now illegal to kill, possess or eat turtle withthe Seychelles. Though small scale poachingdoes still occur the main threats to populationstoday are coastal development, pollution andentanglement in longlines and fishing nets.

Given the importance of marine turtles to theSeychelles and its people, Global VisionInternational (GVI) and the MarineConservation Society Seychelles (MCSS)decided to organize the first Seychelles SeaTurtle Festival. The festival was an opportunityto celebrate the Seychelles marine turtlepopulations, to bring together the differentorganisations working in turtle conservation andto raise issues surrounding turtle conservation.

On the 9th August 2013 and after months ofpreparation, the opening ceremony of the firstSeychelles Sea Turtle Festival took place at thenational theatre. In attendance were studentsand their families, members of local businessesand NGOs, and representatives fromgovernment departments.

Following an opening speech from the DirectorGeneral for schools, the ceremony started with a

song performed by La Rosiere primary schoolstudents. It was then time to present the prizesfor the turtle themed artwork competitions thathad been running in all schools over the last fewmonths.

The ceremony was also an opportunity to raisethe profile of turtle conservation within theSeychelles and presentations by Mr Chris Boyesfrom the Save Our Seas Foundation, Miss

GVI science coordinator Nol Dunn and SNPA researcher

Gilberte Gendron prepare and educational activity on turtle

tagging.

Opening Ceremony


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Winning Artwork

Gilberte Gendron from the SNPA and Dr Jeanne Mortimer wereall well received by the assembled audience.

The afternoon culminated in an animated puppet show TheIncredible Journey of Telsy the Turtle created by the students of

the Academy by the Sea, and a closing speech by the Minister forTourism and Culture, Mr Alain St Ange who said:

Weve a lot of respect for what you have done, I thinkyou are raising the profile of what we have that is dear

to us, but you are also encouraging people to preserveand protect what is dear to Seychelles

On Saturday August 10th, the day started with a showing of thedocumentary film Turtle the Incredible Journey at Deepamcinema in Victoria. At 10:30am over a hundred and fifty childrenand adults turned up to watch a young loggerhead turtle make anincredible journey against the odds from its birthplace to the dayit retuned to lay eggs on the very beach where it was born. Thelittle turtle faced all manner of obstacles on her journey and therewere definitely a few tears amongst the watching crowd.

Opening ceremony - Dr Jeanne Mortimer presents onthe history of turtle conservation in the Seychelles.

Family Fun Day


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The main event was the Family Fun Day, whichbegan at 12pm along the beachfront area in BeauVallon. Several stalls manned by local NGOs and

government organisations provided activities andinformation on the conservation programmesrunning within the Seychelles. It was fantastic tosee so many different organisations comingtogether on the day to promote a common goal.

Local DJs provided the music, while dozens ofstreet vendours offered up delicacies and crafts toeveryone who had come down to the event tolook at the artwork and join in the activities.

There was face painting and plenty of arts and

crafts. GVI staff and volunteers had spent theprevious week cutting out wooden turtles for thekids to paint and take home as a souvenir. Ofcourse being at the beach there was sandcastlecompetition and numerous turtle sculptures tookshape as the afternoon progressed.

For those who preferred to get their feet wet therewas the opportunity to go snorkeling and searchfor marine life. While others preferred to takethings a little easier and try one of the amazingturtle shaped cup cakes prepared by MCSS and

the Four Seasons Resort.. The locals and touristsarrived in numbers and everyone seemed to havea good time, especially the GVI volunteers whoproved a hit with their impromptu dancing.

The event would not have been possible withoutthe assistance of the Ministry of Environment, theMinistry of Education, the support of theSeychelles Tourism Board, and the generosity ofall the sponsors. GVI and MCSS would like tothank everyone for making the event such a

success and look forward to doing it all again nextyear.

Fun day (continued)

Lorem Ipsum Dolor

GVI volunteers take time out from running

turtle themed activities to enjoy the music.

Jack agrees to let some of the local children

borrow his turtle outfit to pose for photos.

GVI volunteers put their turtle sandcastle

building skills to the test.

To find out more about the work that GVI is undertaking in

the Seychelles visit httpp://www.gvi.co.uk/volunteer-in-

seychelles

For more information about the Seychelles Sea Turtle Festival

visit - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Seychelles-Sea-

Turtle-Festival/665862866762220?ref=hl

Documents

GVI Monthly Achievement Report September .pdf