Performance-Based Conservation Program Helping Hawksbill Turtles in Nicaragua
Paso Pacífico, a non-profit organization focusing on the Pacific slope of Central America, is helping endangered Hawksbill Turtles in Nicaragua with a compensation-based conservation program based on incentive payments for local people.
The financial rewards to locals in exchange for protecting endangered sea turtle nests are making a difference: Rangers have reported that egg poaching is on the decline. And Paso Pacífico plans are to make this program sustainable.
As one of the most critically endangered marine sea turtles, little is known about the current population of Hawksbill Turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata ). With 100 percent of their eggs being harvested by local people and sold to poachers, few turtles had the opportunity to reach adulthood - putting this species is at significant risk.
