Monday, March 14, 2011

Fundraising for turtle patrols to the South of the GVI Jalova Station

GVI Costa Rica works in the most southern part of Tortuguero National Park on the carribbean coast of Costa Rica.

Four species of sea turtle are being recorded in Tortuguero; green (Chelonia mydas), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and the occasional loggerhead (Caretta caretta). Green turtles are classified as endangered, leatherbacks and hawksbills as critically endangered and loggerheads as threatened. A major threat to the nesting turtles are poachers on the beaches and in the coastal area.


Poaching can be decreased dramatically with patrols on the beaches at night. The national park sends teams of police and coast guard to patrol the beaches during the turtle season. These teams are paid as part of their normal jobs, but the park needs to provide food for them in order to patrol the beaches. The GVI team patrols a 5 mile stretch in the south of the park, but we need to support the personnel to patrol the beaches to the south of our Jalova patrol area. For safety reasons, the patrols work in two groups of 3 people.

Raising sufficient funds to feed these patrol teams would make an immense difference to the protection of the nesting turtles, their eggs and hatchlings.

The diet of the patrol teams is basic and consists of rice, beans and coffee. This is how your contribution will make a difference:

$3 or £2 could pay for the food of a turtle patrolman for an entire day

$18 or £12 could pay for a complete patrol team for an entire day

$126 or £89 could pay for a complete patrol team for a whole week

$504 or £313 could pay for a complete patrol team for a full month

$15,624 or £9,682 could pay for the patrol team for the whole season

Any support, small or large could help us save the lives of tens of thousands of new turtles and their mothers. Thank you.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now!

On the left hand side in the lower section o fthis blog, there is a link through which you can click yourself right to the donation page!

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