Adopt a Turtle

There are 5 types of turtle in Venezuela: hawksbill and leatherback turtles are both on the World Conservation Union critically endangered list; green, loggerhead and Olive Ridley turtles are endangered. The LATA Foundation is supporting the work of CICTMAR, the Centro de Investigación y Conservación de Tortugas Marinas, to protect turtles on two beaches in the Paria Peninsula, a nesting site for loggerhead and green turtles and the most important mainland nesting location for leatherback turtles.

It costs £60 to adopt a turtle and £50 to adopt a hatching nest. You can adopt a pair of turtles and a hatching nest for just £150. The LATA Foundation and CICTMAR will produce relevant certificates for what you adopt.

There are 5 types of endangered turtles in Venezuela

Funds support turtle research and life-changing social development in the region. CICTMAR have trained a young biologist to do data entry, logging the statistics about nesting turtles and their eggs, and survival of hatchlings. Funds also go towards the rental of rural beachside houses from local people, for collecting the data and protecting eggs from poachers (so this money goes back into the local community). Funds also help to pay for CICTMAR's environmental education officer who visits local schools to train teachers in the work of protecting turtles (she spoke to 2,500 children last year) providing a real investment for the future of conservation. The officer always needs training manuals and educational aids for this initiative.

Sample Turtle Certificate  

To adopt a turtle, make a donation or set up a monthly direct debit to support our work, please click onto our Donations pages or go to www.justgiving.com/lata.  On Justgiving, please specify in the comments box if your donation is for this project or to adopt a turtle.

Date project approved: 01 December 2011