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Saving the sea turtle

October 21, 2014

The Caribbean island of Saint Lucia faces multiple threats from overfishing, mass tourism, the growing use of pesticides and the illegal dumping of waste in the oceans. One project is trying to clean up.

https://p.dw.com/p/1DZ7X
Corals (Photo: DW)

Protecting Santa Lucia's endangered sea turtles

Project goal: The Caribbean Aqua-Terrestrial Solutions Programm (CATS) has two goals: adapting farming methods in Caribbean countries to climate change and protecting marine and coastal systems

Implementation: monitoring sea turtles and their eggs, making fishing and tourism more sustainable, eco-friendly farming and reforestation measures as well as improving sewage infrastructure

Investment: The International Climate Initiative (IKI) supports the worldwide Blue Solutions Network, which includes CATS, with 6.3 million Euros

Key species: sea turtles

The Caribbean island of Saint Lucia is home to sea turtles and other marine species that are rapidly vanishing. Poaching of turtle eggs remains a huge problem as does the dumping of waste in the ocean. Mass tourism and large cruise ships have destroyed coral reefs. An initiative by the German development aid organization, GIZ, is working with locals to patrol and protect turtle habitats. The group works closely with communities and the government to improve sewage infrastructure, raise awareness through workshops and seminars and develop measures to better protect the island’s threatened flora and fauna.

A film by Anja Kimmig