Oct 9, 2012 - Hopkins Marine Station: Sea Turtles All The Way Down

Sea Turtles All The Way Down: Grassroots Networks, Knowledge and Communication Leading Towards a Conservation Success Story

Friends of Hopkins Marine Station

Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, California Academy of Sciences

In 1990 things were very bad for sea turtles in Pacific Mexico. The president had decreed a permanent moratorium on their hunting, collecting, use or sale but the black market filled the void due to a lack of enforcement and popular support.

Experts agreed that it was too late for the black sea turtles. Our academic advisors and funders suggested we not bother trying.

Twenty years later we are telling a much different story. Sea turtles represent a rare bright spot on the conservation landscape, thanks to the innovative and sometimes controversial approach of the Grupo Tortuguero Network. Turtle hunters and consumers have taken on the role of researchers and protectors in fifty communities spanning 3,000 miles of coastline.

While threats remain, populations are now increasing, dozens of community-based organizations are leading the way, and the Grupo Tortuguero network is holding its fifteenth annual meeting.

Combined with three decades of protection on southern nesting beaches in Michoacan, it seems that the black sea turtles now have a chance. At the core of these successes are an understanding of open-source movement building, neuroconservation and the value of emotional diversity.

7:15 p.m. registration
7:30 p.m. lecture

Wine and cheese to follow.

Monterey Boat Works Lecture Hall, Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, California 93950 [Oceanview Boulevard and Dewey Avenue, Pacific Grove, CA]

Attendance is for Friends of Hopkins Marine Station and their guests.

Admission by reservation only.

Call (831) 655-6200 between 8:30 am and 5:00 pm, Monday – Friday

** If you can’t drive or are uncomfortable driving at night, please let us know and we will see if we can arrange for someone to pick you up.