Wafae Benhardouze et Mustapha Aksissou
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, PO Box 2121, Tetouan 93002, Morocco

Cet atelier entre dans le cadre d'un projet de coopération entre la Faculté des Sciences de Tetouan, INRH, Dr. Manjula Tiwari de NOAA-National Marine Fisheries Service en USA et Dr. Matthew Godfrey du North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission en USA. Le projet est intitulé : Surveillance de l’interaction entre les tortues marines et les pêcheries au Royaume du Maroc. Ce projet est financé par le programme Rufford Small Grants du Rufford Foundation et le Chelonian Research Institute. Nous espérons à travers cet atelier pouvoir collecter des données sur les tortues présentes dans les côtes marocaines ainsi que sensibiliser les pêcheurs pour la conservation des tortues marines au Maroc.

Nous remercions toutes les services (Wilaya de Laayoune, ITPM, INRH et la délégation des pêches maritimes à Laayoune) qui nous ont donné l’autorisation d’organiser cet atelier. Les responsables Messieurs, le directeur de ITPM au port de Laayoune (Abdelaziz Ghait), le chef du centre de INRH de Laayoune (Abdelhakim Mesfioui), le délégué des pêches maritimes à Laayoune (Youssef Fnoune), le chef du service des pêches maritimes (Abdellah Taousi) et le délégué de l’office national des pêches de Laayoune (Ezaroili El Khatari) ont assisté à cet atelier et ont intervenu en expliquant et en encourageant les pêcheurs à s’intéresser à ce sujet et coopérer dans le cadre de ce projet. Kenza Ouakka (biologiste des pêches) et Said Semmoumy (technicien) respectivement de INRH de Laayoune et Casablanca ont participé dans cet atelier.

Monsieur le directeur de ITPM (Abdelaziz Ghait) donnant l’introduction de l’atelier :

Le matin (10h-12h) a été consacré à donner aux élèves marins de ITPM; formateurs et quelques responsables un aperçu (en dialecte arabe) sur les tortues marines et leur importance. Dans l’après midi (15h-18h) ; nous avons donné aux marins pêcheurs du port de Laayoune un aperçu (en dialecte arabe) sur les tortues marines et leur importance ; leur apprendre la méthodologie de prise des mesures pour avoir des données sur l’interaction entre les pêcheries et les tortues marines. Les points traités concernent : but de l’atelier, informations générales sur les tortues marines, informations sur les tortues marines au Maroc, comment reconnaître les espèces de tortues marines ? mensurations, remplissage de fiches, comment lire et mettre les bagues ? comment traiter une tortue blessée ? Une discussion a été entamée avec les pêcheurs et ont déclaré quelques informations :
- la tortue Caouanne est la plus représentée dans la région de Laayoune suivie de la tortue Luth.
- Caretta entre en interaction avec les pêcheries essentiellement dès le mois d’avril jusqu’à septembre dans les palangriers et chalutiers.
- les individus sub-adultes autour de 50-60 cm de CCL sont les plus pêchés accidentellement dans la région de Laayoune.
- le chalut de fond, Sardiniers et les Palangriers sont respectivement des pêcheries en ordre décroissant d’importance dans les interactions avec les tortues marines.
- Le sud marocain depuis Tan Tan jusqu’à Dakhla est la zone la plus riche en tortues marines.
Voici les fiches en Arabe et en Français distribuées aux pêcheurs leur permettant de nous fournir des données sur les tortues capturées accidentellement dans leurs filets ou hameçons au port de Laayoune:

Mme Wafae Benhardouze exposant le sujet aux pêcheurs:

Audience:

Parmi ces pêcheurs, 10 (2 chalutiers, 3 sardiniers et 5 palangriers) se sont déclarés intéressés par le projet et prêts à coopérer et donc étaient désignés. Des instruments (cameras, fiches, rubans centimètres, carnets, crayons) ont été distribué sur ces 10 capitaines. Ces derniers nous ont donné leurs noms et leurs numéros téléphoniques et nous ont promis l’aide pour avoir des donnés sur les tortues marines capturées accidentellement. Monsieur, le directeur de ITPM au port de Laayoune est le coordonnateur de collecte des données. Des certificats seront distribués sur les pêcheurs les plus motivés.

Elèves de ITPM:

Pêcheurs du port de Laayoune:

Nous espèrons à travers les résultats attendus cet atelier pouvoir contribuer à la connaissance des tortues marines dans la région de Laayoune et mieux les protéger en apprenant aux pêcheurs l’importance et les méthodes de sauvetage des tortues marines. D’autres ateliers sont prévus à Agadir et Dakhla pour cerner toutes les côtes atlantiques marocaines et sensibiliser les pêcheurs à la conservation des tortues marines au Maroc.

SUMMARY:
In November 2006, Wafae Benhardouze and Mustapha Aksissou from Abdelmalek Essaadi University in Tetouan, Morcocco, organized a training workshop for more than 100 fishermen at Laayoune port. This workshop was part of a collaborative study between Abdelmalek Essaadi University, INRH, Manjula Twari, and Matthew Godfrey to evaluate the impact of fisheries on sea turtles found in these waters. The project is funded by the Rufford Small Grants program in the UK and the Chelonian Research Institute. Through this workshop we tried to educate the fishermen about turtles and data collection techniques and also further strengthen our collaboration with them to collect data on accidentally captured sea turtles. Other workshops are being planned along the Moroccan coast in Agadir and Dakhla.

Submitted by Heidi A. Rader
Arcadia University, USA
2006 Caldera Expedition Participant

3 Weeks

11 Species of primates

4 Species of nesting sea turtles

13 Hours by plane from the United States

3 Days journey overland from the nearest traffic light

1 Unspoiled virgin wilderness

This year’s adventure began in the early hours of the morning, January 2, 2006, at the airport in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. For most it was a long, tiresome trip from their homes, from all parts of the world. Once through customs, we headed to the Exxon-Mobil compound (MEGI). The kind folks at the MEGI compound welcomed us and provided space to camp for the night, along with our last hot shower and meal for the next three weeks. On the morning of January 4th, with gear packed, along with students and professors from UNGE, we boarded a cargo boat and headed into the open waters with the course set for Moraka Playa. Transportation to and from the southern beaches of Bioko is always a challenge, so needless to say, we were grateful to be the “guest cargo” of Hess Oil on the Seabulk St. Andrew.

After about three hours on the water, the Sea Bulk St. Andrew anchored just off the coast of Moraka Playa.


We were met by the villagers of Ureca, who brought us ashore in a large dugout wooden canoe called a cayuco. As luck would have it, when my group climbed over the side into the cayuco, the gray clouds turned to black and with a mighty clap of thunder, and a flash of lightening, the skies parted and let loose with wind driven rain As I sat in a giant puddle on the floor of the cayuco, wedged between two benches, clutching the satellite phone to my chest, I squeezed my eyes shut, silently thanking my parents for providing me with swimming lessons in my younger years, and waited for the next wave to crash on my head. The crew maneuvered the cayuco through the choppy waters and delivered us safely to the shore. That part of the adventure behind us, with all accounted for and feet planted firmly on the black sand beach, we set about the task of setting of Beach Camp.

Beach Camp is the main camp of the expedition with the other three camps placed strategically along the trail up and into the Caldera. Approximately two weeks is spent inside the Caldera itself, a natural refuge with spectacular gorges and steep walls.

Few people have ever been in this area because it is accessible only during the dry season (December through February) and then, only after considerable effort. Although my main reason for participating in the expedition was to census sea turtles, this being my first trip to Bioko Island, I was not about to miss out on anything so the following morning I joined the first group and hiked into the Caldera to help with the monkey census for a few days.

The two-day hike into the Caldera began pleasantly enough with a mile walk along the black sand beach, and across the swift moving waters of the river bed to the beginning of the trail that gently rises through the forest. After an hour or so on the trail, things got a bit tougher. I am a personal trainer and fitness consultant by profession and despite the fact that I trained in the gym for the better part of six months and participated in a few running road races to prepare myself for the physical part of the expedition, I found myself gasping from the heat and humidity as the trail began to rise in elevation. I needed to keep reminding myself that I wasn’t hiking a trail in the mountains back home in Pennsylvania, but I was embedded in a dense forest in Africa a few degrees from the equator. Not about to give up and turn around or be left behind, I continued on, trekking over twisted, knotted roots, scooting around massive tree trunks and crouching under vines and limbs. The forest here is dark and wet. The foliage is dense, and a sweet, earthy smell seems to surround us as we make our final decent into the Caldera. As we stop to catch our breath at the bottom of the waterfall, I marvel at the majesty of the forest and the adventures that wait ahead.

The majority of the primate census takes place in the Caldera. At Main Camp, mornings and afternoons are spent walking in small teams headed by a local guide, surveying the marked trails, listening for vocals, foliage snapping, leaves tearing, bushes moving and the occasional tree branch springing back into place signaling the presence of monkeys and small mammals.

The encounters are carefully recorded and compared each night by the campfire. For me, this was my first time camping in the bush, and exploring a remote area. My days spent in the Caldera were amazing, but I was here for the turtles. It was time for me to make the journey back down to Beach Camp. Three of us made the trip back to the beach early the following morning. The weather was unsettled and wisps of low-lying clouds heavy with the threat of rain hung around us as we climbed back up the steep cliff and out of the Caldera. The hike back down to the beach was much easier than the hike up the trail. It afforded me the time to take better notice of my surroundings. Somewhere along the trail a black colobus monkey decided to keep us company swinging from branch to branch as we made our way down the trail. Soon the sights and sounds of the forest were replaced by the distant roar of the sea. As we crossed the river bed and set foot once again on the black sand, I left one adventure behind and a new one was about to begin.

Four species of sea turtles nest on Bioko Island; the leatherback, green, Olive ridley and hawksbill. I have been working with the Bioko sea turtle data for a year or so now as a graduate student at Arcadia University, but had never actually seen one of my research subjects; so needless to say, I was excited at the prospect of actually coming face to face with any of the four species that nest on Bioko’s black sand beaches. Exhausted from the long trip from Main Camp to Beach Camp, I bathed in the lagoon, had a meal of rice and beans, and crawled into my tent for a rest as I planned on joining one of the turtle census teams that night.

BBPP first started studying sea turtles on Bioko Island in November of 2000. Locals from the nearby village of Ureca were hired to patrol five beaches nightly from approximately 10PM to 5AM for the entire nesting season from October to April. Accompanied by the trained local guides, expedition participants at Beach Camp are part of one of two data collecting teams that walk Beach A and Beach B in each during our 3 week stay on the island, in search of nesting sea turtles.

My first night out on turtle patrol, I was assigned to Beach A. A few minutes past 10PM our group started out. The sea was calm, the moon was full, the night sky full of stars; a perfect night for nesting sea turtles. We walked slowly with our guide leading the way. Two of us walked just beyond the waters edge, as the others searched mid-beach and along the vegetation at the edge of the forest. Our first encounter was a green turtle. She had nested among the vegetation and was headed back to the water. Disappointed that we had missed the actual nesting process, but elated with seeing our first turtle, we pushed on in search of more. As we walked along, a ghost crab scuttled over the top of my shoe and startled me. Another grabbed onto my pant leg. They seem to be everywhere running in every direction over the surface of the sand, so it was no surprise that we almost missed the leatherback hatchlings mixed in the “crab frenzy”. We froze in our steps as the parade of hatchlings made their way over our feet and around and through our legs, stumbling over everything in their path on their way to the sea. Again, we stood transfixed, watching. When the last hatchling disappeared into the surf, we made our way back to camp excitedly recalling the events of the night.

The next night, with flashlights in hand, we set off down the beach. We picked our way over the black volcanic rocks that litter the beach on Bioko and waded across the mouth of the lagoon. Just on the other side of the lagoon we spotted a turtle clearing the surf and pulling itself up onto the beach. The turtle’s leathery ridged back was illuminated by the light of the moon as she pulled her enormous weight along the sand. She groaned and lumbered past. We stood in silence as she went through the nesting process. The job complete, with a great sigh, the mother leatherback began crawling back in the direction of the sea. And so it continued, the cycle of life, night after night. As with the monkeys, careful records are also kept of the turtle activity on the island. Each evening, by the light of the campfire, the census teams compare the data collected from the previous night. By the end of the expedition I had logged in my notebook three of the four turtle species on Bioko. Only the hawksbill had eluded me. There is always next year!

Our time on Bioko Island went by much too quickly. Each day a new group emerged from the forest and soon we were all together again at Beach Camp. Our last night was spent singing and dancing around the bonfire with the Urecan villagers. Although many of us did not speak the same language, it was understood that our three weeks together had created a universal bond. The next morning we exchanged good-byes with promises to return next year and together in one more collective effort, pushed the cayuco into the water and in the direction of the Sea Bulk St. Andrew which was waiting for us off shore.

The next few days were spent back on the MEGI compound. After warm showers and a hot meal, we started on the huge task of cleaning our expedition gear. That complete, UNGE students and professors along with Arcadia expedition participants met at the university in Malabo to compare the turtle, monkey and small mammal data and enter the information into Excel files.

A small seminar presenting the data, along with a photo presentation of our three weeks in the Caldera was held at the university for all interested students and professors. Academics complete, our final day was spent exploring Malabo before boarding a late night flight bound for home.

A day doesn’t go by that I don’t think about Bioko Island. My three weeks spent on Bioko Island became more than an opportunity to work with sea turtles and explore the rainforest. It wasn’t about the turtles. It wasn’t about the monkeys. It was all about the people. It was about trust and respect for those people. It was about two very different cultures working together to preserve a small piece of the world. It was about my discovering that there are many lessons yet to be learned, that there is much more to this world, and myself, than I ever knew.

Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program
Please Visit Our Website at: www.bioko.org

Contact Us:

Gail W. Hearn, Ph.D.
Department of Biology, Arcadia University
450 S. Easton Road, Glenside, PA 19038-3295 USA
Phone: (215) 572-2991
Fax: (215) 881-8758
E-mail: hearn@arcadia.edu

Wayne A. Morra, Ph.D.
Department of Business Administration & Economics Arcadia University
450 S. Easton Road, Glenside, PA 19038-3295 USA
Phone: (215)572-2125
E-mail: morra@arcadia.edu

Cet atelier entre dans le cadre d'un projet de coopération entre la Faculté des Sciences de Tetouan et Dr. Manjula Tiwari de NOAA-National Marine Fisheries Service en USA et Dr. Matthew Godfrey du North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission en USA. Le projet est intitulé : Surveillance de l’interaction entre les tortues marines et les pêcheries au Royaume du Maroc. Ce projet est financé par le programme Rufford Small Grants du Rufford Foundation et le Chelonian Research Institute. Nous espérons à travers cet atelier pouvoir collecter des données sur les tortues présentes dans les côtes marocaines ainsi que sensibiliser les pêcheurs pour la conservation des tortues marines au Maroc.

Les responsables Messieurs, le directeur du Centre de qualification professionnelle maritime de Casablanca (Mohamed Ghaouzy), le délégué de la délégation des pêches maritimes à Casablanca (Fouad Azhary) et le délégué de l’office national des pêches de Casablanca (Lahoussine Boudrari) ont donné une brève introduction lors cet atelier en encourageant les pêcheurs à s’interésser à ce sujet et coopérer dans le cadre de ce projet.

Messieurs les responsables donnant l’introduction de l’atelier :

Le matin (10h-12h) a été consacré à donner aux pêcheurs un aperçu (en dialect arabe) sur les tortues marines et leur apprendre la méthodologie de prise des mesures pour avoir des données sur l’interaction entre les pêcheries et les tortues marines dans la région du port de Casablanca. Les points traités concernent : but de l’atelier, informations générales sur les tortues marines, informations sur les tortues marines au Maroc, comment reconnaître les espèces de tortues marines ?, mensurations, remplissage de fiches, coupes de tissus, comment lire et mettre les bagues ? comment traiter une tortue blessée ? Une discussion a été entamée avec les pêcheurs et ont déclaré quelques informations :
- la tortue Caouanne est la plus représentée dans la région suivie de la tortue Luth.
- Caretta entre en intéraction avec les pêcheries dès le mois de mai jusqu’à septembre.
- Les individus sub-adultes et adultes sont les plus pêchés accidentellement dans la région de Casablanca.
- Le chalut de fond, Sardiniers et les Palangriers sont respectivement des pêcheries en ordre décroissant d’importance dans les interactions avec les tortues marines.
- Le sud marocain depuis Tan Tan jusqu’à Dakhla est la zone la plus riche en tortues marines.

Mme Wafae Benhardouze lors de l’atelier exposant le sujet aux pêcheurs:

Parmi ces pêcheurs, 10 (6 chalutiers, 3 sardiniers et 1 palangrier) se sont déclarés interéssés par le projet et prêts à coopérer et donc étaient désignés. Des instruments (bagues, compresseurs, cameras, fiches, rubans centimètres, carnets, crayons, scalpels, flacons à alcool, et cartes de recharges téléphoniques) ont été distribué sur ces 10 capitaines. Ces derniers nous ont donné leurs noms et leurs numéros téléphoniques et nous ont promis l’aide pour avoir des donnés sur les tortues marines capturés accidentellement.

Photo de l’audience :

Mr Mustapha Aksissou lors de l’atelier discutant avec les pêcheurs:

Voici les fiches en Arabe et en Français distribuées aux pêcheurs leur permettant de nous fournir des données sur les tortues capturées accidentellement dans leurs filets ou hameçons au port de Casablanca:

Un déjeuner ont interrompu cette séance de matinée.
L’après midi (15h-17h), quelques enfants des pêcheurs ont assisté à une pause café lors d’un concours de dessin de tortue. Des prix ont été attribués à ces jeunes après avoir dessiner des tortues.

Enfants des pêcheurs montrant leurs dessins et prix !!

Nous espèrons à travers les résultats attendus cet atelier pouvoir contribuer à la connaissance des tortues marines dans la région de Casablanca et mieux les protéger en apprenant aux pêcheurs l’importance et les méthodes de sauvetage des tortues marines. D’autres ateliers sont prévus à Agadir, Laâyoune et Dakhla pour collecter des données sur les tortues présentes dans les côtes atlantiques marocaines et sensibiliser les pêcheurs à la conservation des tortues marines au Maroc.

SUMMARY:
In May 2006, Wafae Benhardouze and Mustapha Aksissou from Abdelmalek Essaadi University in Tetouan, Morcocco, organized a training workshop for 34 fishermen at Casablanca port. This workshop was part of a collaborative study between Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Manjula Twari, and Matthew Godfrey to evaluate the impact of fisheries on sea turtles found in these waters. The project is funded by the Rufford Small Grants program in the UK and the Chelonian Research Institute. Through this workshop we tried to educate the fishermen about turtles and data collection techniques and also further strengthen our collaboration with them to collect data on accidentally captured sea turtles. Children of the fishermen also participated in this workshop. A drawing competition was held for the children who then received prizes. Other workshops are being planned along the Moroccan coast in Agadir, Laâyoune and Dakhla.

Meanwhile, Sue Ranger, Angela Formia, and I chatted and plotted over email for several months to develop a program for this one-day Africa Regional Meeting. Sue’s steady efforts kept us on-track whenever Angela and I rushed about the planet on other business, and finally after numerous emails and drafts a program slowly took shape.

The session started on 4 April at 8.30 am with people trickling in and loading their presentations on Sue’s laptop, which she generously volunteered for the occasion.

The morning opened with welcoming remarks from Jacques Fretey from IUCN-France and Programme KUDU after which Bernard Oosting from BIOTOPIC presented him a book called Kudu, La Tortue Luth, in recognition of his efforts in West Africa.

The first part of the regional meeting was spent on short country/project updates from:
1) East Africa: Kenya (Steven Trott), Tanzania (Jairos Mahenge), Mozambique (Alice Costa) and South Africa (Ronel Nel)

2) Mediterranean: Overview and Libya (Abdulmaula Hamza), Morocco (Wafae Benhardouze), Tunisia (Bradai Mohamed Nejmeddine), Egypt (Hesham Mostafa).

3) West Africa: Overview and Kudu/PROTOMAC (Jacques Fretey and Alain Gibudi), Angola (Tamar Ron), Gabon (Solange Ngouessono), Equatorial Guinea (Heidi Rader), Cameroon (Hyacinthe Angoni), Nigeria (Boluwaji Solarin), Benin (Josea Dossou-Bodjrenou), Togo (Gabriel Segniagbeto), Ghana (Richard Adjei), Guinea (Soumah M’mah), Senegal (Mamdou Diallo and Alassane Dieng), Cape Verde (Ana Liria Loza), and Sao Tome and Principe (Jacques Fretey).

In the afternoon, we moved into some key topics and research areas.

The first topic focused on fisheries issues. The session was opened by Rogerio Ferreira who highlighted the importance of looking at sea turtle bycatch in the fisheries and presented a case study from the Azores.

Maria Honig described their bycatch work in the longline fisheries of South Africa. Imed Jribi discussed sea turtle interactions with longlines in Tunisia. Steven Trott gave a quick overview of their bycatch release program in Kenya.

Gabriela Bianchi from the FAO provided details on the bycatch reduction workshop being organized in Zanzibar.

A very effective demonstration of how TEDs work was given by Boluwaji Solarin of Nigeria.

Finally, Rebecca Lewison talked about Project GLOBAL (Global Bycatch Assessment of Long-Lived Species). These speakers were then asked to chair a panel and answer questions from the audience.

Our next topic covered Community-Based Conservation where Freya St. John presented a case study from Tanzania

and Jacques Fretey described a community project in Cameroon.

Under the theme “Harnessing Technology,” Michael Coyne gave an overview of the excellent resources available on www.seaturtle.org. We encourage everyone to visit this website and explore all that it has to offer and contribute whenever possible.

Angela Formia highlighted the importance of genetic work and described her work with green turtles in west and central Africa. Matthew Witt described the usefulness and importance of satellite telemetry work and Lucy Hawkes presented a case study on the migratory movements of loggerheads from Cape Verde. Jacques Fretey added a few words about his satellite tracking project in Gabon.

The meeting ended with video presentations from Libya (Abdulmaula Hamza) Tanzania (Freya St. John), the Nigerian TED workshop (Boluwaji Solarin), Benin (Josea Dossou-Bodjrenou), and SW Indian Ocean (Jerome Bourjea). The music and photography let us all relax after a long day.

Presentations were in English and French and the provisions for simultaneous translation were key to the success of the meeting--our thanks to the translators who kept up with us indefatigably through this long day. Funding for translation came from UNEP/MAP.

And of course, we owe a big "thank you" to Dimitris Maragritoulis and Thanos Belalidis for finding funds, arranging accommodation and coffee breaks, handling the logistics, and helping make it all happen! Angela Formia handled and distributed the Travel Grants, which was no easy task!

Additionally, Sue Ranger designed and printed T-Shirts for this event, which were a huge success and will be advertised on many chests around the globe:

Eugenia Naro, Phil Allman, and Nicole Fretey helped rake in the profits from these T-shirts by manning the sales table. Money from T-shirt sales will go into next year's Africa Travel Grant.

And Peter Richardson was our tireless timekeeper who maintained all speakers within their allotted time by yelling "one minute left"; he also helped with numerous details of organizing this Africa Regional Meeting.

Finally, this meeting required bringing together researchers from the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, and Atlantic Ocean corners of Africa, thereby overlapping with the Mediterranean (Paolo Casale) and Indian Ocean (Doug Hykle) regional meetings at the Symposium. However, Paolo and Doug generously accommodated our program and overlap in participants.

Despite a very long and tightly-packed day with few coffee breaks, the energy and enthusiasm shown by the participants and attendees were very rewarding. Truly, it was an inspiring event!

Photos by M.Godfrey, S.Ranger & M.Tiwari
PS: My apologies to those people for whom I did not have a photograph.
PPS: To contact any of the speakers, please refer to the seaturtle.org directory or send an email to A.Formia (aformia@seaturtle.org).

Compiled by David Olendo & Andrew Wamukota

Over time, with increased support from the local community, cooperation of government institutions and NGOs as well as private interests and volunteers, KESCOM has to date established fourteen community-based Turtle Conservation Groups (TCGs) along the Kenyan Coast. The activities of TCGs involve collecting turtle data and information at the ground level and engaging local communities in the conservation process through education and awareness programs, beach patrols and surveillance to protect turtle nests and nesting females, tagging of sea turtles, and fishermen-turtle-release programs. They also participate in beach-clean up events and currently some of them are involved in habitat protection measures mainly focusing on mangrove replanting. The groups include (from south to north-coast); Bodo Turtle Conservation Group, Funzi Turtle Club, Msambweni, Shimoni, Boabab Trust, Kilifi Community Conservation Group, Takaungu, Watamu Turtle Watch, Jambiani, Robinson Island Turtle Conservation Project, Tana Friends of the Marine Environment, Lamu Marine Conservation Project and WWF-Kiunga project. Their activities cover 51% of the Kenyan Coast and adjacent waters.

The data and information collected by TCGs is organized into a national database managed by KESCOM. Between 1997 and 2000 Turtle Conservation Groups in Kenya reported a total of 695 nests (laid within their areas of coverage) containing a total of 64,877 eggs and released a total of 51,217 hatchlings back to sea. For the same period 171 dead turtles were reported to KESCOM with about 85% of mortality cases occasioned by poaching and slaughtering of turtles and fishing activities (mainly trawling and entrapment in set nets). This current status of sea turtle exploitation in Kenya spells a major challenge to conservation and management efforts especially given that a large percentage of mortalities are human caused and mitigation measures partly involve major socio-cultural as well as socio-economic shifts. Furthermore, the legislation which protects sea turtles in Kenya i.e., the Wildlife Act (Cap 376) and the Fisheries Act (Cap 378) does not provide for the protection of habitats within which sea turtles occur except for nesting and foraging areas falling within the Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). And the lack of adequate financial and human resources continues to considerably slow the pace of conservation action.

Among KESCOM’s future plan of action is to strengthen its institutional partnerships and stakeholder involvement in conservation. In addition there are plans to support TCGs to identify potential sources of alternative livelihoods and spread out our efforts to other major areas of Kenya’s marine environment within the next few years through engagement of stakeholders in the tourism industry, local communities and donors. In addition plans are already in place to transit to a broader marine conservation program (especially of habitat conservation) utilizing sea turtles as a flagship. Eventually, KESCOM intents to shift actual conservation and management responsibilities to the local people but through a gradual process and play more of a coordinating role.

KESCOM Membership
The various categories of membership are
1 Student member
2 Individual member
3 Organization or cooperate member
4 Life member
5 Honorary member
Annual subscriptions for the financial year (June 1st to July 30th of the following calendar year) are:
1. Student member, Kshs 50
2. Individual member, Kshs 200
3. Organization or Corporate member, Kshs 500 or 2000 respectively
4. Life member, Kshs 10,000
As a member, you can run for office, vote during the annual general meeting as specified under the KESCOM TOR. You are also entitled to a copy of the Kasa News, Jambo Kasa and can participate in KESCOM activities.

Executive Committee:
Chairperson: Dr. Nyawira Muthiga
Vice Chairperson: Gladys Okemwa
Secretary: John Muasa
Treasuere: Sarah Ater
Members to the executive committee:
Mr. Benrick Ogutu
Mr. Mohamed Omar Said
Programs Coordinator: Andrew Wamukota
Contact: Box 84688-80100, Mombasa
Email: kescoms@yahoo.com

Wafae Benhardouze et Mustapha Aksissou
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, PO Box 2121, Tetouan 93002, Morocco

(ENGLISH SUMMARY AT VERY END)

Cet atelier entre dans le cadre d'un projet de coopération entre la Faculté des Sciences de Tetouan et Dr. Manjula Tiwari de NOAA-National Marine Fisheries Service en USA et Dr. Matthew Godfrey du North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission en USA. Le projet est intitulé : Surveillance de l’interaction entre les tortues marines et les pêcheries au Royaume du Maroc. Ce projet est financé par le programme Rufford Small Grants du Rufford Foundation et le Chelonian Research Institute. Nous espérons à travers cet atelier pouvoir collecter des données sur les tortues présentes dans les côtes marocaines ainsi que sensibiliser les pêcheurs pour la conservation des tortues marines au Maroc.

Le matin (10h-12h) a été consacré à donner aux pêcheurs un aperçu (en dialect arabe) sur les tortues marines et leur apprendre la méthodologie de prise des mesures pour avoir des données sur l’interaction entre les pêcheries et les tortues marines dans la région du port de Tanger. Les points traités concernent : but de l’atelier, informations générales sur les tortues marines, informations sur les tortues marines au Maroc, comment reconnaître les espèces de tortues marines ?, mensurations, remplissage de fiches, coupes de tissus, comment lire et mettre les bagues ? en utilisant une tortue en éponge pour illustration, comment traiter une tortue blessée ? Une discussion a été entamée avec les pêcheurs et la majorité ont compris la méthodologie et le but de l’atelier, cependant quelques précisions ont été faites pour certains qui n’ont pas bien saisi certains points. Certains ont exprimé leur disponibilité pour nous faire des sorties avec eux en mer.

Mme Wafae Benhardouze lors de l’atelier exposant le sujet aux pêcheurs:

Des instruments (bagues, compresseurs, cameras, fiches, rubans centimètres, carnets, crayons, scalpels, flacons à alcool, et cartes de recharges téléphoniques) ont été distribué sur 11 capitaines. Ces derniers nous ont donné leurs noms et leurs numéros téléphoniques et nous ont promis l’aide pour avoir des donnés sur le projet.
Tortue en éponge utilisée pour illustrer comment faire les mensurations et mettre les bagues etc… :

Voici les fiches en Arabe et en Français distribuées aux pêcheurs leur permettant de nous fournir des données sur les tortues capturées accidentellement dans leurs filets ou hameçons au port de Tanger:

Lors de l’atelier, les pêcheurs nous ont déclaré qu’ils sont entrain de pêcher par hameçons et c’est à partir du mois d’avril qu’ils pêcheront par filets où il y aura des captures accidentelles de tortues. Des représentants de la délégation des pêches maritimes et des associations des armateurs au port de Tanger ont été présents et nous ont promis d’inciter et de rappeler les pêcheurs pour la fourniture des données sur les tortues marines.
Une pause café et le déjeuner ont interrompu cette séance de matinée.

L’après midi (15h-17h), les enfants des pêcheurs et quelques membres de leurs familles ont assisté à une pause café lors d’un concours de dessin de tortue. 14 enfants (6 filles et 8 garçons) ont participé à ce concours. Le premier prix (Play Station) a été attribué à un garçon et les autres ont été très heureux d’avoir différents jouets.
Jury qui a jugé le meilleur dessin et attribuer le meilleur prix :

Garçon du pêcheur (Haouzi) à meilleur dessin et à meilleur prix entre Wafae et Mustapha !!

Enfants des pêcheurs montrant leurs dessins !!

Enfants des pêcheurs et leurs prix !! :

Nous espèrons à travers les résultats attendus cet atelier pouvoir contribuer à la connaissance des tortues marines dans la région de Tanger et mieux les protéger en apprenant aux pêcheurs l’importance et les méthodes de sauvetage des tortues marines. D’autres ateliers sont prévus à Casablanca, Agadir et Laâyoune pour collecter des données sur les tortues présentes dans les côtes atlantiques marocaines et sensibiliser les pêcheurs à la conservation des tortues marines au Maroc.

English summary:
In November 2005, Wafae Benhardouze and Mustapha Aksissou from the Université Abdelmalek Essaâdi in Tetouan, Morcocco, organized a training workshop for 20 fishermen at Tangier port. This workshop was part of a collaborative study between the Université Abdelmalek Essaâdi, Manjula Twari, and Matthew Godfrey to evaluate the impact of fisheries on sea turtles found in these waters. The project is funded by the Rufford Small Grants program in the UK and the Chelonian Research Institute. Through this workshop we tried to educate the fishermen about turtles and data collection techniques and also further strengthen our collaboration with them to collect data on accidentally captured sea turtles. Family members and children of the fishermen also participated in this workshop. A drawing competition was held for the children who then received prizes. Other workshops are being planned along the Moroccan coast in Casablanca, Agadir and Laâyoune.

As the opening piece to this newsletter, I thought I would share some recent, important developments in Gabon, which supports one of the largest leatherback nesting beaches in the world along with the Guianas, and introduce you to some of the important players in this country.

Manjula

Many different groups are involved with sea turtle research and conservation in Gabon: the government body Conseil National des Parcs Nationaux (CNPN); the local NGOs—Aventures Sans Frontières (ASF), Gabon Environnement, and Ibonga; the European Union program—PROTOMAC (Protection des Tortues Marines d’Afrique Centrale), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Part of the 2005 funding received from the MTCA was used by Angela Formia (in the photo below) to organize and run the first meeting for the “Partenariat pour les Tortues Marines au Gabon.” (= Partnership for sea turtle conservation in Gabon) in early September 2005. The rest of the funding was allocated to aerial surveys.

This meeting was necessary to establish greater interaction among the different groups and to form a cohesive partnership so that sea turtle conservation and research in Gabon can be done more effectively and in a less-fragmented manner. This partnership combines the efforts, expertise and initiatives of all project partners within a common framework of collaboration and cooperation.

The meeting opened with a speech from Solange Ngouessono, Conservator of the National Park of Mayumba and the National Focal Point for whales and sea turtles—she provided a brief chronological description of the evolution of sea turtle work in Gabon and highlighted her expectations for this 3-day workshop:

Franck Ndjimbi, Director of Communication of the CNPN (far right) thanked all the groups for attending and expressed the hope that a national strategy for the conservation of sea turtles in Gabon would be developed with contribution from all the partners. The Direction Générale des Eaux et Forêts (Ministry for Water and Forests) was also present.

Several presentations followed:
Earl Possardt of the US Fish and Wildlife Service gave a short presentation on the Marine Turtle Conservation Act:

Sandrine Ricois and Dominique Roumet (1st and 2nd from left) from the NGO Gabon Environnment described their sea turtle monitoring work on the beaches of Pongara and Mayumba. Alain Gibudi (3rd from left) and Alexis Billes (far right) of PROTOMAC presented their program and the Central African regional database they manage. Jacques Fretey of Programme KUDU and IUCN-France( 2nd from right) described the development of the West African sea turtle network.

Jean-Pierre Baye from the NGO Ibonga (1st from left) talked about the activities and goals of the project on the nesting beach of Gamba, and Bas Verhage (2nd from left) from WWF-Gabon described three years (2002-2005) of sea turtle monitoring in the Gamba Complex of Protected Areas:

Guy-Phillipe Sounguet (2nd from left) from the NGO Aventures Sans Frontières listed the current conservation, research, and education/outreach activities of their programs. Rich Parnell (1st from right) from the Wildlife Conservation Society gave a talk on marine threats to sea turtles in Gabon, and highlighted accidental capture in commercial fisheries by trawlers and longliners, accidental and intentional captures in artisanal fisheries, and pollution by debris, petroleum and seismic activities.

Clement Moukoula (1st from left) from Operation Loango of WCS-Gabon described sea turtle work on their stretch of beach. I (2nd from right) gave an overview of Peter Dutton’s leatherback genetics study in the Atlantic using mitochondrial and microsatellite markers and discussed the need to evaluate accidental captures in the fisheries.

Others at the meeting included:
The Conservators of the many parks in Gabon,

Maurice Moukekou of the Direction Générale de la Pêche et de l’Aquaculture which is the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture (in discussion here with Rich Parnell),

the Centre National des Données et de l’Information Océanographique (CNDIO = National Center for Oceanographic Information and Data),

Sharon Deem from the Smithsonian Institute and Lee White from the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Invitees from neighboring countries included Hilde Vanleeuwe from WCS in the Republic of Congo (seen here with Rich Parnell of WCS-Gabon (center) and Bas Verhage of WWF-Gabon)

as well as Rigoberto Esono from Equatorial Guinea ( immersed in a conversation with Earl Possardt) from the Instituto Nacional de Desarrollo Forestal y Gestión del Sistema de Areas Protegidas (INDEFOR).

The Chief of the Benga tribe in Northern Gabon (1st from right), Christian Mombet, was present and raised the issue of whether the Benga people should consume turtle meat. The discussion that ensued centered around finding alternatives, identifying the number of turtles that could be taken, condemning the accidental capture of turtles by trawlers, but generally emphasized the need to preserve traditional ways of the Benga.

Others who were present, but of whom we unfortunately don't have photographs included representatives of the Direction Générale de l’Environnement (Ministry of Environment) , Direction de la Recherche Scientifique (Ministry of Scientific Research) and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique (National Center for Scientific Research and Technology).

Discussions ensued about the major threats and problems at the nesting beaches as well as organization and structure of the collaborative network and data management. Scientific and logistics committees and several task forces were created to address various issues and to work within a common administration system. This meeting was a major step forward in collaborative sea turtle work in Gabon.

The meeting ended with Earl Possardt and Solange Ngouessono receiving “I love the turtles of Gabon” T-shirts: