THE lack of a common regional standard for sea turtle monitoring has prompted a major capacity-building drive to safeguard the ancient mariners of the Pacific, says Pacific BioScapes Programme project manager Etienne Delattre. The week-long turtle monitoring training is taking place at the South Sea Island in the Mamanuca Group.
The initiative was made possible through the support of the Pacific BioScapes Programme, a European Union Funded action managed and implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). Mr Delattre said while turtle conservation was a priority, the methods used to track populations varied wildly across the region. “The practice of turtle population monitoring in different countries is very diverse. Some are stronger than others,” he said.
