British Volunteer Speaks Up
Earthwatch-supported sea turtle projects have formed an especially loyal and active cadre of veteran volunteers who have participated in a number of ways. A British team member on Saving the Leatherback Turtle in the 1980s was so incensed when he heard about turtle-poaching on the British Virgin Islands that he wrote to Prince Philip. This letter resulted in greater protection for leatherbacks and other turtles in the BVI.
Volunteers Help Save a Nesting Site
In 2002, when Dr. Frank Paladino (Indiana-Purdue University) wanted to support new legislation in Costa Rica that would buffer and further protect Parque Nacional Las Baulas, he garnered more than 3,000 emails from Earthwatch volunteers and friends around the world, from Europe to Japan to Brazil, urging the Costa Rican government to ban any further development on this critical leatherback nesting beach. The Costa Rican president has not only followed the recommendation but has also temporarily extended its application to Costa Rica's other sea turtle nesting beaches until the legislation becomes law.