Sea Turtle Recovery Action Plan for Barbados - WIDECAST

Barbados Sea Turtles …
- The TPD should grant permission to establish a protected beach hatchery if it becomes
necessary (perhaps at Folkestone Park, St. James). A hatchery would allow threatened sea turtle
nests to be relocated and their progress and hatching success to be closely monitored.
4.613 National Conservation Commission (NCC)
The National Conservation Commission (NCC) has an important role to play in the
recovery plan for sea turtles in Barbados, both indirectly and directly. Employees of the
Commission include beach park rangers and wardens, life guards, beach cleaners and a park
naturalist (Folkestone Park and Marine Museum). Many of these personnel are working on
beaches from early morning, and therefore have the potential to contribute greatly to the
monitoring of sea turtle nesting and hatching activity. NCC employees are also engaged in
"de-bushing" in efforts to beautify and enhance the safety of wastelands.
Recommendations
- De-bushing of areas within the coastal zone should be kept to a minimum in order to
reduce soil erosion and the consequent deterioration of nearshore water quality resulting from an
influx of sediment-loaded run-off.
- Beach cleaning should be restricted to the raking of dead plant material and garbage,
rather than the removal of living beach vegetation. It may be useful to legally protect beach
vegetation, perhaps under the National Conservation Commission Act. Burning of beach
garbage at numerous points along the East Coast road, followed by the burial of ashes and
non-combustible items, is the method presently used for disposal of raked material. A small
number of sites for the burning of garbage should be designated, and a method devised to
transport garbage to these sites. Widespread burning of garbage on the beach is unsightly,
causes pollution of the sand, kills embryos developing in eggs buried beneath the sand, and may
deter turtles from using affected stretches of beach for nesting.
- The participation of the NCC in turtle monitoring activities should be formalized. The
ways in which the NCC staff can assist in turtle monitoring activities could be incorporated into
a short series of talks and slide shows aimed at increasing the awareness of NCC employees
about the beach environment. This series could be presented by the Bellairs Research Institute.
4.614 Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries
The Fisheries Division, a unit within the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, has
as one of its functions to monitor public compliance with the Fisheries Regulation Act of 1904.
The Fisheries Division is aware that the present legislation protecting sea turtles (see section 4.21
for details) is insufficient.
Recommendations
- The Fisheries Division should pursue a permanent alteration to the Fisheries Regulation
Act, giving full protection to sea turtles of all size classes and species, and prohibiting the use of
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