Sea Turtle Recovery Action Plan for Barbados - WIDECAST

Barbados Sea Turtles …
ested persons could be employed to monitor specific beaches throughout the nesting season.
Night surveys are preferred in order to deter poaching and to permit the systematic tagging of
females.
Persons employed to monitor beaches at night and tag post-nesting turtles will require
specific technical training. Hawksbills can be very easily deterred from nesting by activity on
the beach, and it is vital that survey activities of preferred nesting beaches do not result in these
habitats being avoided by turtles. Training sessions could be conducted by Bellairs Research
Institute staff. [N.B. An introductory training course in sea turtle biology and management is
available from the Caribbean Conservation Corporation, see section 4.55.] The important
Hilton-to-Ocean View stretch of south coast beach described above is already monitored in the
early morning, but nocturnal surveys would enable tagging to be initiated. Night surveys would
require the assistance and support of enforcement agencies.
4.12 Develop area-specific management plans
Presently, there are no specific management plans for sea turtles in Barbados. Although
there are provisions in current legislation for establishing marine reserves and protected beach
areas, the patchy spatial distribution of hawksbill nesting and the infrequency with which
leatherbacks nest make it difficult to identify and protect the nesting areas of either species.
However, the 1.5 km stretch of south coast beach described in section 4.112 (Barbados Hilton
east to Ocean View) appears to warrant special consideration; a specific management plan is
recommended. This beach is developed for most of its length, but buildings are set back and the
beach remains relatively wide and dark compared to most other south coast beaches. The recent
finding that a minimum of 15 hawksbills nested at this site during three consecutive years
(1989-1991) makes this area important to protect from any future development that will
negatively impact on sea turtle nesting. Hotels adjacent to the beach have already been
cooperative in monitoring nesting activity and attempting to minimize disorientation of
hatchlings from known nests by reducing the amount of light shining in the area of nests.
A disadvantage of designating particular areas for the protection of hawksbills is that this
may be seen as an adequate measure of protection and result in the relaxation of regulations
elsewhere on the island. In some cases, however, such as the site described above, specific
protection is encouraged. In addition, it is likely to become necessary for a beach or section of
beach to be reserved for nest reburial, perhaps through the Marine Areas (Preservation and
Enhancement) Cap 392, 1976 legislation (see section 4.21). Ultimately, the most appropriate
strategy for protecting nesting and feeding areas may lie in a coastal zone management plan
applicable to the whole coast of Barbados. Atherley (1987) suggests an outline for comprehensive
Coastal Zone Management legislation that would plug legal loopholes and give the
responsibility for enforcement to one independent agency with skills in coastal zone management.
A project for improving the institutional effectiveness of coastal zone management in
Barbados was conducted in 1991 through the Coastal Conservation Project Unit. The challenge
will be to integrate all the separate agencies into unified enforcement and policy implementation.
Coastal zone management legislation is especially important for the management of the (as yet)
largely undeveloped east coast.
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