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Report 2 (of 5): Tortoise Trouble
- Senegal
Introduction
Over the past 50 years, the African spurred tortoise, Geochelone
Sulcata - the world’s largest land turtle
- once common across the Sahel, has become increasingly
rare. This is partly as a result of the general
depletion of their habitat, such as desertification,
deforestation, bushfires and overgrazing - the
loss of ground cover exposes the young tortoises
to birds of prey and rodents. Their numbers have
also been reduced through poaching and capture
by local people who keep them as pets, or sell
them to dealers abroad for up to US$300. In times
of drought, the tortoise has even been used as
a source of food.
S.O.S. Sulcata
The Rural Foundation for Development (FRD) is a
not-for-profit organisation which aims to promote
development that improves conditions for women and
protects biodiversity through agronomy and reforestation.
Thomas Diagne, an agronomist and conservationist,
has devoted his skills and energies over the past
five years to protecting the giant tortoises in Senegal.
In 1993, as a project of the Rural Foundation for
Development, Diagne, in conjunction with Bernard
Devaux, a French biologist specialising in tortoises
and director of SOPTOM, the Station d’Observation
et de Protection des Tortes, set up S.O.S. Sulcata.
The mission of S.O.S. Sulcata is to save the tortoise
from extinction and encourage its repopulation in
its natural environment from specimens rescued from
captivity.
S.O.S. Sulcata provides homes for tortoises which
have been seized by customs and police, recovered
from museums and zoos, or donated by individuals
who can no longer keep them because of their great
size. The sanctuary also operates as a repopulation
centre for turtles.
The Turtles’ Village of Senegal
S.O.S. Sulcata aims to finance the programme by
involving the general public. It has therefore been
necessary to create a centre that could be visited,
that could educate the Senegalese people and tourists,
and at the same bring in funds. State authorities
made available a 15 hectare plot a few kilometres
away from the original sanctuary (opened in 1993)
that was closer to a tourist route.
With the support of the Canadian Embassy in Dakar,
Diagne built an enclosure to protect the surrounding
vegetation. Funds from the European Union have helped
to pay for the building and provide equipment. Most
of the funding for running the new centre has so
far come from SOPTOM in France.
The new centre, known as the Turtles’ Village
of Senegal, is a refuge for the giant tortoises and
turtles indigenous to Senegal. It is situated only
6 kilometres from the city of Rufisque and is about
30 kilometres north-east of the capital, Dakar. The
new centre has five permanent members of staff and
a biologist.
The sanctuary now has 500 Sulcata tortoises, including
over 100 adults, the rest are babies born in the
hatcheries. Other species of Senegalese turtles that
have been recovered from captivity are protected
at the Turtles’ Village - the Bell’s
eastern hinged tortoise, the Senegal flapshell turtle,
the Adanson’s mud turtle, the West African
black turtle and the common African helmeted turtle.
There are now, in total, over 800 turtles at the
centre.
Public Support
Ultimately, Diagne wants to breed enough giant African
spurred tortoises to release them back into the wild,
into supervised areas, such as national parks and
fauna reserves. In order to achieve this, the general
public need to be properly educated about all the
land turtles and reptiles of Senegal and about the
country’s rich biodiversity.
The participation of the public, accessible information,
guided visits, press articles, interviews, videos
and teaching documents are all essential for success
in implementing a protection programme for the turtles,
otherwise, they could end up back in captivity.
For further information, please contact:
Intermediate Technology would like to thank the
people at the Turtles’ Village of Senegal
for providing the original material on the protection
of Senegalese Tortoises.
Further reading available from ITDG Development
Bookshop
Beyond Fences: Seeking social sustainability
in conservation. Volume 1 A process companion.
G. Borrini-Feyeraldenal
IUCN - The World Conservation Union PO1 2831703409 £9.50
pb
Beyond Fences: Seeking social sustainability
in conservation. Volume 2 A resource book.
G. Borrini-Feyeraldenal
IUCN - The World Conservation Union PO1 2831703417 £9.50
pb
Social Change and Conservation: Environmental
politics and impacts of national parks and protected
areas.
Edited by Krishna B. Ghimire and Michael P. Pimbert
Protected areas and conservation policies are usually established
with only local nature and wildlife in mind. Yet, they can have
far-reaching consequences for local populations, often undermining
their access to resources and their livelihoods. Social change
and conservation is a comprehensive discussion of the social consequences
of protected area schemes and conservation policies. Drawing on
case studies from around the world, it reviews current trends,
and shows their effect on local people, and argues for a comprehensive
overhaul of conservation thinking and practice.
£18.95 342pp pb (Earthscan) PO1 1853834106
Whose Eden? An overview of community approaches
to wildlife management.
IIED
This report provides three broad principles for achieving effective
participation of communities in the conservation of wildlife. Practical
ways in which organisations can integrate communities into on-going
projects, and work with the full participation of local producers
in wildlife management are described. Recommendations are made
on ways to promote community management of wildlife resources,
and ten applied research topics are given for identifying the full
range of conditions in which community wildlife management might
succeed.
£16.50 124pp (IIED) PO1 0905347749
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