A US$ 1.5 million donation to Nature Seekers, a non-profit, community-based nature conservation organisation in Matura, Trinidad, has given the group stable funding for the next five years, just months after the conservation group nearly declared insolvency.
In an interview with Guardian Media, Nature Seekers managing director Suzan Lakhan-Baptiste said this gift could not have come at a better time.
“This gift from the Age of Union (Alliance) is very much more significant than one could ever imagine. Before COVID-19, Nature Seekers was almost eradicated. The only revenue that Nature Seekers derive is from our guided tours. When the Ministry of Health announced no more beach, no more activities with water or anything like that, that put a nail in our coffin, no way of even generating any income,” she said
The Age of Union Alliance is a non-profit environmental alliance that supports high-impact projects addressing current and urgent conservation challenges. It was founded by Canadian tech leader and environmental activist Dax Dasilva in October last year, with an initial fund of US$40 million.
Dasilva took an interest in T&T’s Leatherback turtles and Nature Seekers on a visit to the country earlier this year.
Dasilva recounted his visit, “When I first saw the Leatherback turtle mothers, just a few months ago when we came, I felt like I was witnessing a dinosaur, and it’s truly special.”
He added, “I think we just fell in love with the natural setting in Trinidad and what we were seeing being done on the ground that’s been so effective.”
With all the issues affecting Trinidad and Tobago, it still begs the question–why Leatherback turtles?
Dasilva stated, “Turtles, especially Leatherback turtles, are a keystone species. They indicate the health of the overall ecosystem. If the Leatherback turtle is doing well, then we know that the ecosystem at large, all the smaller animals, all the smaller fish, all the plant life are also potentially thriving.”
Over the last three decades, Nature Seekers’ primary focus has been conserving and protecting sea turtles that nest in the region, including the Leatherback turtle.
Annually, the group engages in sea turtle monitoring, protection and data collection along the 8.8-kilometre-long Matura beach during the turtle nesting season that spans from March 1 to August 3.
During this period, the Matura beach can host 200-plus turtles per night in the peak season and is regarded as one of the last remaining strongholds for the species in the world.
However, with climate change and sea-level rise altering Trinidad’s coastlines, combined with the major influx of sargassum seaweed, changes in land use and drainage, rising ocean temperatures leading to food chains alterations, and the introduction of more destructive fishing practices, Nature Seekers’ importance in conservation and data collection cannot be underscored enough.
The non-profit organisation intends to use the donation for projects that span the next five years, with funding released from the Age of Union Alliance every three months.
Lakhan-Baptiste said they’ll be utilising their funds to support existing projects while kicking off new endeavours.
She said, “The money will be used for this monitoring of this beautiful 8.8 kilometre of beach, and we have to have a lot of human resources to be able to collect the data.”
Lakhan-Baptiste also noted that data collection is at the forefront of their projects to present data internationally.
Nature Seekers will measure the turtle population’s size, tag the species to understand migratory routes, and even the changing weights of nesting turtles during their eight to ten-day stay in T&T’s waters.
With changes in land use in the Matura area and heavier rainfall in shorter periods, which has been linked to climate change, more freshwater has been funnelling into Matura Beach, washing away turtle nests. As such, Nature Seekers will expand their hatchery boxes and nest relocation projects using the Age of Union Alliance donation, which may increase hatchling survival rates.