Sun, Sand and Sea Turtles.pub - DCNA

163 Pages·2007·9.09 MB·English

ABSTRACT

During a 3-month internship on the Caribbean island of Nevis this past summer (2006), I devel-
oped a summer camp for local children, “Sun, Sand and Sea Turtles” sponsored and supervised by the
Department of Fisheries, a local non-profit organization (Nevis Turtle Group, NTG), and the Wider Car-
ibbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST). The camp was initiated as a collaboration be-
tween the Four Seasons Resort in Nevis and NTG. The success of the summer camp program became
the inspiration for my master’s project. The specific objective of my master’s project was to produce a
detailed (and ultimately multilingual, English, Spanish, French) curriculum guide for the “Sun, Sand
and Sea Turtles” program, including all necessary resources to successfully implement a week-long sum-
mer camp focused on the basic biology, contemporary threats (both man-made and natural), and con-
servation issues that relate to sea turtles in the Caribbean Sea. “Sun, Sand and Sea Turtles” has been
designed as a 15-hour camp organized over five consecutive days and the intended age range is 9-15
years. At the end of the five days, the students receive Course Completion Certificates stating that they
have successfully completed the camp and are now Junior Members of a local natural resource agency or
conservation group, with whom a partnership had been established by the Instructor beforehand. Upon
completion, the Guide will be repatriated to Nevis, where it was conceived, and also distributed through-
out the Caribbean region through the efforts of WIDECAST. As a result of educating Nevisian youth, the
NTG saw an elevated island-wide interest in sea turtle conservation, including increased participation of
local adults in nighttime beach monitoring. With this in mind, I anticipate that “Sun, Sand and Sea Tur-
tles” will enhance sea turtle conservation programs in Nevis, as well as inspire similar efforts throughout
the Caribbean region and beyond.
_________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION

Historically, the Caribbean Sea was home to an inestimatable number of sea tur-
tles. Contemporary sea turtle populations are severely depleted from what they were
even a century ago. In addition to direct harvest for their meat, eggs, shell, skin and
oil, sea turtles are often accidentally caught in active or abandoned fishing gear. Other
human induced threats, such as pollution and marine debris, coastal development and
ocean-based tourism, have damaged or eliminated many Caribbean nesting beaches
and feeding grounds (Eckert and Honebrink 1992, Gulko and Eckert, 2004 ).

While cooperative and collaborative action between Caribbean islands is crucial
to the survival of migratory marine species, including sea turtles, conservation is most
often undertaken at a local level. In order for communities to take action and to ensure
that these actions are rooted in the principles of sustainable use (whether that use is
consumptive or non-consumptive), natural resource managers and residents alike
must become more literate in the complexities of sea turtle biology and management
issues. Because sea turtle conservation is a long-term challenge, it is important to edu-
cate those who will be accountable for the resolution of this problem in the future: our
youth.

OBJECTIVE

At the request of the Nevis Department of Fisheries, I was invited to the island
to assist with the establishment of a Sea Turtle Conservation Program during the sum-
mer of 2006. The goal of the Sea Turtle Conservation Program was to involve local
communities in conservation efforts aimed at ensuring that sea turtles will survive to
meet the needs of present and future generations. A major objective of the Conserva-
tion Program was to develop a public education program on Nevis, a small island in the
Eastern Caribbean, which can be adapted for use in neighboring islands. As a certified
environmental educator, this mission genuinely appealed to me.

During a 3-month internship on the island this past summer (2006), I devel-
oped a summer camp for local children, “Sun, Sand and Sea Turtles” sponsored and
supervised by the Department of Fisheries, a local non-profit organization (Nevis Tur-
tle Group, NTG), and the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network
(WIDECAST). The camp was initiated as a collaboration between the Four Seasons Re-
sort in Nevis and NTG. The success of the summer camp program became the inspira-
tion for my master’s project.

What became clear during my internship was that opportunities to reach active
youth with a positive and informed conservation message relevant to their lives were
widely available during summer camps and other youth programs, both rural and ur-
ban, but a lack of curriculum materials suited to these settings meant that these oppor-
tunities were routinely lost.

My goal was to fill this need with a researched and academically rigorous sylla-
bus incorporating crafts and other hands-on activities through nonformal environmen-
tal education. Nonformal environmental education is defined as education about the
environment that takes place at nonformal settings such as parks, zoos, nature centers,
community centers, youth camps, etc., rather than in a classroom or school. Simply
stated, it is any organized educational activity about the environment that takes place
outside the formal education system (NAAEE, 2006).

The specific objective of my master’s project was to produce a detailed (and ulti-
mately multilingual) curriculum guide for the “Sun, Sand and Sea Turtles” program,
including all necessary resources to successfully implement a week-long summer camp
focused on the basic biology, contemporary threats (both man-made and natural), and
conservation issues that relate to sea turtles in the Caribbean Sea. The intended age
range is 9-15 years.

In partnership with WIDECAST, the guide will be translated and made available
in both print and electronic formats to any interested party, allowing “Sun, Sand and
Sea Turtles” to be replicated throughout the Caribbean region and beyond.

METHODS

“Sun, Sand and Sea Turtles” has been designed as a 15-hour camp organized
over five consecutive days. Each day focuses on a particular topic of sea turtle biology
and/or conservation, as follows:

Day 1: Introduction to Sea Turtles

Day 2: Turtle Tracks and Nesting Behavior

Day 3: Natural Threats to Sea Turtle Survival

Day 4: Human Associated Threats to Sea Turtle Survival

Day 5: How People can Help Sea Turtles

Each day begins with a craft or game that introduces the topic. Lesson plans for
each activity are included in the Guide. The lesson plans have been designed to provide
instructions on how to implement the game(s) or craft(s) that relate specifically to the
topic of the day.

The first page of each lesson plan provides the following information: prepara-
tion and activity times, materials needed, setting, subject areas that the lesson plan cor-
relates to, skills and vocabulary, as well as a summary of the activity, the objectives and
the procedure for implementing the activity. Detailed step-by-step instructions are
provided with each activity. Optional extension activities are also included. All neces-
sary cards, game pieces, fact sheets, etc. are included in the Guide.
A 30-45 minute PowerPoint presentation provides comprehensive and photo-
illustrated background information for each topic, and imparts knowledge necessary
for the successful completion of the day’s activities. All PowerPoint presentations are
provided on a CD included with the Guide, along with a complete narration for each
presentation.

Additional activities, including a number of outdoor and indoor options, follow
the PowerPoint presentation to reinforce the day’s lesson through hands-on participa-
tion. Each day concludes with a review of the material and a written evaluation of the
day by each student. At the end of the five days, the students receive Course Comple-
tion Certificates stating that they have successfully completed the camp and are now
Junior Members of a local natural resource agency or conservation group, with whom a
partnership had been established by the Instructor beforehand.

RESULTS

A total of 80 Nevisian children successfully completed the “Sun, Sand and Sea
Turtle” program in the summer of 2006. Each participant was pronounced a Junior
Member of the Nevis Turtle Group (NTG) . As a result of educating Nevisian youth, the
NTG saw an elevated island-wide interest in sea turtle conservation, including in-
creased participation of local adults in nighttime beach monitoring.

It is clear that programs like “Sun, Sand and Sea Turtles”, implemented in ways
that challenge youth to creatively consider their role in local ecological and policy is-
sues, have the potential to increase public awareness of conservation issues – among
both youth and their families – which is the first step toward successfully and sustaina-
bly managing natural resources, including endangered sea turtles. Another significant
accomplishment of this project was that it was a unique collaborative effort between
business (Four Seasons Resort), Government, national (NTG) and international
(WIDECAST) NGOs, and local communities and provided a model for similar collabo-
rations in the future.

A detailed and multilingual (English, Spanish, French) curriculum guide will be
the final result of my master’s project. The guide will be repatriated to Nevis, where it
was conceived, and also distributed throughout the Caribbean region through the ef-
forts of WIDECAST. The Guide will be available in hard copy, as well as in electronic
format at www.widecast.org/educators, along with a number of other resources for
Caribbean teachers and non-traditional educators (e.g. hotel- and park-based summer
camp counselors). With this in mind, I anticipate that “Sun, Sand and Sea Turtles” will
enhance sea turtle conservation programs in Nevis, as well as inspire similar efforts
throughout the Caribbean region and beyond.
RESOURCES AND REFERENCES

American Forest Foundation. 2003. Project Learning Tree: Environmental Education PreK-8
Activity Guide. Bozeman, Montana.

Anon. 2004. Project Wet Curriculum and Activity Guide. The Watercourse, Montana State
University.

Bland, S. 2001. Sea Turtle Trek. Hammocks Beach State Park. Swansboro, North Carolina.

Council for Environmental Education (ed.). 1992. Aquatic Project Wild K-12 Activity Guide.
Project Wild, USA.

Crutchfiled, Fran. 1993. Tracks in the Sand. Jockey’s Ridge State Park. Nags Head, North
Carolina.

Eckert, KL (ed.) et al. 1999. Research and Management Techniques for the conservation of
Sea turtles, IUCN.SSC. Marine Turtle Specialist Group Publication no. 4.

Eckert, KL and TD Honebrink. 1992. WIDECAST Sea Turtle Recovery Action Plan for St. Kitts
and Nevis. CEP Tech. Report No. 17. UNEP Caribbean Environment Pro gramme,
Kingston, Jamaica. Xiii + 116 pp.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. 2002. Sea Turtle Conservation Guide
lines. http://myfwc.com/seaturtle/Guidelines/MarineTurtleGuidleines.htm

Gulko, DA and Eckert KL. 2004. Sea Turtles: An Ecological Guide. Mutual Publishing, Hono
lulu, HI. 128 pp.

Harold, Sera and Karen L. Eckert. 2005. Endangered Caribbean Sea Turtles: An Educator’s
Handbook. Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST) Technical
Report 3. Beaufort , North Carolina. 176pp.

Lutz, PL and Musick, JA. 1997. The Biology of Sea Turtles. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

Lutz, PL, John A. Musick, and Jeanette Wyneken. 2003. The Biology of Sea Turtles Volume II.
CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

North American Association of Environmental Educators. 2006. Nonformal Enviromental
Education Programs: Guidelines for Excellence. <http://www.naaee.orgprograms-
and-initiatives/guidelines-for-excellence/materials-guidelines/nonformal-guidelines>.

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and North Carolina Division of Marine Fisher
ies. 2000. North Carolina Project CATCH. Division of Conservation Education. Ra
leigh, North Carolina.

Population Connection Education Program. Washington, DC.

Ripple, J. 1996. Sea Turtles. Voyageur Press, Inc. Vancouver, B.C.

Spotila, JR. 2004. Sea Turtles: A Complete Guide to their Biology and Conservation. The
John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland.
Notice:

This Guide is a pre-print copy. Field tests are ongoing and final minor changes have yet to
be made.

The project itself is quite complete, but if you would like to use any part of the Guide,
please access a final copy from the WIDECAST website http://www.widecast.org or re-
quest a hard copy from WIDECAST:

Dr. Karen L. Eckert
Director, WIDECAST
135 Duke Marine Lab Road
Beaufort, NC 28516
Email: [email protected]

Alicia B. Marin
Public Outreach Educator
Georgia Sea Turtle Center
100 James Road
Jekyll Island, GA 31527
Email: [email protected]
Sun, Sand and Sea Turtles:
Marin (2007) Sun, Sand and Sea Turtles WIDECAST Technical Report 8

Inspiring Caribbean Youth through
Nonformal Education

Alicia B. Marin

WIDECAST Technical Report No. 8
7
2007
Marin (2007) Sun, Sand and Sea Turtles WIDECAST Technical Report 8

Front Cover: Photo by Alicia B. Marin

For bibliographic purposes, this document may be cited as:

Marin, Alicia B. 2007. Sun, Sand and Sea Turtles: Inspiring Caribbean Youth through
Nonformal Education (Karen L. Eckert, Editor). Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conser-
vation Network (WIDECAST) Technical Report 8. Beaufort, NC. 145pp.

Copies of this publication may be obtained from:

WIDECAST
135 Duke Marine Lab Road
Beaufort, North Carolina 28516
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
[email protected]
Marin (2007) Sun, Sand and Sea Turtles WIDECAST Technical Report 8

Sun, Sand and Sea Turtles:
Inspiring Caribbean Youth through
Nonformal Education

Alicia B. Marin

Karen L. Eckert, Editor

A project sponsored by: