Sea Turtle Conservancy

Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC) has worked for the conservation of endangered sea turtles in Costa Rica since 1959. Tortuguero hosts the largest green turtle (Chelonia mydas) rookery in the Western Hemisphere and also important nesting populations of leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) turtles. The Costa Rican legislature declared Tortuguero National Park in 1975 to protect the nesting turtles, the beach and the adjacent terrestrial habitats. STC researchers and volunteers, who are based at STC’s John H. Phipps Biological Field Station, continue to monitor nesting trends, growth rates and reproductive success begun by Dr. Archie Carr in the 1950s.

For 50 years, STC has conducted annual sea turtle nest monitoring studies on the 21 mile black sand beach of Tortuguero, Costa Rica, the nesting site of more endangered green turtles than anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere. Since being initiated by Dr. Archie Carr in the 1950s, this monitoring program has provided much information on the reproductive ecology and migratory habits of sea turtles. A recent peer-reviewed analysis showed an encouraging trend in green turtle nesting activity. Through this five-decade-long conservation initiative, STC has reversed the decline of green turtles in the Caribbean.