Last weekend, we were “godparents” for our neighbors’ baby tortoises. Our tortoise-sitting duties were pretty low impact–they brought over an aquarium with two hamburger bun-sized, super adorable, shelled fellas and a bag of lettuce. All we had to do was plug in a heat lamp, change water, and feed lettuce a couple times a day…but boy, howdy, they sure were cute.
In the same shelled category (and markedly different but often confused) are their endangered water-dwelling cousins, sea turtles. There are seven species of sea turtle on our planet, and six of them are endangered or threatened. SEE Turtles has launched a new movement, Billion Baby Turtles, with the intention of bolstering their numbers and bringing populations back from the brink. In addition to the hands-on work of saving hatchlings from natural and mostly man-made hazards, they are also spearheading conservation education programs in prime turtle habitat regions around Latin America. One dollar saves a baby. It’s pretty simple math–even I can handle that. What a great way to get younger children involved in conservation and taking a stand–pretty much anyone can raise a buck, or many, many bucks. So far this year they have already saved over 30,000 endangered hatchlings at nesting beaches in El Salvador and Costa Rica. Just think…forego that latte on any random Tuesday, and you can save four turtles…probably more like five if you normally add flavored syrup!
The parent organization, See Turtles and SEE the Wild, specializes in conservation travel around the world–there are some truly amazing animal-focused trip opportunities here to add to your ever-growing list. Explore!
Change by Doing 
Posted by Erma U. Foley on June 2, 2013 at 5:41 PM
Video short focuses on late conservationist Lionel “Chocolate” Heredia Lionel ‘Chocolate’ Heredia’s contributions to Belize’s conservation history are numerous. His passing on April 12, 2013 was a significant loss to Belize, as he impacted the country and the tourism industry in ways that are so far-reaching. Of special significance was his fight for the Swallow Caye Manatee Reserve. There have been numerous accolades bestowed upon him, including the James Waight Conservation Award. In an effort to honor this conservation giant, Michael Desabrais has prepared a video short focusing on the Chocolate man himself. The short, part of a larger documentary on Caye Caulker, will be entered into the 2013 Belize International Film Festival to be held in July.