Last year (2010), the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) conducted a country-wide survey in Belize to assess the current conservation status of Dermatemys in what is believed to be its last stronghold. Results of the survey indicated that Dermatemys (locally known as “hicatee”) is heavily depleted in most of Belize, but healthy populations remain in a few remote areas. Then, in March 2011, we reported on two training workshops that Thomas Rainwater conducted in Belize, basically building capacity for long-term monitoring of Hicatee (Dermatemys) populations in the wild. In parallel with these efforts, the TSA has advanced the concept of developing a captive program that could meet several long-term goals including building an assurance colony and providing headstarted turtles for restoring depleted wild populations. Unfortunately, we believe that Hicatee populations will likely continue to decline across their range and in ten years could only exist as isolated populations in remote areas. Eating Hicatee is too culturally ingrained to simply go away. Restoration efforts may depend on headstarting and release or translocations, and this effort will need to be done to scale. Small breeding efforts will not be sufficient. The TSA believes that we should develop the basic captive techniques now and begin to lay the foundation for what may be inevitable.

We just completed the second of our two Hicatee (Dermatemys mawii) Survey and Monitoring Workshops in Belize. After several days down south for the first workshop, this time we were up north on the New River Lagoon and associated tributaries. New River Lagoon is an approximately 27 mile long lagoon located in north-central Belize and is the largest body of freshwater in the country. Like the southern workshop, we had an outstanding and diverse group of attendants at the northern workshop, including representatives from the Belize Audubon Society, the Belize Fisheries Department, the Belize Forestry Department, the Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education (BFREE), and Lamanai Field Research Center (LFRC).

We all met at the LFRC on Thursday afternoon, and after a brief orientation and dinner we headed out onto the New River Lagoon to conduct net surveys at the confluence of the lagoon and New River where Dermatemys has been observed by local fishermen. No turtles were captured that night, but workshop attendants got experience with our netting procedure, and in between net checks we had great conversations about issues regarding Dermatemys status and exploitation in Belize. These talks were one of endless examples of the critical knowledge that Belizeans have regarding the realities (including politics) of Dermatemys conservation in their country and how important it is for different groups to work together for effective conservation.

Just a quick note to say we just successfully completed the first of two Hicatee (Central American River Turtle, Dermatemys mawii) Survey and Monitoring Workshops in Belize.  This first workshop was conducted on the Rio Grande in southern Belize, near the town of Punta Gorda.  The second workshop begins tomorrow on the New River Lagoon in northern Belize. 

Click here  for a PDF version of the full report.

The plight of the planet's tortoises and turtles -- creatures that have roamed the Earth for 220 million years -- has never been greater, according to the newly released report "Turtles in Trouble: Top 25+ Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles ."  It shows the world's 25 most endangered tortoises and freshwater turtles will become extinct in the next few decades without concerted conservation efforts.

On December 7, 2010, the first ever Hickatee Conservation Forum and Workshop was held at the University of Belize (UB), Belmopan Campus. The event was organized by the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), in collaboration with the Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education (BFREE), the Environmental Research Institute (ERI) at UB and the Belize Fisheries Department. The purpose of the workshop was to bring together members of the scientific community, government officials, and Belize’s extensive NGO community to share information regarding the Hickatee or Central American river turtle (Dermatemys mawi).

On May 7th, we traveled back to Gales Point to survey Northern Lagoon.  As is the case with Southern Lagoon, local biologist Kevin Andrewin and others informed us that Dermatemys is mostly found in the rivers and creeks feeding into the lagoon rather than the lagoon itself.  We therefore attempted to focus on the three main creeks emptying into Northern Lagoon:  Tum Tum Creek, Freshwater Creek, and Wagner Creek.  Like the creeks feeding into Southern Lagoon, these creeks are brackish and dominated by red mangrove.  At dark, we made the ~ 45 minute boat ride from Gales Point across Southern Lagoon, through Main Creek, and into and across Northern Lagoon (extreme northwest corner) to the mouth of Tum Tum Creek.  Kevin, who knows these lagoons and creeks as well as anyone, captained the boat. 

Early on May 2, we met the fisherman and boat driver (also a respected turtle hunter) by the river at St. Paul Bank for the ~1.5 hour journey up the Belize River (to the Big Falls area) for a day of diving for hickatees.  Seven of the boat driver's friends showed up as well, and they soon began walking through the forest to a rendezvous point upriver where we would pick them up for the last few km of the trip to the dive spot.  We tied our canoe off to the back of the boat and headed out.  We had only been moving for about 5 minutes when we saw a large Dermatemys at the surface of the water in the middle of the river.  It quickly darted downward and out of site.  We traveled to a stretch of river that the fisherman said usually has many turtles, and he informed us that hickatee had not been harvested there this year.  However, several of the locals on the trip estimated that ~300-500 Dermatemys are taken from the Belize River from Bermudian Landing to More Tomorrow each year. 

On April 30, we set out to survey Cook's Lagoon, Cook's Creek, and Mussel Creek in central Belize.  These are areas that Don Moll surveyed for Dermatemys in the early 1980s.  Mussel Creek leads to Cook's Creek, which then leads to Cook's Lagoon.  Our plan was to paddle our way to Cook's Lagoon before nightfall and then after dark make our way back to our vehicle, surveying the lagoon, Cook's Creek, and Mussel Creek along the way.  We had been warned by locals that Cook's Creek was choked with vegetation, and it would be difficult at best to make it through.  They were correct. 

On April 28, we traveled to Gales Point to survey Southern Lagoon. We met with Kevin Andrewin, a Belizean biologist and conservationist who has been working with manatees and hawksbill turtles for years in Southern Lagoon and throughout Belize. He and other residents of Gales Point told us that Dermatemys is still common to abundant in the area, and are so for a couple of reasons. First, they said that people living in the Gales Point area only take Dermatemys occasionally for subsistence and do not hunt them commercially. One hunter, who was proud of this fact, gladly showed us the shell of a Dermatemys he and his family feasted on for two days around Easter. He said that generally all Gales Point residents are alarmed by "outsiders" that do come into the area take Dermatemys commercially. Second, although people from other areas of Belize do come to Southern Lagoon and associated tributaries to hunt Dermatemys commercially, they are often limited in what they can collect due to the deep water associated with the creeks and rivers that empty into the lagoon. Most commercial hunters in the area collect turtles by diving, but most will not dive in these deep, dark river sections for fear of large crocodiles, sharks, and other potentially dangerous animals they may encounter.

On April 23rd, we conducted a spotlight survey of ~ 16 km of the Sittee River just south of Dangriga.  The locals there say turtles are in the river, but most are sliders (Trachemys) and loggerheads (Staurotypus).  They say Dermatemys are there but are seldom seen.  We saw none during our survey.