«Conservation and Illegal Trade of Marine Turtles: Why institutional mechanisms relative to marine turtle conservation in Costa Rica do not solve the poaching/conservation tension? »

Marine turtles, charismatic animals, are threatened to extinction worldwide. However, each year, illegal trade on endangered fauna products is estimated to several billion dollars. Costa Rica, an internationally renowned model in international conservation, faces important tensions between conservation of marine turtles and this illicit trade. Social and environmental conflicts result from them, raising poverty among some local populations. These conflicts are linked to a very low level or even an absence of participation of local populations in national park management. In addition, the creation of national parks induced expropriations and an intolerable increase of inequalities.

Although Costa Rica has signed a number of international environmental Conventions, and implemented a worldwide renowned protected area system; it still faces poaching activities. Based on an unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, today protected by law; the local economy switched to exploitation of a new resource (tourism) and/or continued with poaching. The unfair access on tourism business induces fight power among locals and raises poverty to extreme poverty for a category of population. Moreover, the absolute dependency on a unique resource threatens the rest of locals, and is questionable in the long term.

The key goal of this research is to analyse why the international and national normative frameworks relative to conservation are not applied, or, when they are applied, they are not effective. The research is based on this central hypothesis:

Environmental norms in Costa Rica do not allow stakeholders to conciliate conservation in marine turtle management.

The analysis of Costa Rican institutions will examine the low efficacy of that system confronted to the demand for results of international donors agencies.     

This research, developed in collaboration with CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, UNEP), started in 2005, including field work with a national NGO (ANAI) in the Cahuita National Park and continued with a second one in the Tortuguero National Park, in collaboration with the CCC (Caribbean Conservation Corporation).

 

Contact :

Claire Galloni d’Istria
Master of Arts in Development Studies Candidate
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, IHEID
E-mail : claire.galloni@gmail.com

Marc Hufty
Professor
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, IHEID
E-mail : marc.hufty@iued.unige.ch

Roxana Silman
Regional Director, CCC                        
San Pedro, COSTA RICA
E-mail: roxana@cccturtle.org