Christine Light

Christine Light

Aug 27, 2016

Group 6 Copy 91
2

Engaging the Community

Developing relationships with the local community is an important step in laying the groundwork for our project. Community members that we are fostering relationships with include former and current hunters as well as exporters, some of whom have a limited understanding of the plight of the two local species.  We have seen these very types of hunters and exporters empowered to become species stewards and given our long-term goals which include community awareness, education, and conservation incentives, we hope to inspire them to feel a sense of pride and commitment toward protecting their local turtles in their natural habitat. 

2 comments

Join the conversation!Sign In
  • Christine Light
    Christine LightResearcher
    Yes, we totally agree! Without the cooperation of the community, any work we do will be wasted. A large portion of our project will involve community outreach and education.
    Oct 06, 2016
  • Mark Gonzalez
    Mark Gonzalez
    The community will carry forward the Good Work of protecting their land and their animals. They remain long after the science has been done. Biodiversity is key and each link in the chain is as vital to those above and below the food chain, including humans.
    Oct 04, 2016

About This Project

Sulawesi, Indonesia, is home to many species found nowhere else on Earth. Although rich in biodiversity, Sulawesi has only two endemic turtles: the Endangered Forsten's Tortoise and the Critically Endangered Sulawesi Forest Turtle. We propose to conduct surveys to determine current population sizes and distributions of these turtles, initiating a long-term project to support turtle conservation, graduate research education, citizen science, capacity building, and community-based awareness.

Blast off!

Browse Other Projects on Experiment

Related Projects

Wormfree World - Finding New Cures

Hookworms affect the lives of more than 400,000,000 men, women and children around the world. The most effective...

Viral Causes of Lung Cancer

We have special access to blood specimens collected from more than 9,000 cancer free people. These individuals...

Cannibalism in Giant Tyrannosaurs

This is the key question we hope to answer with this study. This project is to fund research into a skull...

Backer Badge Funded

Add a comment