The playa chacahua sanctuary (PCS) in oaxaca, mexico (1602 39.75N 9752 58.42W - 1557 12.61N 9728 39.72W) is a federal protected area

This $174,160 Project Grant awarded by the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service under the Marine Turtle Conservation Fund (CFDA 15.645) will support community conservation efforts for leatherback turtles in the Playa Chacahua Sanctuary in Oaxaca, Mexico over three years.

The key objectives are to: 1) Estimate the leatherback turtle nesting population through monitoring and nest protection activities, 2) Implement a strategy to manage invasive predators in the surrounding communities, and 3) Conduct environmental education outreach on threats to leatherback turtles and sustainable visitation practices for at least 80% of the population in five communities. The project will collaborate with local and federal government stakeholders to directly protect at least 85 leatherback turtle nests annually, while also strengthening long-term population monitoring and threat mitigation programs.

IT includes four beaches of great importance for nesting leatherback turtles: LA tuza, SAN juan, baha DE chacahua and cerro hermoso, which total 30.3 miles and in which around 85 nests are registered annually. The sanctuary is administered by the national commission of protected natural areas. The main threats to leatherback turtles in the PCS include the illegal poaching of eggs for commercial purposes and for local consumption the impact of climate change on nests predation by dogs and poor visitation practices.although the PCS has a monitoring program that involves the participation of members of five community sea turtle conservation camps, the financial resources allocated for this program are insufficient to achieve effective protection of all nests and to generate updated information on the population of leatherback turtles that nest in the PCS. In order to address these threats, wildcoast and the PCS are collaborating to carry out the project community conservation of leatherback turtles in playa chacahua sanctuary, oaxaca, mexico. The goal is that in three years, on the beaches of the playa chacahua sanctuary, 100% of the leatherback turtles and their nests will be monitored and protected periodically and systematically with the support of five community camps and predator management actions and environmental education in five surrounding communities will be implemented. The objectives of the project are:objective 1: estimate the population of leatherback turtles nesting on the four beaches of playa chacahua sanctuary through monitoring and nest protection activities for three full seasons.objective 2: establish and implement a strategy for the management of invasive predators in the five communities surrounding the playa chacahua sanctuary.objective 3: carry out environmental education efforts for at least 80% of the population of five communities surrounding playa chacahua sanctuary highlighting threats to leatherback turtles, their cultural and ecological importance and sea turtle-safe visitation practices. This project collaborates with local and federal government stakeholders for the direct conservation of at least 85 nests within the PCS beaches. The results of this collaboration will help not only protect these individuals and keep these beaches safe for the species nesting, but will also strengthen a program that allows evaluating population trends and detecting threats, helping to develop management strategies and estimating progress towards the recovery of this highly threatened species, while strengthening the culture of participation and involvement in conservation projects of vulnerable indigenous communities.