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Marine Turtle Newsletter 92:16, © 2001

Marine Turtle Newsletter-Online

Short Courses on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation in Venezuela: 2000 & 2001

Hedelvy J. Guada1 & Vicente J. Vera2
1Red para la Conservación de las Tortugas Marinas en el Gran Caribe, WIDECAST. Apdo 50.789. Caracas 1050-A. Venezuela (E-mail: hjguada@cantv.net).
2Dirección General de Fauna - MARN. Centro Simón Bolívar. El Silencio. Caracas. Venezuela.

"Courses on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation" in Venezuela have been organized since 1992. With the goal to provide a regional scope of the sea turtle research and conservation efforts, we have had important input from international instructors from Colombia, Brazil, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Support has been provided by domestic and international governmental and non-governmental institutions.

For 2000, the Xth Course was conducted in Puy Puy (Peninsula de Paria, Sucre State, Venezuela) the 4th-10th May 2000, with 13 participants from Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, Mexico and France. The main instructors were Laura Sarti Martínez (Instituto Nacional de la Pesca, Mexico), Félix Moncada (Centro de Investigaciones Pesqueras, Cuba), Joaquín Buitrago (EDIMAR-FLASA), Hedelvy Guada (WIDECAST-Universidad Simon Bolivar), Vicente Vera (Dirección de Fauna-MARN) and Ana Trujillo (PROVITA). Other invited lecturers were Alejandro Fallabrino (Proyecto Karumbe, Uruguay and Field Coordinator of the Cipara Project in 2000), Pedro Molina (Fundacion Thomas Merle), Marcos Yánez and Henry Benavente (Al Frente de Paria). The main supporters were WIDECAST, the BP Conservation Programme, SARPA, Tulsa Zoo, the Columbus Zoo and an anonymous donor. In-kind contributions were provided by Fundacion Thomas Merle, Al Frente de Paria, Corpomedina, Provita, Avior and the Ateneo de Carupano. The course covered 56 hours with theoretical sessions, field activities, laboratory sessions and video sessions. The students received a set of references including those provided by the invited instructors and the MTSG manual of "Research and management techniques for the conservation of sea turtles". All the participants approved the course.

The XIth Short Course on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation will be held between May 7 and 13, 2001, again in Puy Puy (Sucre State, Venezuela). Supporters to date include WIDECAST, Fundación Thomas Merle, Corpomedina and the Dirección de Extensión de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Universidad Central de Venezuela. The course is aimed at students and professionals in environmental and social sciences related to sea turtle conservation and research, as well to personnel involved in enforcement of relevant legislation.

For further information, please contact: Hedelvy Guada, (details above).