Reserva Playa Tortuga ~ Costa Rica Coral Restoration

Reserva Playa Tortuga is a non-profit biological research and education center formed in 2009 by members of the community (“citizen scientists”) and Costa Rican scientists. RPT aims to contribute to the fields of biological research and science-based conservation management, as well as to foster a culture of environmental conservation in the areas influenced by the national wetlands of the Terraba-Sierpe basin.

RPT’s main approaches over the last eight years have been to understand the current state of key coastal environmental resources and to identify stakeholders in the coastal zone who are influenced by the Térraba-Sierpe wetlands.

RPT objectives:

Develop positive communication with populations and communities.
Establish strategic alliances with governmental and non-governmental entities that work for the conservation and management of natural resources at local, national, and international levels.
Educate and train the local population through programs and opportunities to live in an environmentally sustainable way.

Projects:

Conservation of Sea Turtles on nesting beaches and in open water.
Alligator and Crocodile Monitoring.
Beach Profiles.
Bird Monitoring.
Tree boas population study.
Mammal inventory.
Environmental Education and Butterfly Garden.

Adrian Bonilla Salazar

Marine Biologist, graduated from the National University of Costa Rica, born in Alajuela, Costa Rica. He worked as a field biologist for Reserva Playa Tortuga (RPT) in the 2012-2013 season and is part of the permanent staff of RPT from January 2015 to date. He has extensive experience working with sea turtles both on nesting beaches and in open waters where he monitors hawksbill populations within the Marino Ballena National Park (PNMB), in 2018 he was in charge of PRONAMEC monitoring on the Dynamics of Sandy Beaches before Climate Change within the PNMB and in recent years it has been conducting beach profiles at Playa Tortuga in order to monitor changes in erosion due to the rise in sea level.

Oscar Brenes Arias

Oscar is a tropical biologist, graduated from the National University of Costa Rica, and worked as a field biologist and researcher from 2009 to 2014. Since 2009, Oscar has also been the Director of Science for the Reserve, in charge of the program of conservation of sea turtles in Playa Tortuga. Thanks to this effort, the beach was officially declared a nesting beach in 2014.

With regard to sea turtles, Oscar has written articles on nesting behavior and incubation temperature and has participated in the International Symposia of the International Society of Sea Turtles, since 2015 he is conducting research on Alligators and Crocodiles, capturing and marking individuals to make a study of population estimation and habitat preference of the different species.

Resources

Video about Tortuga Beach Reserve