Every year thousands of turtles come ashore along the beaches of the south Pacific coast of Nicaragua to lay their eggs. The female turtles return to the beaches on which they were born to lay an average of 100 ping-pong ball shaped eggs into nest holes dug out of the sand. The beaches in this region are of global importance for nesting turtles, including endangered olive ridley turtles, and critically endangered Pacific leatherback and hawksbill turtles.
Sadly these turtles face some sinister threats at the hands of humans. These include the poaching of turtle eggs by marginalised local communities for income, which significantly threatens turtle populations in the region. Additionally, the prevalence of plastic bags on nesting beaches poses a risk, as these are known to be consumed by, and do harm to, turtles.
Fauna & Flora International (FFI) started working in the region in 2001, and has since developed a turtle conservation programme in order to tackle these threats through a range of strategies. These include community ranger patrols, establishing community hatcheries, awareness raising, and supporting local people to find sustainable sources of income, for example through the Weaving for Nature initiative. This is where our turtle-friendly plastic comes in.
自然编织于2007年推出,involves the formation of women’s weaving groups, who collect plastic bags polluting beaches and weave them into products for sale, predominantly to tourists. The aim is to increase the household income of the participating women, thereby decreasing their incentive to poach turtle eggs, and at the same time to reduce the amount of plastic pollution on important turtle nesting beaches, to lower the risk of turtles consuming plastic bags.
学分：Alam Ramirez/FFI
The initiative has been promoted across a number of communities in the region. These communities were known to be poaching turtle eggs, including many of the weavers and their families. These sites also had high levels of plastic waste due to the wide use of plastic by a relatively large population (attracted to the area by the potential income from egg poaching), compounded by a lack of waste disposal facilities, which led to widespread discarding of plastic into the environment.
为大自然编织已成功地为更广泛的工作计划做出了贡献，该计划改善了乌龟的保护。特别是，这项倡议为以前依靠乌龟偷猎的家庭提供了可持续的生计选择，并改变了对乌龟保护的态度，因为国内协调员阿尔玛·苏珊娜（Alma Susana）证实：“许多妇女及其许多亲戚现在都是这项计划的一部分，曾经去海滩偷猎乌龟鸡蛋。现在他们参观了同一个海滩，但要清洁。”在2017/18筑巢季节，在九个棱皮龟巢中，有100％受到保护，免受Chacocente的偷猎，这是全球重要的海龟筑巢区域，导致137个棱角式孵化为海洋，而所有巢穴中有100％是100％poached prior to FFI’s intervention.
Anecdotal reports also suggest that plastic pollution levels on and around beaches have reduced. A woman from the weaving group in Astillero, a community near Chacocente, recounted: “I feel that in some way we have contributed towards a change in Astillero, because if you came here six years ago, that field over there would be filled with bags that were being blown into the air towards the sea.”
该倡议还成功增加了家庭收入。它有助于每月平均向每个织布工传递100美元的额外费用，在据估计平均工资为每月200美元的捕鱼家庭中，家庭收入的很大比例。
Furthermore, the women were a disadvantaged group within these marginalised communities; the initiative has brought them together so that they share a common purpose, and has boosted their sense of empowerment and motivation: “I am a grandmother. I am a wife. I am a housewife. I am also a weaver. I am Wonder Woman!” It has improved their social status within their families and the wider community, and the women are empowered to take more control over their lives; for example, they are starting to use family planning to achieve their desired family size.
但是，追求依靠塑料废物以应对塑料污染的企业并非没有挑战。制定这种主动性需要仔细检查潜在的社会，生计和健康影响。尽管如此，如上所述，如果适当考虑，它们可以实现积极的环境和社会经济影响。在开发自然的编织时，已经学习了许多教训。我们在学习文件中分享了这些内容，希望它们可以应用于计划使用类似方法以应对塑料污染的后续项目。
Filed Under:TECHNOLOGIES + PRODUCTS,Materials • advanced
