After the successful release of marine turtles in the Farol coast last Saturday, the Port of Açu, Tamar project and the Mayor’s Office of Campos scheduled new dates for the activity, which is open to the public. All release actions will take place across from the booth set up by the Municipal Secretariat of Environmental Development. The next one is planned for Friday at 5pm. The beach located in Campos became the stage for a hatchling release program during the summer for the first time, in line with the one hosted in São João da Barra for a second consecutive year. In both towns, there will be a total of nine release actions open to the community. The goal is to bring awareness to the population about the importance of environmental preservation.
During release actions, the Port of Açu has the opportunity to present to the people its Marine Turtle Monitoring Program, carried out by the enterprise since 2008. Every day, technical personnel cover 62 km (38 miles) of shoreline, registering all events related to the turtles. Monitoring efforts range from Pontal de Atafona, in São João da Barra, to Barra do Furado, in Campos dos Goytacazes. During mating season, from September until March, the team is also tasked with locating nests, identifying them and keeping track of them until hatchlings are born.
Soltuta Farol 1.jpgAccording to Daniel Nascimento, Environment Coordinator of the Port of Açu, showing the program’s routine to the community is essential for awareness efforts to bear fruit. “Turtles lay eggs in the summer, when beaches are full of visitors. We are very pleased because we are able to get close to the population and bring them information and knowledge. The idea is to encourage everyone to contribute to environmental preservation,” he said.
Since the beginning of the latest mating season, the program reported the birth of about 11,000 hatchlings. In the previous season, there were 87,000 hatchlings in total.
The Marine Turtle Monitoring Program follows technical guidelines set by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), Tamar and the State’s Environment Institute (INEA).
