30 / May / 2020

The Osa Foundation, led by Jonathon Miller, began the Sea Turtle Conservation Project in 2001, to protect the nesting sea turtles at Rincon Beach. Rincon de San Josecito Beach is an important nesting beach in the region where the species of Olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), Pacific Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas), and Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricate) are registered, the latter two being especially endangered.

The main objective of the project has always been to protect females and their nests, both from natural and human depredation, increasing in recent years.

The Osa Foundation protected many nesting sea turtles and their nests for about 15 years, doing the brave job of resisting nest poachers and discouraging this practice.

Nursery at Rincon Beach Guaria de Osa camp.

Working together.

The Mama Carey project of Fundacion Osa did not have enough funds to continue monitoring the beach by 2017, which included hiring locals and carrying out the nursery construction, so they reluctantly decided to stop monitoring and patrolling the beach.

Fundacion Osa then decided to collaborate with the Corcovado Foundation, in order to continue this effort. So they rented the facilities of Guaria de Osa as a camp to house the volunteers and assistants of the Corcovado Foundation and the material for the construction of the nursery meanwhile the Corcovado Foundation contributed with the biologists and patrol materials and recruited several international volunteers to support patrols and the nursery construction.

During 2018 and 2019, the two foundations collaborated on the Mama Carey Project. More staff was hired, and a considerable increase in the number of volunteers who supported was achieved.

2019 was a successful season:

• 140 nest nests were protected, making this season the highest in the history of Rincon. We also released 11,169 turtles.
• We have managed to create a particularly good relationship with the Rincon community thanks to environmental education and a system of local guides that take tourists to see the turtles while they nest or when hatching.
• More than 60 international volunteers actively collaborated in the construction of the nursery, patrols, censuses, beach cleaning, environmental education, and nursery care.

New directions, same goal.

In 2020, the Corcovado Foundation decided to move the camp from Guaria de Osa to a more easily accessible place, which will facilitate the operation on this beach and maintain conservation efforts for sea turtles.

Key reasons include the need to have a more suitable dedicated space for hosting volunteers and a closer location to the road, for facilitating transportation of food and other goods. The Corcovado Foundation will maintain the turtle conservation efforts during 2020 in Rincón Beach.

However, it is not clear if, by 2021, this effort will continue. The Corcovado Foundation respects a history of 15 years of work done by the Osa Foundation. Therefore, the prerogative of working on this beach in 2021 and beyond belongs to the Osa Foundation.