The Turtle Foundation maintains a very close relationship with the local conservation authority and the national police for several years. We provide extensive professional, financial, human, logistical and technical assistance to support the authorities' law enforcement efforts against sea turtle poaching.
The project includes the use of conservation dogs and modern night vision technology (drones and binoculars with thermal imaging technology) and their professional application within the framework of coordinated operational concepts and strategies. The operational concepts are developed in cooperation with the police, who partly accompany the operations or are on call in case our teams uncover a poaching case.
While previous strategies focused mainly on preventing poaching activities through the presence of rangers and volunteers on the beaches, the more proactive approach of the Dog & Drone team involves detection, intervention and prosecution of poaching activities.
- Good relationship with the local authorities
- The local authorities must be willing to prevent poaching and to prosecute poachers
- Availability of law enforcement agents to participate in missions
Education of local law enforcement agents about the ecology and significance of sea turtles helped a lot to engage and motivate them in the protection of sea turtles. Before this project, many police officers had never even seen a turtle or knew about their life cycle.
As the team patrols 5 protected areas island wide, good relations and communication with other NGOs and local communities are necessary.