The sea turtles of Ghana, part two

This article is the second part of a two-part series on the challenges facing sea turtle conservation in Ghana and other parts of the world. Part one focused on the issues of poverty and unemployment in Ghana that exacerbate the difficulty of saving female sea turtles during their vulnerable time of egg laying. Part two, below, discusses how the small Ghanian Sun & Moon Turtle Foundation is doing its part to save sea turtles and their eggs from poachers and fishermen who inadvertently catch them in their nets, as well as to educate the community about the value of their environment and the animals that inhabit it.

By Mitch Paine

Emmanuel, turtle rescuer

Luckily, some, Westerners and Ghanaians alike, have taken to the sea turtle cause, after realizing the potential benefits for saving sea turtles. A number of conservation efforts are under way throughout the 335 miles of coastline.

I met one of those sea turtle heroes at the beginning of September 2008, just before the sea turtles would be coming en masse to nest. I navigated through the chaotic streets of Accra, and after a bumpy trotro (mini-bus) ride, I arrived at the beach house of Emmanuel Tetteh Kuhameh. He introduced me to his three dogs and cat and then proceeded to explain his story.

Emmanuel grew up with a love and respect for animals, something that many Ghanaians never learn. He moved to his beach house in Teshie, a small fishing village just east of Accra, to live with his brother. At this time, like most Teshie residents, he had no idea of the thousands of sea turtles nesting right outside his window.

Until one night. He and his brother were walking along the beach and came across a nesting female. Emmanuel, now 27, recalls, “It was the defining moment of my life. I had tears in my eyes because of the power of the moment.” Shortly thereafter, he found out about the fact that villagers collect the females from the beach while nesting to sell them in the market for meat, and he was appalled.

From that point forward, Emmanuel embarked on a journey to save these turtles. He contacted a few local hotel owners, one from the U.S. and one from Germany, to form a foundation, the Sun & Moon Turtle Foundation. The foundation was formed with the purpose to first protect the sea turtles in Teshie and then to educate the members of the community on the value of the turtles.

Emmanuel realized that the threats to the sea turtles were in two forms: threats from the beach and threats from the ocean. The beach threats, as mentioned before, mainly consist of unemployed men collecting nesting females and selling them to the market. He talked to his neighbors and realized that many of them were contributing to this problem.

Unfortunately, most of the villagers are uneducated, especially those that are collecting the turtles. So, Emmanuel had to find a way to explain to these individuals that saving the turtles or at least waiting to collect until after the females had laid eggs, would ensure that more turtles would be around in 10, 20, 30 years. Slowly, four of his neighbors realized what they could do.

Instead of selling the turtles to the market, these men began to bring the turtles to Emmanuel, who paid a higher price and saved the turtles. His neighbors began to protect turtles not just for the money but also because of the realization that the turtles could lure more tourists and ensure that a larger population of sea turtles would come back every year to nest.

The threats out in the ocean were and still are a tougher challenge. As the fisherman catch the turtles in the net, only profit motivates the crew to bring their catch in. For the time being, Emmanuel has employed one of the young fishermen, Adjei, to purchase the sea turtles for him under the guise of a “turtle eater.” Emmanuel says, “It’s important that the fishermen don’t know that I’m saving the turtles, otherwise they won’t sell to me.”

Adjei will bring the turtles to Emmanuel in the morning, around 10 a.m., when most of the fishing vessels have come into harbor. Emmanuel (or I) have to watch the turtles constantly in his yard until they can be released around 3 or 4 p.m., when no vessels are out fishing. These five or six hours can be a dangerous in the 100-degree heat and blinding sunlight of the tropics. Under the shade of coconut trees, we would pour cold water over the female turtles to help them regulate their temperature.

One day, Emmanuel called me down to help him take care of two turtles. When I arrived at his house, I found a remarkable sight, something rarely seen; one of the turtles was a male. Male sea turtles, after hatching, never again come ashore. He was a little bit larger than the female and had a much longer tail.

When we released the two turtles, they drew quite a crowd of beachgoers, as is always the case. Some Ghanaians have never seen a sea turtle and think it’s a demon or god come to earth. Some people want to buy the turtles from Emmanuel. Most simply are in awe of the strange ocean creatures. The kids usually fall in love and try to ride or push the turtles out to sea.

“It’s a perfect time to engage the community in education about the turtles,” said Emmanuel. “Most people have never seen a sight like this and some even cry.” Emmanuel, speaking fluent English, Ga, Ewe and a bit of Twi, local languages of Ghana, is able to communicate with almost everyone who comes to watch. He is the perfect advocate for sea turtles in an area of the world where most people think of themselves before animals.

One day, while I was watching a turtle for Emmanuel, Adjei, who only speaks Ga, came to Emmanuel’s place and we talked about the way forward. Adjei said he used to be a “turtle eater,” but now believes that turtles have changed his life. He’s begun to tell a few of the fishermen that Emmanuel is actually buying the turtles to save rather than to eat. The two Ghanaians are moving forward and beginning to broaden outreach to change the fishermen’s attitudes toward turtles. The Sun & Moon Turtle Foundation is a perfect example of “community-centered conservation.” Two community members, plus two outsiders, save turtles and educate people about the value of their environment. Last year, Emmanuel managed to save almost 900 olive ridley turtles (210 adults and 680 babies) and 116 leatherbacks (6 adults and 110 babies), a true accomplishment for this small foundation.

Ecotourism and sea turtles

Emmanuel and his foundation rely solely on money earned from tourism. Emmanuel rents out his second room to travelers, specifically those interested in turtles, and uses that profit to purchase the turtles. The other hotel owners who are part of the foundation donate money to the project every year.

Currently, Emmanuel and his brother are building a small hotel on their beach property to encourage travelers to come see nesting sea turtles as well as the efforts to save them. “With a new hotel, we can employ locals, teach them about turtles and make the beach better for both turtles and the community,” explained Emmanuel.

Alex Thornton, from the Jane Goodall Institute, said once, “What it takes to save a species is what it takes to save the world.” In this case, what it takes to save sea turtles is what it takes to save Teshie. To save the turtles, jobs will need to be created, the beach will need to be cleaned, the education system will need to be improved, and by doing all of this, the community will only be better.

Emmanuel and his foundation believe that tourism is going to play an important role in creating better communities for people and turtles. Already, in Akwidaa and Ada Foah, two other communities along the Ghanaian coast, turtles are being saved as part of community improvement projects. Scientists from the University of Ghana have an operation in Ada Foah and a British couple own the Green Turtle Lodge in Akwidaa, and each of the communities rely now on ecotourism for a large portion of their income, all of which is used for community development.

Whereas poverty and violence are more prevalent in Teshie (due to the proximity to the capital Accra), both turtles and community members can be made better off by ecotourism and conservation projects.

Lessons for the rest of the world

As our society in the United States faces severe economic hardships, we still don’t and won’t see conditions like in Ghana. Emmanuel and Adjei’s work in Teshie can be a lesson to us in the “developed” world, where we have money enough to save many more species. I think that the work in Ghana shows us that even in economic hardships, we must remember the environment.

As we examine our own community here in the Midwest, we can see that our endangered and threatened species can help save our own communities. Middle Nebraska is blessed by hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes every year. A report by Fermata Inc. and the Environmental Protection Agency in 1996 stated that crane viewing contributed upwards of $57.5 million to the Nebraska economy. This is a large number for the cities in the area, such as Grand Island and Kearney. Likely this amount is greater in 2009.

In an effort to save the wetlands surrounding Lincoln, trails have been created; boardwalks, bridges and outlooks have been constructed; and these areas are being put on the map for tourism in Lincoln. This effort, if expanded to protect the highly endangered Salt Creek tiger beetle, will benefit the community through ecotourism, wetlands and floodplain conservation, and a more pleasing landscape.

We have the resources to do all of these projects; we just need the will to do so. The three communities in Ghana have had to promote ecotourism in an effort to bring the communities out of poverty. Nebraska is fortunate enough to have fewer communities in poverty and more financial resources to promote ecotourism and environmental protection.

We in the “developed” world usually think that the “developing” world has much to learn from us, but we often fail to realize how much we have to learn from them. Indeed, I had a life-changing experience in Ghana and one of the most important moments in my life took place during a “turtle rescue.”

As I stood with the beautiful country of Ghana to my back and endless miles of the Atlantic in front, I watched a green sea turtle (the first live green sea turtle seen in Ghana in four years) swim into the fading sunlight. I stood next to Emmanuel, a young scientist from the University of Ghana, and thought about the moment. The power of two passionate Ghanaians trying to save their community while sending gentle giants back out to the ocean was inspiring. I had finally been convinced that community-centered conservation works. Whenever I see a remarkable sunset, I think back to the female green sea turtle thankfully swimming out to sea as her rescuers watched, with no thought of reward.

And I always think back to Alex Thornton’s words, “What it takes to save a species is what it takes to save the world.”

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