The 7th Annual Meeting of the Grupo Tortuguero was held January 28-30, 2005 in Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico, organized by Pro Peninsula with support from our partners in conservation. The theme of this year’s meeting- Revolución Tortuguera- reflects the mission of the Grupo Tortuguero to empower people and their communities to conserve sea turtles, inspiring a revolution in our relationship with the ocean. The meeting has grown from a small gathering of 45 peninsula residents who wanted to save sea turtles in 1999, to the region’s premiere grassroots conservation meeting. Focus on Community The 7th annual meeting was held in the historic center of Loreto, utilizing local hotels, restaurants and open spaces to foster economic activity within the community of Loreto, as well as give participants an opportunity to get to know and understand the town's beauty and history. The central location of the meeting added to the grassroots feeling and highlighted the importance of community in conservation.

Over 300 people attended this year meeting- a new high! Participants came from all over the Baja California peninsula, mainland Mexico and the U.S., and represented communities, grassroots and international organizations, government agencies, businesses, cultural societies, universities and research institutions. This unique blend of fishermen, scientists, students, and activists is what sets this meeting apart; it is truly a blend of individuals, all bound through their dedication to bring healthy sea turtle populations back to the waters of the Eastern Pacific.

The Orantes Prize: Celebrating Native Cultures Every year a community is chosen to receive the Don Manuel Orantes Conservation Award, named after one of the pioneers of sea turtle conservation on the peninsula, recognizing individuals and communities for their outstanding conservation work. This year the award was presented to members of the two indigenous groups working along the Pacific coast of Mexico to rescue the black sea turtle: the Seri community of Sonora and the Nahuatl community of Colola, Michoacan.

1st Encuentro para Niños In order to include the next generation of sea turtle protectors, we planned a separate youth conference that ran concurrent to the adult conference. The encuentro was an overwhelming success! Close to 40 youth participated in the conference, where they learned about the life of turtles, created turtle murals, performed plays and songs, and even went on night monitoring walks searching for turtles.

This year’s meeting would not have been possible without the support of our sponsors and the tireless efforts of our volunteers- we thank you! For a list of all sponsors and volunteers, click here. For a list of participating communities, as well as the titles and summaries for all presentations, documentaries and workshops, please contact Pro Peninsula to request a copy of the conference proceedings. To see more photos from the meeting, click here.

During the first week in February, five members of the indigenous Seri community had the opportunity to perform an ancient and nearly forgotten ceremony. In collaboration with Pro Peninsula, the Grupo Tortuguero and ASUPMATOMA, a group of Seri traveled to Agua Blanca, BCS, a leatherback turtle nesting beach on the Pacific side of the peninsula, to perform their traditional release ceremony with leatherback hatchlings. Due to declines in leatherback turtle populations, the last time the Seri, an indigenous group from Northwest Mexico, were able to perform their sacred four-day ceremony was in 1981. The Seri consider the leatherback sacred and have profound respect for the animal. Years ago on the rare occasion when a leatherback was captured, the ceremony was held to provide protection for the turtle before it was released unharmed. The leatherback is the largest of all sea turtle species and with as few as 2,300 adult females remaining, the Pacific leatherback is on the brink of extinction. The Seri have strong emotional, spiritual and cultural ties to the leatherback and the elders are dedicated to continuing their ceremonial practices in order to bring protection to the leatherback and to the people of the region. Both the youth and elders fear that without a concerted effort the ceremonial traditions could be lost.

The full four-day ceremony was performed with a few modifications in Agua Blanca, where ASUPMATOMA runs an incubator program to ensure the successful hatching of leatherback eggs. A number of precautions were taken to safeguard the fragile hatchlings that were used for the ceremony, including keeping the turtles in the incubator as opposed to a house built by the Seri. Traditionally, the ceremony is a community event, with an entire Seri village taking part in the festivities. In this case, only five Seri members participated in this ceremony, however members of Pro Peninsula, Grupo Tortuguero, ASUPMATOMA and others became the community, painting their faces, dancing, playing games, and taking part in all aspects of the sacred activities. This extraordinary event emphasized the importance of protecting sea turtles throughout the region, renewing the spiritual and cultural practices of the Seri Indians, and helping the Seri elders pass on this important tradition to the next generation of conservationists, the Seri youth. For a collection of photos from this event, click here.

It’s official - we’ve launched the new www.propeninsula.org and what a difference! More information, more resources, more photos, and it’s bilingual – check it out! Sign up for the listserv, become a member, check out the events calendar, browse our Did you know? section, and more. Special thanks go out to Brett Carney and fatseven.com for a job well done!

Sempra/Shell and Chevron/Texaco, having encountered decades of resistance in California, seek to construct Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) regasification plants in northern Baja California to export gas to the U.S. market in southern California. The projects being proposed in Mexico are designed to far less stringent standards than those being pitched in the U.S., both in terms of environmental impact and human safety. The projects also threaten to irrevocably change land use from the previously zoned light industries of tourism and fishing, to high impact industrial development and manufacturing.

The Sempra/Shell project sited in the Costa Azul area threatens one of the last remaining contiguous stretches of coastal sage scrub in the Californias. Additionally, this area is home to abundant archeological remains of native cultures dating back as far as 2,000 years, much of which has yet to be catalogued. The project also poses a potential threat to the residents and workers in the community of Bajamar, which immediately borders the project boundary. Salsipuedes, the specific site targeted by Sempra/Shell, is home to a world-class surf break, and some of the most productive fisheries on the northern Baja California coast.

The regasification plant proposed for development just 600 meters off Coronado Sur Island poses a considerable threat to marine animals, as well as many species of migratory and nocturnal birds, including several endangered species. In its environmental assessment, Chevron/Texaco mistakenly concludes that impacts to birds and marine mammals on and around the islands would be minimal, and would only occur during the construction phase. The Coronado Islands currently act as a resource for a variety of fishing operations, as well as the educational outreach trips of Sea Camp for San Diego youth.

These projects are designed to serve the U.S. market. Mexico is not the environmental dumping ground of the U.S.

Job creation in Mexico would be inconsequential, and outweighed by impacts to established industries and environmental damage.

Sempra/Shell and Chevron/Texaco’s line that California needs to import LNG is a LIE.

Click here to Take Action!

We are participating in a powerful fundraising opportunity with Office Max, MCI, Mary Kay, Shutterfly and many other partners…powered by eScrip. What is eScrip? eScrip is a hassle-free way for schools and non-profits to raise funds through everyday purchases made at eScrip merchants.

How does it work? eScrip and over 150 merchant partners have created a system that rewards customer loyalty by contributing a percentage of purchases to your chosen group – PRO PENINSULA! You shop the way you like to shop for groceries, clothing, travel and entertainment. It’s simple and convenient; all you need to do is register your grocery club card and debit/credit card(s). You can find a list of participating merchants at www.escrip.com.

Simple Registration-Register Today! (1) Log on to www.escrip.com and go to "sign up." Contact Lindsey with any questions or problems: lindsey@propeninsula.org, 619-574-6643. (2) Designate Pro Peninsula to receive contributions. Our Group ID is 500000900. (3) Register your Vons and Pavilions Club Cards -- and your debit, ATM and credit cards if you wish.

That's it! Visit eScrip merchants to shop. It's automatic! We can potentially receive hundreds of dollars from your participation alone! THANK YOU!

This November Pro Peninsula joined forces with Proyecto Fronterizo de Educación Ambiental, Círculos para una Comunidad Sustentable and The National Wildlife Federation to offer a two-day workshop on ‘Building Strategic Issues Campaigns’. Participants received training on how to formulate campaigns for their organization or community in addition to learning about the range of tools that can be used to persuade decision makers to preserve or protect natural resources. The workshop also taught participants to approach conservation from a proactive stance, framing conservation as a positive change in the community. Using experiences from actual examples, such as the Escalera Naútica and the proposed Liquified Natural Gas projects, participants learned: · What exactly is an advocacy campaign? · Identifying your target aurdience · Developing your message · Using tools to effectively communicate your message

At the end, participants developed the outline for a campaign focused on increasing transparency and access to information. The two-day session, held in Ensenada, immediately followed a one-day seminar organized by Círculos’ Ana Lorena Gurza, focused on ‘Public Access to Information and the Environment’. This event addressed the fact that while laws and regulations exist to provide private citizens in Mexico with access to information that effects their environment, the bulk of the public remains unaware of their existence. For more information on the Access to Information initiative, visit www.accessinitiative.org or www.pp10.org.

Special thanks go out to Jay Sherman, Barbara Bramble and Ana Lorena Gurza for making this all happen. The event was such a success that we plan to carry the workshop south to La Paz.

We'd love to have you join us at some of the following events. Please put them on your calendar and pass them on to your friends! We need volunteers; if anyone would like to volunteer or learn more about any of these events, contact Lindsey at lindsey@propeninsula.org or 619-574-6643. January - April 2005 -- Sea Turtle Education Program with 6th graders in San Diego, CA. The Port of San Diego, www.portofsandiego.org, funds this project for seven of their Port School Partnership Program’s 6th grade classrooms in South San Diego. Join us in the classroom or in the field teaching about sea turtle biology and research efforts in San Diego Bay. If you are interested in helping with this program, contact lindsey@propeninsula.org for more details, dates and volunteer opportunities. Saturday, April 9, 9:00-12:00 -- Creek to Bay Cleanup, 30 different sites all over San Diego, CA. To volunteer with Pro Peninsula at the site we're captaining, contact lindsey@propeninsula.org. For general information contact Sarah Adams at volunteers@ilacsd.org. This event is FREE and open to the public!

Sunday, May 1, 10:00-5:00 -- Earth Day Fair in Balboa Park, San Diego, CA. For general information about San Diego's Earth Fair visit www.earthdayweb.org. To volunteer with Pro Peninsula at our Earth Fair booth, contact lindsey@propeninsula.org. This event is FREE and open to the public - it's always a fun day visiting all types of interesting booths, and tons of helpful information will be available!

Saturday, May 7 -- Save the Bay, West Bonita Cove, Mission Bay, CA. To volunteer with Pro Peninsula at Save the Bay contact lindsey@propeninsula.org. For general information on the event, or to volunteer with San Diego Baykeeper at the event, contact Elizabeth Studebaker at liz@sdbaykeeper.org. Open to the public, some events are FREE, and some have a small fee!