Asociacion WIDECAST

General Info

For more than fourteen years, the Sea Turtle Conservation Program has welcomed students, travelers and professionals from countries around the world, who are interested in participating in hands-on conservation efforts and research with an endangered species.

running research program with sea trutles since 1986 and working with volunteers since 1991.

Right now we have program in 7 beaches in Costa Rica and one in Panamá. Our program includes projects in the South Caribbean, North Pacific and South Pacific regions of Costa Rica. Click on each region on the map for more information about each project.

We work with at least six species of sea turtles in Costa Rica. Leatherbacks and Hawksbills may be found throughout the country but Green and Loggerheads are restricted to the Caribbean while Black turtles and Olive Ridley turtles can be found only in our Pacific sites. By clicking on each turtle you can find information about each species.

Volunteers can commit from a week up to several months of their time participating in ours program in Gandoca, Cahuita, Tuba Creek, Osa Peninsula, and Ostional. Volunteers are encouraged to join us at any point during the season.
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The main objective of the projects is to protect the nests from human poachers and more recently from the erosion of the beach. Before the projects began, in many beaches the poaching rate was over 95% but with the presence of our night patrols and the hatcheries on the beach, the survival rate has increased to over 90% in one of our most successful projects, Gandoca.