…And Caribbean Beat
Last year, one of the things I most treasured working on was a piece for National Geographic about Trinidad & Tobago’s turtle conservation efforts.
The fates of the islands’ community-based organisations and their decades of work — some of which had become a model for similar programmes in other parts of the world — grew to be a significant concern for me during the worst months of the pandemic.
Lockdown restrictions on beaches and the severe economic impacts had left turtle conservation groups unable to conduct patrols (far less do any meaningful data gathering), and were desperately short of funds. Some, even now in 2023, have not recovered, with the pandemic having exacerbated longstanding issues around funding, administration, and manpower, among others.
Despite these challenges, through dogged efforts since 1965, Trinidad & Tobago has become a global success story in turtle conservation — albeit one that has flown under the radar, with little international coverage outside of conservation circles. Community-driven initiatives saw populations rebound (to an extent) over the last few decades, all while global numbers have dropped precipitously. That led to the islands becoming one of the most important turtle rookeries in the world.
So, as the turtle season re-opened last year — and with our beaches and borders finally open once more — I wanted to encourage local and foreign nature-lovers to participate in turtle tours, volunteer, donate, or help in whatever way they could to get these programmes back on their feet … to help ensure all those decades of work would not be lost.
Luckily, the lovely folks at National Geographic thought it was a story worth telling, and a cause worth supporting. The result — How turtle-watching tours actually help conservation — was published on 8 June, 2022 during Sea Turtle Week, and ahead of World Sea Turtle Day.
A few months later, as both the US and UK editions of National Geographic prepared their “best of the world” pieces, curating recommendations for travellers in 2023, the Trinidad & Tobago sea turtle experiences were recommended in their 25 breathtaking places and experiences for 2023 and their 5 trips to inspire the whole family in 2023 pieces (both on their US site); as well as their Best of the world: seven destinations for family journeys in 2023 and beyond on their UK site.
It was a thrill to see the turtles, those working to protect them, and Trinidad & Tobago in general land on these lists as a result of the article.
Given that the commissioned NatGeo article had a specific focus and there was much that couldn’t make it in as a result, I also wrote a separate piece for Caribbean Beat (not least since the magazine had surprisingly not covered the topic in depth before).
Conservation and climate action have become a major focus for me in terms of my research and freelance writing — equal to culture, arts and entertainment. I’m headed to other islands in the coming months to explore other meaningful conservation programmes, and can’t wait to share news of these beautiful animals, and the inspiring people who work so hard to protect them.
Caroline Taylor 