ProTECTOR – Honduras (2007)

Using a 2007 SWOT outreach Grant, Protective Turtle Ecology Center for Training, Outreach and Research (ProTECTOR) conducted two workshops at the Reef House Resort on the island of Roatan in Honduras. The workshops were designed to facilitate positive change among indigenous fishers of the Bay Islands. Workshop attendees, who varied in age from schoolchildren to retired fishermen, learned to understand the critical links between tourism and marine conservation. Group discussions and open forums were held to discuss alternatives to harvesting turtles and their eggs as a source of income.

The workshops resulted in the development of a plan for a conservation-based craft market that will combine community development, tourism interest, and conservation of sea turtles and the sea. Furthermore, a grassroots movement was launched among the attendees to facilitate a change from “poachers to ProTECTORs” within many communities.