Osa Conservation - Costa Rica

The Osa Conservation Sea Turtle program monitors and protects two important nesting beaches stretching 6.5 km in the Southern Pacific of Costa Rica. High predation rates by native and domestic wildlife, nest poaching, plastic pollution and sea level rise and erosion are the main threats at these nesting beaches. This grant will help build 20 light guardians with recycling plastic to reduce light pollution on nesting sea turtle beaches reducing negative effects on nesting population and behavior. They will be implemented in 10 lodges and restaurants to also allow for eco-tourism, making beach restaurants, hotels and lodges ‘sea turtle friendly’. We will encourage lodges to include in their website a brief description of the effect of light pollution on nesting turtles and hatchlings and the importance of choosing the sea turtle friendly brand.

We will equip, train and empower 20 women from the coastal communities to create jewelry from shoes washed up on beaches. The women will collect the shoes from their local beaches (beach clean information shows shoes are washed up regularly of different types, colors and sizes). We will connect the local women to their closest lodges and souvenir shops to sell their products as part of a “second-chance souvenirs” scheme. Also, we will collaborate with the Upcycling lab, providing them with plastic collected during beach clean ups to melt and remold into “Second-chance souvenirs”. We will create 50 soap dishes, 100 earrings and 150 keyrings. These products will be sold at our Osa Conservation Campus, local lodges and souvenir shops. Profits will be used to support sea turtle conservation efforts in the region and local livelihoods. We will make 100 bags with unused t-shirts from charity shops and from those left behind by our station visitors. We will then donate them to souvenir shops, supermarkets and participants attending the ‘Say no to Single-Use Plastic’ workshops. Every bag will have a turtle on and will contain a ‘message from a plastic-free turtle’ to increase awareness on sea turtle conservation.