'%Healthy Reefs for Healthy People - A Guide to Indicators of Reef Health and Social Well-being in the Mesoamerican Reef Region%'%by Melanie McField and Patricia Kramer%

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Current populations of green turtles are thought to be

so low that measuring their herbivory rate in seagrass

beds would be impractical, although indicative assays

might be developed.

Usefulness

This indicator is under development, and the

usefulness of green turtles as an indicator of herbivory

in seagrass areas needs to be evaluated further.

Manatees are the other megaherbivores of seagrass

meadows, and their abundance, measured under

Focal Species Abundance (S3) might also be included

in this indicator.

Status

The regional status of green turtle populations is

difficult to determine because of the lack of regionally

coordinated monitoring, the long generation time of

green turtles, and the difficulty of tracking early life

stages.

Data from one site in Mexico suggest a slight local

increase in nesting females.

Centro Ecologico Akumal

Globally, the number of nesting females has declined

an estimated 48-67%48.

Current green turtle populations in the Caribbean are

Data

Data Needs

believed to be only 3-7% of their historical abundance

prior to human exploitation.

Nesting surveys are conducted annually at a number

of nesting beaches in the MAR, and country reports

Green turtles are protected by a number of laws and

are compiled through the IAC. The Wider Caribbean

treaties. They are listed as endangered by IUCN (EN

Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST), TNC,

A2bd) and are listed in Appendix I of CITES, which

WWF and many local NGOs are also currently working

prohibits their international trade.

jointly to update information about the status of turtles

in the Caribbean.

We recommend:

· Development of a standardized method for collecting

and reporting regional data, including sighting

frequency reports in seagrass habitat;

· Establishment and annual update of a regional

database;

· Mapping and analysis of the status of seagrass

foraging areas;

· Identification of priority nesting and foraging areas,

and integration of these areas into the MPA network;

and

· Assessment of the effectiveness of existing

regulations and the impacts of illegal harvesting in

the region.

F1 5

Lilian Tinoco, Centro Ecologico Akumal