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Yupukari Village hosts 12th annual Turtle Festival
Youths at the 12th Annual Turtle Festival (FAO/Luke McKenna)
Kaieteur News – The 12th Annual Turtle Festival was held on May 11, 2024 at Yupukari Village, Region Nine. The event, organised by the Yupukari Village Council, Turtle Monitors and Caiman House Inc. (CHI) aimed to raise awareness about community-driven turtle conservation efforts.
According to a statement issued by the organisers, the festival is now part of the Regional Turtle Conservation Management Plan, which aims to boost yellow-spotted river turtle populations and promote their sustainable use through a community-led approach.
The festival included various activities such as monitoring of turtle nests, rescuing hatchlings from flooded beaches, and nurturing them until their release at the festival. The Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme also helped to implement the project.
The festival provided an opportunity to educate and engage the youth, who learned about the artificial turtle pond and the turtles residing there.
Anthony Roberts, Turtle Project Coordinator at Caiman House Inc., said that the turtle festival is an annual event organised to educate and raise awareness about turtle conservation. The community recognised the significance of this cause, with particular emphasis on engaging and educating the youth.
The event also featured the release of 271 rescued turtles into the Rupununi River, which were saved by turtle rangers during monitoring activities across eight beaches near Yupukari Village.
A participant releases a yellow-spotted river turtle (Podocnemis unifilis) into the Rupununi River (FAO/Luke McKenna)
Throughout the day, attendees visited multiple booths offering diverse activities, including an opening parade; turtle egg collection training, video screening, information awareness, caiman education, educational quiz games, wood carving and visits to the turtle enclosure and Wabbani crafts building.
Shamir Khan, the Toshao of Yupukari Village underscored how the unpredictable weather affected the turtles in the past.
“The weather is not predictable now. Two years ago, we had eggs in the sandbank, and they were all flooded out – except for the ones that we rescued. So that’s how important this turtle monitoring is in Yupukari.”
Meanwhile, during the festival, the SWM Programme launched a new book titled ‘Wildlife and People of the Rupununi’. The book showcases the technical and scientific work carried out by the SWM Programme in Region Nine from 2018 to 2023, covering topics such as wildlife populations, local uses of wildlife, co-existence with wildlife, and conservation initiatives in the Rupununi.
The SWM Programme thanked the Yupukari Village, local partners, stakeholders, turtle rangers from CHI and South Rupununi Conservation Society (SRCS), and the European Union (EU) for their support in making the turtle festival successful and bringing the conservation initiative to life.
- Annual Turtle Festival, Caiman House Inc., Turtle Monitors, Yuparaki Village Council, Yupukari Village
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