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| AP: Mora, center |
The latest crime in a disturbing trend of violence against wildlife and conservation activists comes from Costa Rica, ostensibly a very Green nation.
Jairo Mora Sandoval a paid leatherback turtle guardian on the beach near Limon was kidnapped with four female foreigners, three from the US and one from Spain. Only Sandoval was killed last Friday. The four women were tied up and robbed. Costa Rica depends heavily on eco-tourism; already the killing has scared away potential volunteers who flock to the country to help preserve its environment. Protecting Costa Rica's nesting beaches and turtles is basically done with volunteer labor and resources. Mora and the four women volunteers finished their Morin beach patrol about 3 am, Friday. They approached a downed palm tree across the road. When Mora got out to move the tree, a group of masked men assaulted him. They took Mora and the women to an abandoned house and robbed them. Mora was chosen for special treatment intended to send a message. Stripped naked he was tied to the car bumper, he was dragged up the beach, and then shot in the face. According to a Costa Rican newspaper, Mora died of blunt force trauma, not the gunshot. The family breadwinner was not paid a lot to do the work of protecting leatherbacks, rain or shine at night, but according to his mother he loved the turtles. The assailants are believed to be poachers, but could also be drug traffickers since often they are connected in a lucrative black market. Eggs bring $1 each. This is the first time a conservation worker has been killed in local memory. Costa Rica prides itself on being different from its Central American neighbors mired in drug trade crime and political corruption. So the government needs to address safety issues if it hopes to continue to benefit from what has been a largely successful policy of conservation and economic sustainability.
More: Greenpeacetells us that leatherback turtles on the California coast are threatened by National Marine Fisheries Service efforts to shrink their sanctuary. As fish stocks rapidly decrease, NMFS is under pressure from the fishing industry to reduce conservation areas where tackle such as gill nets are prohibited. Known as "walls of death" for good reason these are deployed to ensnare swordfish but they also drown marine turtles, whales and dolphins. For every pound of swordfish caught, 27 pounds of other marine life--callously termed "bycatch"--is wasted. As marine life populations plummet because of over-exploitation and climate change, conservation areas should be expanded to allow species to recover. The leatherback family of turtles has survived for millions of years, yet if humans do not act to protect them scientists estimate the species will not survive another twenty years. You can help Greenpeace and all of us who care about our fellow Earth creatures by sending your message to the NMFS to stop jeopardizing leatherbacks.
