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Liberty, The Leatherback Turtle

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Sea Turtle Conservation

The island of Trinidad has one of the largest nesting populations of sea turtles in the world. In 1999 Nature Seekers Inc. implemented a Leatherback Sea Turtle Tagging Project in order to identify the number of turtles nesting on the beach near Matura on the east coast of Trinidad. For tagging to be successful, this activity must be continued for a number of years. In support of this activity, Nature Seekers implemented an Adopt a Turtle project to promote conservation of the endangered marine turtles and to raise the much-needed funds that this project required. The Tagging Project identified and recorded individual turtles to be adopted.

To support this worthwhile program to help to conserve and protect the leatherback turtles, the U.S. Embassy in 1999 adopted a turtle, nicknamed Liberty (Adoption Certificate appears on this page).

Nature Seekers Incorporated (NSI) is a non-profit community-based organization, established in 1990 for the protection and conservation of the endangered leatherback turtles in Matura. NSI members are trained and certified as tour guides by the Wildlife Section, Forestry Division, Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Marine Resources. NSI gathers and tallies data on turtle sightings during the season, including turtle numbers, measurements, physical conditions, weather conditions and other information related to hatchlings and their emergence.