An abominable tragedy that has conservationists unnerved
Less than two weeks ago, on a pristine beach under sunny skies in Costa Rica, a 26-year-old turtle conservationist and biology student Jairo Mora Sandoval and four female volunteers from the US and Spain, were searching for nests of endangered leatherback turtles in order to guard them from egg thieves.
They were suddenly accosted by 5 masked marauders carrying assault rifles. The women were rounded up and put into their car unhurt, but they hauled Sandoval away. The young man, who had sent warnings of potential problems on his Facebook page in April—was found dead on the beach the next morning; bound, beaten and shot in the head.
Michael Graham Richards writes in Treehugger that it wasn’t the first time conservationists had been threatened by poachers, who take thousands of eggs to trade for drugs or cash in order to feed the burgeoning and lucrative local delicacy market and turtle-egg demands in the Caribbean and parts of Asia.
Sandoval's fellow environmentalists and volunteers fear he may have been killed as revenge for asking local police authorities for help and they are seeking justice for his murder.
There is a petition and a $10,000 reward being offered for information that results in an arrest and conviction of his killers.
Here's a message (in part) by the petition's author Chris Pincetich, who is currently in Costa Rica:
The brutal murder of Jairo Mora Sandoval has traumatized the conservation community and threatens the future of sea turtle ecotourism in Costa Rica. Jairo had asked for protection and action from local authorities to stop the poaching, but it didn't work. We're asking the Costa Rican government to respond to his murder by committing police protection to the beaches where there have been threats and significant poaching levels to make these areas safe for sea turtles, conservationists and ecotourists. To ensure transparency and reassure the tourist community, the federal government should take over the investigation and ensure Jairo's killers are swiftly brought to justice.
According to a report in the British paper Independent the brutal murder of Sandoval sheds light on the shadowy underground of armed thugs willing to steal eggs to trade for drugs or cash.
The endangered turtles are an important part of Costa Rica’s treasured “mecca for ecotourism”, so they are legally supposed to be protected. But there seems to have been very little enforcement in recent years of The Marine Turtle Population Law of 2002 by local officials, which prescribes a three year jail sentence for anyone who "kills, hunts, captures, decapitates, or disturbs marine turtles".
Sandoval also worked for Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (Widecast), a non-profit organization, which aims to protect all species of sea turtles. The leatherback can grow to 6ft in length and weigh up to 900lbs and has a key place in marine ecology, since it is vital for reducing the jellyfish population.
Costa Rica’s president, Laura Chinchilla called Sandoval’s murder “abominable,” and has asked police to solve the crime, but officials haven’t reported any leads.
Supporters of conservation efforts say whether a person is protecting endangered species or human innocents, they don’t deserve to be hogtied, killed, stripped of clothing and dumped on a beach like trash.
***
Jean Williams, environmental and political journalist; PrairieDogPress writer; Artistic Director, Keystone Prairie Dogs.***PrairieDogPress is the media channel for keystone-prairie-dogs.com, which is a fundraising website to support environmental groups for extraordinary efforts to protect Great Plains habitat and prairie dogs in the wild. PDP uses humorous images, social commentary and serious-minded political reports to challenge government on numerous levels, including accountability to the people, the protection of threatened species, the environment and Earth’s natural resources.
They were suddenly accosted by 5 masked marauders carrying assault rifles. The women were rounded up and put into their car unhurt, but they hauled Sandoval away. The young man, who had sent warnings of potential problems on his Facebook page in April—was found dead on the beach the next morning; bound, beaten and shot in the head.
Michael Graham Richards writes in Treehugger that it wasn’t the first time conservationists had been threatened by poachers, who take thousands of eggs to trade for drugs or cash in order to feed the burgeoning and lucrative local delicacy market and turtle-egg demands in the Caribbean and parts of Asia.
Sandoval's fellow environmentalists and volunteers fear he may have been killed as revenge for asking local police authorities for help and they are seeking justice for his murder.
There is a petition and a $10,000 reward being offered for information that results in an arrest and conviction of his killers.
Here's a message (in part) by the petition's author Chris Pincetich, who is currently in Costa Rica:
The brutal murder of Jairo Mora Sandoval has traumatized the conservation community and threatens the future of sea turtle ecotourism in Costa Rica. Jairo had asked for protection and action from local authorities to stop the poaching, but it didn't work. We're asking the Costa Rican government to respond to his murder by committing police protection to the beaches where there have been threats and significant poaching levels to make these areas safe for sea turtles, conservationists and ecotourists. To ensure transparency and reassure the tourist community, the federal government should take over the investigation and ensure Jairo's killers are swiftly brought to justice.
According to a report in the British paper Independent the brutal murder of Sandoval sheds light on the shadowy underground of armed thugs willing to steal eggs to trade for drugs or cash.
The endangered turtles are an important part of Costa Rica’s treasured “mecca for ecotourism”, so they are legally supposed to be protected. But there seems to have been very little enforcement in recent years of The Marine Turtle Population Law of 2002 by local officials, which prescribes a three year jail sentence for anyone who "kills, hunts, captures, decapitates, or disturbs marine turtles".
Sandoval also worked for Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (Widecast), a non-profit organization, which aims to protect all species of sea turtles. The leatherback can grow to 6ft in length and weigh up to 900lbs and has a key place in marine ecology, since it is vital for reducing the jellyfish population.
Costa Rica’s president, Laura Chinchilla called Sandoval’s murder “abominable,” and has asked police to solve the crime, but officials haven’t reported any leads.
Supporters of conservation efforts say whether a person is protecting endangered species or human innocents, they don’t deserve to be hogtied, killed, stripped of clothing and dumped on a beach like trash.
***
Jean Williams, environmental and political journalist; PrairieDogPress writer; Artistic Director, Keystone Prairie Dogs.***PrairieDogPress is the media channel for keystone-prairie-dogs.com, which is a fundraising website to support environmental groups for extraordinary efforts to protect Great Plains habitat and prairie dogs in the wild. PDP uses humorous images, social commentary and serious-minded political reports to challenge government on numerous levels, including accountability to the people, the protection of threatened species, the environment and Earth’s natural resources.
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