History of Turtle Exploitation and Management Techniques to Conserve Turtles in the Rio Negro Basin of the Brazilian Amazon
Abstract
Although turtles are well protected by laws in Brazil, the laws are not enforced in some places and ignored in others. Based on 15 years of work in the Rio Negro Basin, we describe the history of turtle exploitation in this region, comment on their current conservation status, and suggest practical conservation alternatives that are necessary to preserve stable populations.
The outlook for wildlife in developing countries is unfavorable. Human population growth, destruction of tropical forests, underregulated hunting and trapping, too few wildlife professionals, and too little funding for natural resource management together threaten the survival of many wild species (Shaw 1991). In the Amazon over the last decade, human beings have put increasing pressure on wildlife as a result of two broad forces pushing in the same direction, as described by Peres and Palacios (2007). First, on the demand side, the quantity of wildlife extracted has risen with human population and income growth and with greater hunter participation in the market economy (Godoy et al. 2010). Second, on the supply side, access to new types of hunting technologies have lowered the marginal costs of extracting wildlife and access to improved forms of transport have made it easier to expand the foraging radius of hunters (Peres and Lake 2003).
Although some kind of sustainable hunting can be implemented in the Amazon, it will almost certainly have to exclude the most common forms of market or commercial hunting. Subsistence hunting presents special difficulties. Because of its traditions and the fact that it is practiced in remote areas, there are some questions regarding whether subsistence hunting can ever be adequately regulated. As with most forms of commercial hunting, subsistence hunting makes it difficult to sustain animal populations. Not only are indigenous peoples capable of hunting at rates too high for wildlife populations to sustain, they are also tempted to shift to even heavier levels of commercial hunting as markets become available (Redford and Robinson 1985).
In the Amazon, turtles are consumed and considered a delicacy (Vogt 2001, 2008; Schneider et al. 2009). This has created a black market, and uncontrolled smuggling of turtles occurs along the Amazon and the government has been ineffective at curtailing this activity. Wildlife smuggling is the third largest illegal traffic in Brazil, following drugs and firearms, accounting for billions of dollars in trade (Rocha 1995; Lopes 2000). Smuggling operations are often not only inhumane, with many animals dying in the process, but also endanger wild populations because overexploitation for the illicit trade can rapidly cause extinction (Sharma 2002; Georges 2009). Even though the black market commerce in turtles presents a considerable risk to the Amazon ecosystem, there are few studies describing the extent of illegal trade in this area (Ferrarini 1980; FAO/PNUMA 1985; Gilmore 1986; Luxmoore et al. 1988; IBAMA 1989; Rebêlo and Pezzuti 2000; Kemenes and Pezzuti 2007).
Numerous studies have demonstrated that sustainable use of long-lived reptiles is problematic because longevity in chelonians is usually associated with delayed sexual maturity and fecundity and high juvenile mortality, requiring high adult survivorship for population stability (Congdon et al. 1994). They are especially vulnerable to uncontrolled exploitation. In the Amazon, because of the present trend, many wild populations of chelonian species are seriously threatened, and in many cases, human use of turtle species has outpaced species' ability to recover.
As sensitivity to human impact on local, regional, and global ecologies increases, researchers, planners, and managers are faced with the task of developing local and regional strategies to safeguard biodiversity in the face of human population growth and economic development. In this sense, it is important to examine the effects of human consumption on the viability of wildlife populations. In the Amazon, wildlife use by the riverine population is often at odds with conservation. Although there are many reasons for overexploitation of turtles, it is clear that the growth of human populations along the river and the strength of cultural status using turtles in private parties and celebrations create a lucrative illegal market for turtles. A person can make more money quickly by illegally harvesting turtles than with most traditional, available jobs.
This paper is written from the viewpoint of biologists interested in preserving biodiversity, with an understanding of both the needs of the turtles, the cultural needs of Amazonians generally, and the cultural and subsistence needs of the riverine people. In this paper, we 1) examine the history and trends of turtle consumption in the Amazon, 2) assess the current exploitation pattern and effectiveness of Brazilian laws, and 3) comment on the status of conservation of each species. Finally, based on 15 years of experience working with turtle conservation in the Rio Negro, we suggest future directions, giving recommended conservation measures, including the need to improve the laws and their implementation. Also, we present the possible future threats to turtles in the Rio Negro Basin.
History of Turtle Consumption in the Amazon
The Brazilian Amazon has 15 species of widely distributed aquatic turtles, 13 of which inhabit the Rio Negro Basin; these species overlap in their ranges (Vogt 2001). In this Basin, the species of commercial interest are the giant Amazon river turtle (Podocnemis expansa), yellow-spotted river turtle (Podocnemis unifilis), red-headed river turtle (Podocnemis erythrocephala), six-tubercled river turtle (Podocnemis sextuberculata), and big-headed river turtle (Peltocephalus dumerilianus) (Vogt 2001; Schneider 2009, 2010).
The colonization of the Amazon by Europeans was a turning point for Amazon turtles. Before the Europeans arrived, the dispersed indigenous tribes lived for millennia exploiting the abundant turtle populations without apparent ill-effect. They did not have the need, the technology, or any other reason to hunt more than they could use. Thus, turtle populations were harvested on a sustainable basis, not because they planned it so, but only because the human population was not large enough to cause local extinctions (Bates 1892; Smith 1974; Vogt 2008). But it was after the beginning of the European colonization that the commercialization of turtles and eggs intensified: oil, fat, and meat became valuable goods, sources of income, and provided other benefits (Silva Coutinho 1868; Bates 1892; Smith 1974; Mittermeier 1975; Ferrarini 1980; Johns 1987; Redford and Robinson 1991; Klemens and Thorbjarnarson 1995; Fachín-Terán et al. 1996; Vogt 2001; Rebêlo and Pezzuti 2000).
The European mercantile ways resulted in drastic population declines, and today many turtle species are almost to the point of local extinction (Ferrarini 1980; FAO/PNUMA 1985; Gilmore 1986; Luxmoore et al. 1988; IBAMA 1989; Vogt 2008). Although all species of turtles are protected at present, these laws are not rigidly enforced, and small cities all have an active black market for turtles. Amazon turtles are still among the most popular animals in Amazonian food cultures, because they are a traditional source of protein for riverine people and have an important position in the local people's festive cuisines.
The Exploitation Pattern and Brazilian Laws
One of the first published records of turtle exploitation was at the end of the 18th century when the São José do Rio Negro governor, Colonel Manoel da Gama Lobo d'Almada, established royal fishers to acquire meat for the “capitania”. Capitanias, during the Portuguese Empire, were the administrative divisions and hereditary fiefs of the Portuguese state. With the rise of royal fishers, the commercialization of salted fish and turtles in the Rio Negro area began (Salera-Junior 2009).
The legal protection by the Brazilian Federal Government started with the establishment of the DRNR (Departamento de Recursos Naturais Renováveis), which in 1967 was changed to the IBDF (Instituto Brasileiro do Desenvolvimento Florestal). Since then, protection of riverine turtles has been the responsibility of the IBDF (IBDF 1973). However, there were insufficient personnel and funds to protect the turtles against the heavy exploitation.
In the beginning of the 1970s, P. expansa and P. unifilis were recommended for the Brazilian list of endangered animals, but the list was never made into law. When the first list was established in 1973 (Portaria IBDF n° 3.481), turtle species were not included. Later, the IBDF wrote the Preservação da Tartaruga Amazônica (Preservation of the Amazon Turtles), which described the first years of chelonian protection. As a result of this work, a team of researchers was established to conduct a survey of chelonian nesting beaches (IBDF 1978). This survey provided information on the distribution and main threats for these turtles. In addition, the study recommended the inclusion of P. expansa and P. unifilis on CITES Appendix II (IBDF 1978).
In 1979, the Projeto de Proteção e Manejo dos Quelônios da Amazônia (Amazon Turtles Protection and Management Project) was created, to be coordinated by IBDF. It established a basic methodology for the protection and management of the turtles. In 1989, the IBDF became IBAMA (Instituto Brasileiro de Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis), which involved the fusion of three federal organizations (SEMA, SUDHEVEA, and SUDEPE). Currently, IBAMA is the federal organization responsible for environmental policies at the national level. Before the creation of IBAMA, conservation and protection was divided among several federal agencies, making it difficult to achieve protection for the turtles (IBAMA 1989).
To increase the protection efforts, the Projeto Quelônios da Amazônia was established in 1990 by CENAQUA (Centro Nacional de Quelônios da Amazônia) through the IBAMA act n° 870/90. CENAQUA made possible the ratification of the IBAMA n° 142/92 Act, which regulates the formation of turtle farms for P. expansa and P. unifilis in areas where they occur naturally, and IBAMA n° 070/96, which regulates the commercialization of turtles raised on the farms. These farms only raise and sell turtles for consumption in the Amazon Basin, giving consumers a legal way to purchase these turtles (CENAQUA/IBAMA 1997) with the premise that this activity should take the pressure off wild populations. However, in a place where an environmental consciousness generally is lacking, who would pay to eat an expensive farm turtle when they can always catch one for free or buy an illegal one at a cheaper price?
In 2001, CENAQUA became RAN (Centro de Conservação e Manejo de Répteis e Anfíbios), which manages and authorizes the management and conservation activities of Brazilian reptiles and amphibians. RAN focused particularly on threatened and endangered species and those of commercial interest. However, in 2008 IBAMA was divided into two institutes, and RAN became part of the new Chico Mendes Institute of Biodiversity, with their authority now limited to endangered and threatened species and populations within protected areas: national parks, national forests, and biological reserves. Only the turtle beaches, which occur within conservation areas, are under RAN jurisdiction. IBAMA retains the regulatory measures, enforcement of laws, and management of nesting beaches outside of conservation areas and regulation and monitoring of wildlife, including turtles, raised in captivity. The division of IBAMA was a definite step backward for conservation and management of freshwater turtles. Long-time employees are wrestling for entire control of the turtle project within IBAMA outside of the jurisdiction of RAN. The present status of the turtle project is in limbo until these bureaucratic obstacles are overcome.
Nowadays, the law that protects the turtles in Brazil is Law 9.605/98, and it allows for the consumption of turtles in the case of starvation, but this is not the case in the Amazon, because fish are more abundant and easier to catch than turtles anywhere. The law is at odds with reality. Riverine people also consume capybaras, caimans, small mammals such as opossums, armadillos, deer, and agoutis (Baia Junior 2006). In the Reservas Extrativistas (Renewable Resources Reserve), there is a management plan that allows consumption within an overall management strategy for each conservation unit. Many environmentalists and conservationists who work in the Amazon and are directly committed to turtle conservation work do not agree with this situation because many species of turtles are endangered and should not be exploited (Vogt 2008).
Even though the federal government devoted considerable effort to legally protecting turtles, there is not enough enforcement to reduce exploitation. As a result, there is illegal turtle hunting, continued exploitation of stocks, intensified black markets for eggs and turtles in cities, and increased black market prices. The situation in the Brazilian Amazon is critical: the commercialization of turtles and the illegal catch drive many river people to a permanent life of crime in trafficking in turtles and other wildlife.
Current Economy in the Amazon in Favor of Banning Illegal Traffic of Wildlife
In the Amazon, there are two different economies: 1) riverine people who live in small villages along the rivers; and 2) people who live in big cities. Riverine people can manufacture goods, including canoes, boat paddles, fish nets, crafts, carvings, baskets from jungle vines, and they can plant and harvest crops such as manioc. The Brazilian government gives courses in growing crops, selecting farming equipment and seeds, and choosing tubers to plant in some of the Amazon areas. Also, they can raise domestic animals such as chickens, ducks, cows, pigs, or rabbits. Even for big cities, the Amazon area provides one of the biggest centers for jobs in Brazil, with incentives from the government helping in the competition within Brazil and in the international market by declaring the region a duty free port. This allows for the importation of, among other things, components for electrical and mechanical equipment promoting assembly plants. In addition, mineral exploitation and agricultural expansion contribute to the growth of the economy in the region (Franco Filho 2007). Currently, the regions of the Amazon Basin that attract most migrants are Amazonas and Mato Grosso states. These two states also had the greatest recent increase in their gross domestic product (GDP) (Becker 1990). There is also a continual migration of people within the Amazon from small villages to the big cities.
In addition, the highest job offer rates in Brazil were recorded for the states where the Amazon is located, with an increase of job offers between 1990 and 2005 of 5.43% in Pará, 5.43% in Mato Grosso, and 4.14% in Amazonas (Pochmann 2011). Both the increase in jobs and the increase in GDP suggest that the illegal traffic of wildlife animals in the Amazon should be stopped. Riverine people can survive by using natural resources in a sustainable way and by manufacturing goods, without commerce in wildlife. People from the cities can study and work for controlled minimum wage salaries (US$ 300/month or higher) to consume beef, chicken, or commercially raised fish and turtles (i.e., food other than wildlife). But all of these options require much more effort than poaching turtles and selling them, especially during the turtle's reproductive period. Schneider et al. (2010) reported that local residents can collect as many as 13 P. erythrocephala in one hour using trammel nets in affluents of the Rio Negro during the falling water season. Often hundreds of female turtles can be collected in one night while they are laying eggs on sand beaches (Vogt 2008). During our fieldwork in the Rio Negro area, we often talked to middlemen who were going down river to sell turtles at big city markets. They reported the price that they charge for each turtle. Peltocephalus dumerilianus was bought for US$ 10 and sold for US$ 100 in Manaus, and Podocnemis expansa was bought for US$ 50 and sold for US$ 450 in Manaus. They were very proud of the good money they were making by exploiting the riverine people who collect them and sell for a very low price.
The trafficking of turtles is much like the drug traffic; the same types of people are attracted to it because of its lucrativity. Only when educated people in the large cities change their ways and refuse to buy wildlife will the trend change.
Current Conservation Plight of Turtles of the Rio Negro Basin
The Rio Negro Basin (Fig. 1), the second largest river basin in the world, has no protected area for nesting turtles. Species which have the greater part of their distribution in the black waters of the Rio Negro Basin, such as P. erythrocephala and P. dumerilianus, thus are not protected while nesting. Barcelos municipality (the first area in the Rio Negro Basin where the Portuguese established a city) previously had a commercial turtle industry that involved the collection of millions of turtle eggs on the beaches of the Unini River to produce oil (Leonardi 1999). Although the massive collection of eggs has been curtailed, Peltocephalus and P. erythrocephala can still be seen roasting on charcoal fires openly in front of many small restaurants in Barcelos today (Fig. 2). Several observers in other parts of the Amazon Basin (Silva Coutinho 1868; Bates 1892; Johns 1987) reported that this large-scale commercial collection of turtle eggs has resulted in a steady decline of turtle populations. Nowadays, an adult P. expansa is a luxury item for high society and no longer subsistence food for the native riverine people, who consume smaller species that are in less demand (Vogt 2008).
Citation: Chelonian Conservation and Biology 10, 1; 10.2744/CCB-0848.1
Citation: Chelonian Conservation and Biology 10, 1; 10.2744/CCB-0848.1
The idea that the commercialization of farm-raised turtles at high prices has put additional pressure on native stocks and that this commercialization has resulted in increases in the illegal take of these species, as published by Rebêlo and Pezzuti (2000), is, in our opinion, speculation and conjecture without adequate published data. The data they present from 13-question surveys given to only 61 people for their analyses of what people in the Amazon think about eating turtles is hardly representative of an area where the population is over 2 million people. Individually tagged farmed turtles are being sold only at specific markets where they are closely monitored for sale to the public and restaurants. Each turtle has its own numbered tag, which by design can only be used once, and the turtles are sold when they are adults. Restaurants have found this to be a lucrative way to offer a product that was formerly illegal; hence, the price is not prohibitive. The selling of farm-raised turtles is still in its infancy, and it is too early to tell whether or not there is any effect on wild populations. It will take at least 10 to 20 years of selling thousands of farm-raised turtles before any effect on natural populations, pro or con, could possibly be noted.
Turtle commercialization in the Rio Negro Basin, especially in the Rio Branco (Fig. 1), provides one of the most important sources of chelonians supplying the city of Manaus with species of podocnemid turtles: P. expansa, P. erythrocephala, P. sextuberculata, P. unifilis, and P. dumerilianus. The last species is caught year-round, whereas the others are more restricted to the dry season. Terrestrial species, such as Geochelone tortoises, are collected whenever they are found in the forest. With the rapid decline of P. expansa in the Rio Negro Basin, caused by overharvesting of both eggs and adults, more commercialization pressure has been put on P. unifilis and P. dumerilianus, whereas the smallest species, P. erythrocephala, is readily eaten in the homes of river people along the Rio Negro. Large turtles usually are not consumed by the river people, because they are worth too much on the black market. They sell or trade the larger turtles to middlemen, who ship the turtles downstream to sell in Manaus or Belem, where they command high prices. Podocnemis sextuberculata also is consumed often locally, but this species only occurs in white waters such as the Rio Branco (Fig. 3).
Citation: Chelonian Conservation and Biology 10, 1; 10.2744/CCB-0848.1
Information regarding the chelonian capture rate in the Rio Negro is lacking (Rebêlo and Lugli 1996; Rebêlo and Pezzuti 2000; Pezzuti 2003; Rebêlo et al. 2005); further studies are needed to understand the quantitative impact in this area. On the Rio Negro, large regional passenger ships, locally called recreios, illegally trade chelonians on a larger scale, usually carrying hundreds of animals for resale in Manaus. Fishers from Barcelos and other small cities and communities sell P. expansa and P. unifilis to the recreios owners who make a good profit from this trade. For example, a large adult P. expansa, weighing about 50 kg or even more, can be bought from fishers for about US$ 40–50 and resold in Manaus for up to US$ 200–450 (WWF 2009; pers. obs.). The Brazilian authority responsible for controlling and curtailing the trade of chelonians, IBAMA, has put in place penalties to boat owners for each turtle illegally transported on board (about US$ 500 for each P. expansa and P. unifilis). However, even though turtle dealers are fined, the fines are usually not paid, and they are released, and most of them go back to the black market business.
The penalty measures do not have a significant effect on the illegal trade of chelonians on the Rio Negro and in the other major Amazon tributaries (Vogt 2001; Rebêlo and Pezzuti 2000). It is possible to see people on the street buying chelonians (to cook for lunch) in front of police officers. Additionally, the harbors along the Rio Negro Basin have a very poor infrastructure, and unlicensed boats that go up the Rio Negro to Manaus do not follow any regular route, making it more difficult to monitor them. Neither the price of transportation of goods, nor the tickets sold to passengers, is subject to any regulations, nor are there checkpoints along the Rio Negro. As a consequence, boats transporting turtles are not searched or monitored, making it easy for boats to illegally transport chelonians to sell in Manaus. Further, boats often arrive at night to avoid inspections, which are not even frequent or rigorous during the day.
However, licensed passenger boats follow a schedule, and many of them also transport chelonians illegally. As these boats approach Manaus, they are met by smaller boats with outboard motors that take the turtles and bring them to a safe place where there is no inspection. Furthermore, some of these boats that come up the Rio Negro arrive in an improvised structure in the São Raimundo harbor, an underpoliced region, which is populated with an underclass of those outside the law. Despite the high demand for turtles for consumption, and the black market turtles from the Rio Negro, there is no inspection in this area and no conservation project to manage turtles. The black market turtles and their eggs arriving in Manaus are not sold in markets; they are sold door to door from vans, and the sellers go through neighborhoods knocking on doors, offering turtles for sale, their routes following a pattern where they have had success selling turtles before.
The main threat to turtles in the Rio Negro is from consumption. However, there are also other threats, which we summarize for individual species (Table 1). Turtles are traded for use in traditional medicines and cosmetics. Fat and egg shells are used to treat many different human diseases and turtle fat is the main product sold. The demand for these products is unknown; however, the use of turtle species in folk medicine might have a considerable impact on wild populations, and this must be taken into account for the conservation and management of these species (Alves et al. 2007).
Recommended Conservation Measures
In this article, we suggest the main conservation measures we believe are necessary to protect turtles in the Rio Negro (Table 1). Most of the protection measures are self-explanatory; however, some need further discussion. Artificial beaches should be created within protected reserves where the turtles feed, eliminating the risks of migrating turtles that must swim through populated areas to nest. In addition, in situ protection of nests in areas not occupied by humans would ensure that natural predators would not destroy nests; however, this method should not be used in areas of human disturbance because nests would be marked, simply making them easier for poachers to find.
To determine better strategies to protect the turtles of the Rio Negro Basin, further studies should be done in protected as well as in exploited areas, comparing both areas to understand the impact of illegal traffic. Areas to protect and manage these species of turtles need to be established while they are still relatively abundant and not suffering from habitat degradation.
For the Podocnemis species that have no protected beaches yet, a study is needed to determine whether a percentage of a population can be harvested and of what age, sex, and size classes. Conservation of abundant species of turtles cannot merely be legislated; logical scientifically based regulations must be in place to promote the rational use of these species without destroying the resource base. Peltocephalus does not congregate to nest on large open sandbars as the sympatric Podocnemis species do; thus, it is less vulnerable to complete extirpation by capture of nesting females or collection of eggs. Therefore, a closed season would at least give a greater number of females a chance to lay eggs before they are eaten.
We recommend several strategies for supporting governmental efforts to protect turtles in this region and elsewhere within their ranges. They include investing in education, reviewing existing governmental laws and regulations, and concentrating efforts on the middlemen for commercialization.
Investing in Education
To ensure that governmental efforts work, it is necessary to implement a massive elementary school and high school education program. Legislation will not protect turtles in countries where there is little respect for laws and their enforcement; therefore, it is necessary to show them the consequences of the decline of turtles, instead of just saying it is prohibited to eat (or sell) turtle. It is likely that the only way to change the customs and desires of Amazonian people, particularly those from riverine communities that both enjoy eating turtles and find selling them highly profitable, is to develop a strong educational program for both parents and children. Such a program might be most successful if the benefits of such conservation are made clear and communities develop pride in their turtles.
Government Law Review
Turtle management policies need to consider the need of riverine people to consume turtles as part of their culture and the key process of commercial turtle traffic. This means examining the ecological roles of animals, the biological limitations of the turtles (e.g., slow growth and late maturation), conservation (Vogt 2008), human uses of the turtles, the institutional capacity of government to regulate wildlife use, as well as cultural and social impacts. As Alves et al. (2007) noted: “If the need for conservation is to be accepted by people who make their livelihoods from wildlife or use wildlife as food and/or medicine, then care should be taken to avoid approaches with little or no social resonance i.e., that may be perceived as ideological or culturally imperialistic.” We encourage researchers to publish more so that the government can reform the legislation to more accurately reflect biological reality, and NGOs and government to join forces to run long-term projects for the conservation of Rio Negro turtles.
Focusing on Turtle Middlemen
Even though the consumption of turtles by riverine people has some impact on turtle species, the biggest problem is the middlemen who buy from the local people and sell to people in big cities. Riverine people usually do not have money and facilities to bring the turtles to the city; thus, the middlemen (big boat owners) are the ones who make the black market possible. During our fieldwork, we observed that these poachers are most active in the nesting period when the turtles are concentrated at nesting beaches.
When IBAMA catches middlemen, they extract a very high penalty, which is impossible to pay in most cases, and their boats are detained by the inspectors. This makes the traffic worse because, after that, the middlemen keep hunting in another boat and are more confident because the worst has already happened. They are already a fine defaulter and feel that nothing more can happen. They feel that, if they keep on collecting turtles illegally, they will not be penalized further. The penalties are similar for the riverine people as they are for the middlemen. However, riverine people rarely have enough money to buy another boat to keep trafficking. In other words, the law works against the riverine people who cannot fish anymore without a boat, but works as an incentive for middlemen who gain confidence and more courage to keep their social connections and expertise for the traffic.
Besides the lack of adherence to Brazilian laws, in the Rio Branco, the situation can become violent. In 2008, poachers ambushed an IBAMA boat with inspectors and volunteers in broad daylight—a volunteer was killed and the IBAMA inspector was wounded by the turtle traffickers. The situation is such that inspectors no longer want to work and enforce laws in such an area. The one good development is that some IBAMA inspectors have joined with Navy personnel; thus, these two governmental entities can conduct inspection work safely in some areas of Brazil. However, there is no evidence that IBAMA and the Navy have worked as partners in the Rio Negro. This basin is one of the least inspected areas in the Amazon, and the government needs to improve the protection system there.
Future Threats: A Global Perspective
Globalization has clearly affected the world trade in turtle species, and certainly can reach the turtles of the Rio Negro. Globalization has affected the natural resources market worldwide (Alecs and Georges 2008; Georges 2009). China, in particular, is buying all of the turtles of the world for food. As a result, most of the turtles in Southeast Asia are imperiled with extinction because of China's purchasing power (van Dijk et al. 2000; WWF 2007; Turtle Conservation Coalition 2011). Recently commercial harvesting laws had to be changed in many parts of the United States to protect formerly unprotected species of turtles that were being exported to China by the millions. World Chelonian Trust estimates that about 31.8 million turtles were shipped out of the United States from 2002 to 2005, and a single shipper from Texas shipped out 250,000 wild-caught turtles from 2002–2005 (Lowe 2009). The Amazonian turtles need constant monitoring to assure that they do not become part of the Chinese turtle commerce.
The current problems in the Amazon that affect the Rio Negro Basin are deforestation, soybean plantations, cattle grazing, and development (roads and hydroelectric dams) (McAllister et al. 2001). Dams prevent the migration of turtles up or down rivers to nesting beaches and feeding areas. Dam impoundments also maintain high water levels upstream, thus covering nesting beaches and feeding areas. Dams isolate populations of turtles, preventing gene flow between populations. Dams reduce the natural flow regimes of water downstream affecting nesting areas and feeding areas adversely (McAllister et al. 2001).
Special attention should be given to the new development plans launched by the Brazilian Federal Government in 2007, the Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento (PAC). This program concentrates on developing infrastructure and facilities mainly in the north of Brazil. To do so, new power plants have been planned in the north of the country. The aim of these governmental incentives is to attract industries that can develop this region, which has a lot of natural resources to exploit. No thought has been given to the conservation of turtle populations (or other wildlife) when developing these plans.
In the Rio Negro Basin, indigenous people can find economic alternatives without commercializing turtles and facing violation of the law. An excellent alternative is the use of their most significant legacies among them: the art of manipulating natural resources and transforming them into objects of beauty. Therefore, arts and crafts could be a source of subsistence level commercialization for some people in the Rio Negro area without exploiting the chelonian populations. Thus, their effigies can become an economic resource, and images can be shaped from wood (Ferrara et al., in press). However, it is important to note that they need help from foundations and governmental and nongovernmental organizations to intermediate and sell the products in and out of the country (avoiding incorporation with middlemen who exploit the riverine people).
At the moment, there is no evidence to suggest that the illegal consumption of turtles will decline. First, it is a habit and part of the culture in the region and difficult to change. Second, the Amazonian region is so large that there are not enough inspectors to control the illegal traffic. Third, there is a lack of education that will provide these communities with information to use turtles in a sustainable way. This is the time in history to encourage the Brazilian government and population to take actions to avoid a chaotic future characterized by overexploitation and abuse of turtles, to maintain great biological diversity, and to use turtles sustainably.
Map of the Rio Negro basin in Brazil. Note that the Rio Branco is a major white water tributary of the Rio Negro.
Podocnemis sextuberculata roasting on charcoal fires openly in front of restaurants in Barcelos. (Photo by Camila Ferrara.)
Riverine children helping their parents to clean and prepare Podocnemis sextuberculata for lunch. (Photo by Camila Ferrara.)
