WHY ARE SEA TURTLES IMPORTANT? – M. Giovannini

Dear all, recently I read with great interest a thread on CTURTLE (one of the online mailing list servers at the University of Florida), called “Why are sea turtles important?”

One of the contributors referred the readers to an article that stated: “What species can we allow to go extinct without major harm or disruption to mankind?” Ultimately it was asking: “Just how much biodiversity (the variation of life forms on the Earth) do we need?”

This caught my attention because it appeared to be valuing biodiversity only in terms of how it could benefit humans. Following this point of view, you might wonder we are going to such great lengths to save Sea Turtles from extinction, given that they can’t be said to be of any direct use to human kind, Obviously this is a provocative standpoint, but it did make me wonder what drives us to conserve nature and specifically sea turtles. I have been thinking about the issue a lot in recent years, and would be interested to hear your views on the subject., I would like to pose the following questions to you:

Is it true that we should value nature in terms of how it benefits us, or does it have a value in itself? If it has an intrinsic value, what is this value and how does this apply to sea turtles?

Please send your replies to redseaturtles@gmail.com; we will publish most of your emails soon so you can share your  ideas with everyone. I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

LAUSANNE’S MARATHON – S. Nier

Sunday 26th October 2008, 9.00am: a fresh but sunny autumn morning. On the starting line for the annual ‘Walking’ section of Marathon, our first team starts at the rhythm of crowd’s encouragements. The walking course (10,548km long) starts in Lausanne and meanders through the villages of Pully, Lutry and Paudex to finally arrive in front of the Olympic Museum, next to Ouchy. Our 6 walking athletes are in a very good mood, laughing and joking, and happy to share this moment between friends brought together by this effort.

Thanks to Claudine and Jean Pierre Ferreira, Véronique and Pierre Blondet Patrick and Joëlle Nier for their involvment in the RSTP and their enthusiasm during this day. On the left picture our ‘Walking team’. From left to right: Jean Pierre, Claudine, Patrick, Joëlle, Pierre, Véronique.

Sunday 26th October 2008, 1.30 pm: beginning of the afternoon, maximum sunshine, maximum excitement, more than 3000 runners coming from all over the world. Our second team, after warming up, starts from La Tour-De-Peilz, for the half-marathon: 21,097 km of course, by the lake, going through more than 7 villages. One of them is Vevey, with its fabulous coloured landscapes, from the green of the vineyards and yellow-orange of the trees to the blue of the lake. The crowd’s encouragements are a constant push for the runners, while the photographers and videographers try to take as much coverage as possible

of all the participants. The arrival in front of the Olympic Museum, close to Ouchy, is a great achievement for the RSTP team, and the smiles of our 3 runners are a warm reward. Thank you very much to my colleagues and friends, Casper Clemmensen and Sébastien Del Rizzo for sharing this moment. Picture on the right the ‘Half Marathon’ RSTP team; from left to right: Sébastien, Samantha, Casper. The purpose of this event was to introduce the RSTP to Switzerland, after receiving a warm welcome in England and Italy. It is now done thanks to the support and enthusiasm of everyone! Rendez vous for same time next year!

THANK YOU PIT!

The RSTP would like to thank all of you for all the sightings submitted online this summer, and particularly Pit who submitted the most. It has been a real important source of information for us and we hope many more will come in the future. Thanks again.

GET INVOLVED!
Your help so far has been amazing and we thank you very much for it. Here are a few things you can do to get involved in the project:

1. •Report any turtle sighting online.
   

2. •Report any big animal sighting online.
   

3. •Submit any picture or video of sea turtles via email. We will use these to identify individuals and we will give you credit for your pictures or videos.
   

4. •Send us your comments, feedback and suggestions on how to improve our project.
   

5. •Donate to the RSTP. Your donation will help us in continuing our activity.
   

6. •Enrol in the Sea Turtle Awareness Specialty. It’s easy and everyone can do it!
   

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