Around Poza Rica in the nearby beaches such as Tuxpan, Tecolutla, Lechuguillas and Cazones there are turtle camps that are dedicated to the conservation, rehabilitation and release of species such as sea turtles. Anyone can be part of this release with a small contribution for the contribution to the conservation of species.
Species
More than 200,000 turtles are released annually in the area with more than 4,500 nests each year in each zone. Three species have arrived: Olive Ridley, Green and Hawksbill, but some years there have been up to 5 species including Loggerhead and Leatherback.
Nesting
The lechuguillas zone is the 1st place in the state in nesting and the Cazones, Tuxpan and Tecolutla zone is the 2nd.
The olive ridley turtle nests from March to June, the hawksbill turtle from April to September, and the green turtle from June to November; therefore, the best time to visit the camps and participate in turtle releases is from June to September.
Species protection and conservation
Some turtle camps are part of SEMARNAT’s National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), but they do most of their work with their own resources or with contributions from tourism.
In the camps there are biologists or environmentalists dedicated to species protection who have been trained and certified at the national and international level. They have collaborated in the same work in other states such as Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tamaulipas and Yucatán.
When bitten or sick turtles arrive, they make sure that they can leave eggs and that the turtles can hatch from those nests.
If they can, they hold them for rehabilitation and then release them, a task they used to help with at the Veracruz aquarium.
Other species
The turtle camps work and promote the concept of protecting and releasing sea turtles for tourism in order to have resources to help conserve other species such as birds, iguanas, boas, reptiles and crocodiles. Through tourism in this sea turtle program is that they can spread the conservation of their area, environment and various species.
