Cofete beach welcomes 10 new loggerhead turtle nests brought from Cape Verde

The project for these turtles reintroduction to Fuerteventura, is now its fourth consecutive year.

Bernardo French 76 and born in Cofete, recalls the presence of turtles on the beach in his youth.

The sandy beach Cofete (Pájara) hosts 10 nests of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta), each with about 75-80 eggs, all within the project for the reintroduction of turtles in the Canary Islands which has four years has been allowing this kind of movement. The project is developed under the supervision of scientists from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the Canary Institute of Marine Sciences, and with the collaboration of the Cabildo of Fuerteventura, the Canary Islands Government, the City of Pájara the Ministry of Environment, In addition to the Government of the Republic of Cape Verde.

The Minister of the Environment of the Cabildo of Fuerteventura, Natalia Evora, explained that "this project already underway for its fourth year, is the work of people like Lazaro Cabrera and Luis Felipe López Jurado, who have campaigned many years for this . The success so far is an indicator of the quality of our beaches and our ocean, becoming indispensable for a scientific project of international significance. " Together with Natalia Evora also went to the beach this afternoon Cofete Cándido Padrón, Deputy Minister for Environment of the Canary Islands Government, and Francisco Martin, director general of the Natural Environment.

The eggs which were collected by a team of specialists from The Beat (Cape Verde), who were responsible for their transfer by plane to Gran Canaria, one of them moved to the Instituto Canario de Ciencias Marinas, while most are buried in nests on the beach in Cofete. The choice of beach Cofete for this project responds to the scientific quality of its sand, clean water, temperature and tranquility that characterizes the area. Either way, the nests will be permanently monitored during the two months that will have to wait until the eggs hatch, thanks to a team of scientists and volunteers coordinated by the Environmental Ministry of the Environment of the Cabildo of Fuerteventura.

Puerto del Rosario, August 4, 2009

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