The village that turned turtle poaching into turtle protection
Villagers in Matura, Trinidad, began patrolling their beach in 1990 to stop leatherback turtles being killed, and built local guiding and tourism around protecting them.
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The small thing
After Matura Beach was declared a protected area in 1989, a handful of local volunteers began walking the beach at night to deter poachers. They formalised as Nature Seekers in 1990.
The problem
Matura Beach is one of the world's largest leatherback nesting sites, but turtles and eggs were being taken for meat and quick profit. UN News reports that up to 30% of the leatherbacks coming ashore were being maimed or killed by poachers.
Why Nature Seekers started
Suzan Lakhan-Baptiste grew up seeing nesting turtles killed and left on the sand, with no patrols or rules in place, and decided she had to help stop it, according to UN News and Oceanic Society. When the Forestry Division declared the beach protected in 1989, it asked local volunteers to help enforce the rules.
What they did
Members patrolled the nesting beach at night through the season, held community meetings, visited schools and pressed officials for stronger enforcement. Residents were trained as guides who also tag, measure and weigh nesting turtles for research.
The group developed turtle-watching tourism, and later forest management, beach clean-ups and a jewellery line made from collected glass. With UNDP support it has explored turtle excluder devices to reduce bycatch in fishing nets.
What changed
According to Oceanic Society, poaching at Matura is now practically non-existent and the area has guest houses, nature tours and handicraft businesses. The National Wildlife Federation reported in 2006 that some guides were former poachers or from poaching families and that tourism officials from around the Caribbean came to study the model. Matura hosts more than 2,000 nesting leatherbacks a season, according to Oceanic Society.
What they learned
The group's experience, as described by Oceanic Society, is that the community came to see a leatherback as worth more alive than dead once protection brought guiding and tourism income.
“I have to be a part of doing something and curbing this”Suzan Lakhan-Baptiste and Nature Seekers, Matura, as quoted by UN News
Copy this idea
Practical guidance written by our editors from the sources below. Adapt it to your place, and check local rules and safety first.
- Problem addressed
- Hunting or disturbance of wildlife at a breeding or nesting site near a community.
- What to do
- Form a local volunteer patrol, work with the wildlife authority, and build guided visits so protection brings income.
- Materials and resources
- Torches with red light, notebooks or data sheets, basic first aid, agreed code of conduct for visitors.
- Approximate cost
- Low
- Skills
- Wildlife-safe handling (with official training), guiding, record-keeping, community outreach.
- Time
- Nightly in season; years to build trust and income.
- People needed
- A few committed residents at first; wider village involvement over time.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Risks and limitations
- Confrontation with poachers (leave enforcement to authorities); too many visitors disturbing animals.
- How to adapt it
- Work under the relevant wildlife authority's permits and rules; involve former hunters as guides.
- Lessons learned
- Protection lasts when local people benefit from it.
Why it matters
One village beach is a small part of a leatherback's ocean-wide range. But Matura shows that conservation led by local residents, including former poachers, can end hunting on a major nesting site while creating local livelihoods.
Policy connection
International commitments this kind of action contributes to. Listing a framework does not mean the person or group was working towards it.
- Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Targets 2, 3 and 22: Restoration, area-based conservation, and full participation of Indigenous peoples and local communities, including protection of environmental human rights defenders.
- SDG 14 and SDG 15: Life below water and life on land.
What didn't work
Oceanic Society reports that early members were discouraged and mocked, with Lakhan-Baptiste called a 'crazy turtle woman', and that night patrols involved long walks through forest. Leatherbacks still face threats beyond the beach: UN News and Oceanic Society describe entanglement in fishing nets as the main current threat.
Editor's note
Oceanic Society's profile of Suzan Lakhan-Baptiste was updated in May 2026 and describes Nature Seekers as active.
Sources: how do we know?
Evidence level: Documented. Supported by reliable published sources such as UN agencies, award bodies and reputable journalism. Not yet independently re-verified by our editors. What the person says and what independent sources establish are attributed separately in the text.
- un agency
FEATURE: UN-backed projects in the Caribbean highlight connection between life on land and life below water — UN News, 2017Supports: Founded 1990; up to 30% of leatherbacks maimed or killed by poachers; patrols, guiding, tagging, ecotourism, glass jewellery; GEF Small Grants support; bycatch threat; quote. - organisational
From carnage to conservation: the inspiring story of Suzan Lakhan-Baptiste — Rosie Jeffrey, Oceanic Society, 14 August 2023Supports: 1989 protected-area declaration and volunteers; night patrols, schools, advocacy; poaching now practically non-existent; 2,000+ nesting leatherbacks; early ridicule; updated May 2026. - reputable journalism
The Secret to Saving Sea Turtles — Michael Tennesen, National Wildlife Federation (National Wildlife magazine), 1 June 2006Supports: Nature Seekers founded 1990, mostly Matura residents; guides include former poachers; model studied across the Caribbean.