Manage the herbarium in favor of green turtles

Charlotte Bousquet
Charlotte Bousquet

What are there so many green turtles in Tintamare ? Because they are protected, of course, but also because they feed on the plant beds that carpets the ocean floor.

That proves the importance of this ecosystem and its good management, especially the presence of 17 mooring blocks provided by the Réserve for boats to use. Chains from an anchor destroy the plant beds This herbarium is the object of a project for Charlotte Bousquet, a student at the University of La Rochelle in a master’s program for «environmental sciences and littoral ecology ». She is doing an internship at the Réserve Naturelle from February through July 2016, and began by studying and describing this herbarium, before observing how boats sometimes drop their anchors on the herbarium since the moorings are all occupied, which is not a valid reason. The core of her mission consists in determining the different way boats use three zones: the sandy mooring zone; the sandy zone behind the moorings; and the zone of the herbarium where boats sometimes drop their anchors. On the basis of the results, she will formulate recommendations for the optimum management of these three zones, in order to improve their conservation.

A sea turtle in his element

All articles from: Newsletter-25

Managing The Impact Of Human Activities In Protected Areas

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