26 Feb. 2026 – A new guide, Community-based Monitoring of Freshwater Turtles, empowers Indigenous and local communities to take the lead in turtle conservation. Created together with the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Wampis Nation’s successful turtle repopulation initiative in Peru, the guide blends traditional ecological knowledge with hands-on monitoring methods.
Why it matters?
As human pressures continue to drive wildlife declines, keeping a close watch on at-risk species like freshwater turtles has never been more important. These long-lived animals face significant dangers from the earliest stages of life, making population and habitat monitoring essential.
By equipping communities to observe and document turtle populations, the guide can help safeguard the future for generations, while also supporting healthier rivers and stronger biodiversity overall.
Acknowledgements
This guidance was written by Albana Berberi, Helen Newing, and José Hernán Flores as part of the Transformative Pathways project, developed in collaboration with the Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science in the Department of Biology at the University of Oxford and Forest Peoples Programme (FPP).
The Steering Committee of the Sustainable Use of Wild Species Transformative Partnership Platform (SU-TPP) contains representatives from The Department of Biology at the University of Oxford and Forest People’s Programme (FPP).