Save our Sea Turtles

SOS PROJECTS

Turtle House

After operating for years as a seasonal and nomadic organisation, meeting in each others houses and on the beach, it is time to settle down. Our goal is to establish a well equipped “Turtle House”, an office space, information center and accessible meeting space for our beach patrol, student volunteers and other members so that we can centralize our activities, become more financially self-sustaining, maintain a more visible presence on our main nesting beaches and expand our research, education and eco-tourism programs.

It is hoped that this Turtle House will be located near the prime nesting beaches in the Black Rock / Grafton area on the north-west coast. Unfortunately, this area is also favoured amongst expatriates and tourism developers so property values are some of the highest on the island!
Luckily, a parcel of land on Grafton beach is owned by the Alefounder Trust and was deeded to be used specifically for turtle conservation. SOS has already approached the Alefounder Trust regarding use of this land for its Turtle House, is in the process of negotiating a site as the original location has been significantly reduced by extensive coastal erosion.
Failing timely solution, the other option is to team up with an existing guest house or villa owner in the area on a temporary, rental basis until negotiations are successful or a more permanent location is secured either through donation or purchase.

The Turtle House will include training/education facilities, offices, a small dormitory for the Beach Patrol, an information centre for visitors and the local community, and a gift shop for the sale of SOS merchandise as well as local turtle art and craft.
The Turtle House will be equipped with the necessary office, educational, and research resources. It is also envisioned that additional assistance for building and maintaining the Turtle House will be derived from our new Adopt-A-Turtle program as well as large funding organizations like the UNDP and the Community Development Fund.

If you would like to get more involved in this particular venture or if you are or know of a property owner in the area who might be interested in helping out—please contact us for the full “Turtle House” proposal!

Conserving Tobago's turtles and their coastal and marine habitat through community based initiatives in education, research and eco-tourism.