Located on the southeast Pacific coast of El Salvador, in the Department of Usulutan, Jiquilisco Bay is country´s largest coastal estuary and consists of a largely undeveloped mangrove-lined series of inlets and canals. The area was designated a RAMSAR wetland on October 31, 2005 and named a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2007. Its 637 square kilometers and 50 kilometers of coastline offers some of El Salvador´s most untouched natural beauty and hosts the largest abundance of coastal-marine birds in the country. It is also a critically important hawksbill nesting site, hosting approximately 40-45% of the known hawksbill nesting in the entire eastern Pacific!

The hawksbill conservation project in Bahía Jiquilisco is run by a local research team that has been conducting hawksbill monitoring and conservation since April 2008. Our staff carry out nightly patrols, egg protection, turtle tagging and other data gathering activities. Nests are protected primarily in two project hatcheries located one in the surroundings of La Pirraya and the other one out of the island, near Punta San Juan. There is also a portion of the estuary where nests are protected in-situ and is located in the other side of the San Sebastian island, near the community of El Cojoyón.

Our research and conservation is implemented using innovative and fascinating methods. When walking the beach, project staff often pass local egg collectors on horseback, bike or foot, but everyone is looking for the same turtles. If egg collectors find a turtle first, they come and alert project staff, who then accompany them back to the nest. This is because the egg collectors that once sold eggs for consumption are now working with the project to protect hawksbills. The conservation team subsequently gathers up all the eggs and everyone (egg collectors and conservationists) go back to the guarded hatchery where the eggs are re-buried. In this manner we ensure that the maximum number of the eggs is staying in the sand and hatchlings is being produced, while also financially supporting local community members that often have limited options to provide for themselves and their families.

To date, via this project we have:
<blockquote>• Protected more than 300 nests
• Produced more than 33,500 hawksbill hatchlings
• Equipped 3 hawksbills with satellite tags
• Benefited more than 95 local families</blockquote>
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