Luís Solano Cordero
"In total we release to the the sea 1,540 babies each year. The main species we save are the leatherback turtles, green turtles and hawkbill turtles."
Luís is the founder and CEO of the project Tortugas de Pacuare, which means Turtles of Pacuare. He has been working with turtles for 12 years but only seven years ago he decided to start a programme on the Caribbean Coast giving the opportunity to volunteers from all around the world to fall in love with sea turtles and all the diversity of Costa Rica. Successively, he started a similar option on the Pacific Coast in Playa Matapalo, which is a very popular beach and the risk of seeing poachers around the turtles' nests is very high.
Mission
Our main mission is to protect sea turtles. With the support of the local community and the international volunteers, coming from all over the world, we work to help conserve the environment. By working with sea turtles, with communal and environmental education programs, we will be able to educate people on the importance of caring about such a valuable environmental resource: sea turtles.
Vision
The protection of turtles and the biodiversity safeguard of the region is our main goal. In order to achieve it, we need the help of volunteers, your help! Volunteers should have a willingness to help in a task that requires a close attention. For this reason, we create an atmosphere where the volunteer feels like at home, we are one big family. Volunteers should have the desire of leaving a mark in a humble village, with a strong will to move forward.
Watch the video I have made about my experience at TORTUGAS DE PACUARE:
A message by Luis
We have been living now very hard moments because of coronavirus. We depend 100% on the contributions volunteers pay to participate in the program, so since the crisis has started all the reservations were canceled. This has left the program mired in a major economic crisis.
Even in the midst of this crisis, we continue working because it is the season when leatherback turtles come to lay their eggs on our beach. In order to continue our work, we have started a campaign on our Facebook so that all those who can donate do so, it is a good way to save turtles even while at home.
