WORKSHOP ON PROPER PLANNING AND METHODS OF TORTOISE RELOCATION
BEING HELD AT THE TURTLE SURVIVAL ALLIANCE CONFERENCE, TUCSON ARIZONA, SEPTEMBER 17-20, 2008
The workshop will be held the morning of Saturday, Sept 20. 2008
For the past 15 years, our Institute under our Gopher Tortoise Conservation Initiative has been spearheading a total change in how the state of Florida protected gopher tortoises. The history of this battle can in part be read on our web page. The outcome has been mostly successful with its up listing to Threatened Status and most importantly the halting of the use of testing (URTD) to allow developers to entomb literally thousands of tortoises each year. Prior to and during this time we have been working on how to establish successful relocation programs. This began with an international conference held in 2000, "The International Roundtable on Relocation and Assurance Colonies. This conference spelled out clearly what information and methods were needed before conservation based relocation could work. Our major goal has been to develop that information through research on the natural history of the gopher tortoise and on the methods required to make relocation work.
We have learned many things and our efforts in relocating tortoises have been successful based on our monitoring, including URTD positive tortoises. No, we have not had a hundred years of monitoring but our 13 years in some cases show that the relocated tortoises are living, moving, and reproducing the same as tortoises that have not been moved. Florida has adopted properly managed relocation as the foundation for tortoise conservation after years of deliberation by all stakeholders. This was done after literally thousands of individuals and many pro-conservation groups got to work to get the policy changed.
We invite and encourage all concerned individuals to attend the workshop we have developed to discuss proper methods of tortoise relocation and then take up the cause for properly planned conservation programs for the desert tortoise.
The program will have three parts:
- We will present a case study on gopher tortoise relocation. What were the studies that were done, results, and how the plan was developed for a conservation plan to protect this species in perpetuity? We will cover all the key issues that will include, Habitat quality, tortoise behavior, economics and politics, health issues, genetics, establishing methods to take into account all the above and finally, how this "could" be a program that will protect much of Florida's upland species in perpetuity.
- The second part will be a discussion by one or more desert tortoise experts, not necessarily involved with the current relocations to discuss how a similar plan could be created for the desert tortoises. In their fields on expertise, they will outline concerns and recommendations.
- The third part of the program will be to open up the session for questions and answers from the participants.
The outcome of the session will be a list of recommendations put together by the participants. The recommendations and the whole conference is built on one common theme "What is the conservation value?"
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