On May 23, Turtle Day is celebrated worldwide, used to promote knowledge about different species and the importance of protecting them. Due to this important date, we came to remember the importance of conserving these marine specimens. Environmental education is a topic still under development, but it is of global interest and adopted by several organizations that even carry out activities linked to tourism, especially in places where tourist activity is most developed in natural environments.
According to the Global Travel and Tourism Report 2015, a report by the World Economic Forum, Brazil is considered the country with the greatest tourist potential in terms of natural resources in the world. This natural wealth presupposes nature tourism as one of the growth vectors of tourist activity in the country. Therefore, ecotourism has attracted more and more people who are interested in the environment. The study published in the Tourism International Ecotourism Society (TIES, 2015) estimates that the Environmental Protection Areas in the world together receive around 8 billion visitors per year.
Turtles are marine reptiles that represent a very important group in marine ecosystems. They occur mainly in the tropical and subtropical range of the planet. Some populations came to be composed of millions of individuals, however, nowadays, there are few populations that are not threatened by human action. A combination of factors such as predatory fishing, habitat destruction and sea contamination has determined the biological and behavioral conditions of turtles (ICMBio, 2011).
It is important to remember that in their living areas, turtles play an important economic role for the region. In addition to contributing to ecotourism on the coast, there are jobs for professionals who work with its conservation. The main threats are: irregular occupation of the coast, slaughter of females and collection of eggs for food, transit on the spawning beach, artificial lighting in spawning areas, accidental capture in fishing gear, breeding of domestic animals in spawning areas, pollution of the seas, transit of vessels and mineral extraction on beaches (ICMBio, 2011).
So, environmental awareness is not only for the native coastal population, but also for all those involved in tourist and economic activities, in order to contribute to the reduction of anthropic impacts on the oceans and beaches, thus helping in the conservation of turtle species that use from the coast to reproduce and feed. Introductory lectures to environmental practices in local schools, colleges, hotels and museums are very important. Therefore, the development of works of this nature is essential, as well as the systematization of an inventory of species occurring in the region.
REFERENCES
1. CARVALHO, Gabriel Domingos et al. A IMPORTÂNCIA ECOLÓGICA DA CONSERVAÇÃO DAS TARTARUGAS MARINHAS.
2. DE LIMA, Laissa Paloma Queiroz; NETO, Lourival Dutra; DE HOLANDA, Luciana Araújo. Programa de Ecoturismo e Educação Ambiental do Projeto TAMAR-Fernando de Noronha: uma análise de 2013 a 2016. Revista Brasileira de Ecoturismo (RBEcotur), v. 11, n. 1, 2018.
3. ICMBio. Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade. Plano de ação nacional para a conservação das tartarugas marinhas. Alexsandro Santana dos Santos... [et al.]; organizadores: Maria Ângela Azevedo Guagni Dei marcovaldi, Alexsandro Santana dos Santos. Brasília: Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade, ICMBIO, 2011.120 p.
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