ISTS Symposium43 Program/Agenda

This project sought to understand how co-creating dance as a form of storytelling impacts knowledge and attitudes toward sea turtle conservation. The study used a controlled experimental design to test the distinctive potential of dance to affect participants’ experience, empathy, and knowledge. This study probed the effectiveness of “SciDance,” a science engagement program that investigates the impact of dance creation and performance on adult learning and empathy towards conservation issues. Study participants first attended a talk and question and answer session on sea turtle conservation. Half of the participants were then assigned to the treatment group and collaborated with artistic facilitators to create a dance to interpret the research. The facilitators provide music, props, and movement-generation activities, but the choreography is co-developed, with participants taking on performance roles.

This pilot study tested three hypotheses. The project proposed that, compared to participants in a standard “science café” style lecture, participants in the SciDance program would: 1) Better understand and retain ideas from the research topics presented; 2) demonstrate greater empathy for sea turtles; and 3) show other positive outcome and reactions to the science outreach experience. We used mixed methods to test these hypotheses. We collected survey-based data at crucial points (before the program, immediately following the program, and 6-8 weeks later) to quantitatively measure specific outcomes and compare responses and changes between the groups. Self-administered interviews collected data on the dancers’ experiences to provide qualitative context for the distinctive value of the SciDance experience and outcomes.

The evidence indicates that the outcomes of SciDance are more robust than those of a science café lecture in several predicted areas. Quantitative data from the two treatment groups shows statistically significant outcomes: dance far more strongly activates empathy – including perspective-taking, feeling connection, and increased feelings of hope and compassion for sea turtles. It also increased and sustained feelings of upset about human actions that harm sea turtles. Additionally, it was clearly evident that SciDance was more joyful and enjoyable than a science café lecture – extremely valuable outcomes for any free-choice learning experience. While both formats effectively conveyed information from sea turtle research, the dance experience prompted more and a broader set of sea turtle conservation concepts to stick with participants; the lecture was better at conveying just one “cool fact” (in this case, turtle excluder devices). A unique outcome that emerged was how strongly the dance created a safe, supportive learning community among strangers. In essence, instead of focusing on “doom and gloom” and feeling sad for endangered species, SciDance activated hope, compassion, joy, and community that may be more productive for long-term engagement in sea turtle conservation.

Cameroon’s coastal villages, Batoke and Bakingili, host a remarkable diversity of sea turtles, with five of the world’s seven species nesting along their shores. These turtles are vital to marine ecosystems, supporting healthy seagrass beds and coral reefs, while also holding cultural significance for local communities. However, they face severe threats such as poaching, plastic pollution, bycatch, and habitat degradation, leading to sharp population declines. Conservation efforts, including environmental education in local schools, have sought to address these challenges. Yet, traditional teaching methods have struggled to engage children effectively, with a pretest revealing over 80% of students were unaware of basic sea turtle ecology or the human activities threatening them. To overcome these limitations, we developed a culturally relevant animated cartoon to raise awareness and inspire action.

This first cartoon is inspired by the real-life story of Paa Mensa, a local fisherman who transitioned from poaching sea turtles to passionately protecting them after being sensitized by AMMCO. At its heart, the cartoon conveys a compelling message about the impact of a polluted beach on sea turtle hatchlings. Paa Mensa sensitizes local children, showing how baby turtles often become trapped in abandoned fishing nets or plastic waste, unable to reach the sea. Through his guidance, the children learn about the harmful effects of marine debris and abandoned nets, inspiring them to take action by cleaning the beach and encouraging their fishing families to adopt sustainable practices. Paa Mensa also educates the children on the ecological importance of sea turtles, deepening their understanding of why these creatures need protection. The cartoon, designed as a 5-minute animation, uses vibrant and relatable storytelling to engage viewers. It features a cast of characters, including Paa Mensa and local children, set against a backdrop that authentically reflects the coastal environment of Cameroon. To enhance the experience, the cartoon incorporates culturally inspired music, adding to its emotional appeal and making it an effective and engaging educational tool.

Featuring Paa Mensa and characters like Daniela and other children from the community, the cartoon is brought to life by the voices of local children who were thrilled to participate. Their enthusiasm has fueled excitement across the community, with children eagerly sharing the story with friends and family. Preliminary results from sharing the cartoon during the holiday club with about 100 children have been highly encouraging. The children’s excitement and engagement were evident as they asked thoughtful questions and pledged to protect sea turtles. The cartoon resonated especially with those familiar with Paa Mensa’s story, amplifying its impact. Its reach extended beyond the classroom, with broadcasts on major platforms like CRTV and local television channels, further spreading its conservation message. Moving forward, the cartoon will serve as a vital educational tool for other communities and events, locally and internationally, uniting storytelling, outreach, and creativity to safeguard sea turtles’ future.

Keywords: sea turtle conservation, environmental education, storytelling, animated cartoons, Cameroon

Located on the west coast of Reunion Island in the southwestern Indian Ocean, Kelonia is a sea turtle conservation center with 1,500m3 of seawater-fed tanks, and 1,500m2 of outdoor spaces. It pursues three main missions: to rehabilitate injured sea turtles, conduct scientific research, and promote environmental education. Since opening in 2006, annual visitor numbers have doubled from 100,000 to 200,000, fueled by the public's fascination with sea turtles and a growing commitment to environmental conservation. This engagement provides an invaluable opportunity to raise awareness of marine conservation, particularly among schoolchildren.

Each year, Kelonia hosts 13,000 to 17,000 schoolchildren, aged 3 to 18—doubled compared with numbers prior to the renovation in 2004. Two full-time science communicators support these educational efforts, developing activities that align with Kelonia’s research and address regional environmental challenges while adhering to the standards of the French school curriculum, including Education for Sustainable Development.

Partnership with various institutions plays a crucial role in the development of educational content. Each activity is designed to be interactive and tailored to the student’s education level. The main program topics include:

• Marine Turtle Biology: This foundational topic covers adaptation, species diversity, life cycles, and threats, fostering an understanding of the ecological importance and vulnerability of turtles.

• Habitat Restoration: In partnership with the Mascarin National Botanical Conservatory, this program introduces children to nesting beach restoration through the reintroduction of native plants, illustrating the vital connections within an ecosystem. Over the past two decades, approximately 500 indigenous plants have been reintroduced along the beaches surrounding Kelonia, helping to restore the natural habitat.

• Plastic Pollution: Launched alongside a campaign against plastic bags, this activity uses real case studies from Kelonia's rehabilitation center to demonstrate the impact of plastic on marine life, making the issue more tangible for students.

• Turtle Sponsorship: Originally a legacy program, the sponsorship initiative has evolved to engage both local and national students, fostering a personal connection with turtle conservation. In the case of an ongoing scientific program to track turtles by satellite, sponsors can track turtles’ movements. Since opening, around 200 turtles have been released with the participation of schoolchildren, offering a unique opportunity to demonstrate both the negative impact of human activities on turtle populations and the crucial role of the rehabilitation center in species preservation.

• Museum Treasure Hunt: A fun and interactive way for children to engage with information, encouraging exploration and learning in a museum setting.

An educational toolkit, developed to support schools facing financial barriers to transportation, support access to Kelonia’s resources on-site as well as external events.

Kelonia’s programs go beyond standard guided tours, offering a dynamic, hands-on educational experience that cultivates a lifelong commitment to conservation in young minds. Through active involvement in ecological restoration and interactive learning, Kelonia cultivates environmental stewardship and inspired both local and global visitors to participate in conservation efforts.

“Humans are emotional creatures and many of the emotional creatures that were my friends were not taking steps to help the living world, not because they lacked information but because they lacked connection to it”

(Conservation biologist, Tom Mustill, wildlife filmmaker and author of “HOW TO SPEAK WHALE”)

Globally, the demand for conservation to be ‘decolonised’ is growing. What we at the Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles (MEDASSET) understand that to mean in practice is that conservationists must increasingly recognise the importance of supporting local communities (whether in the developed or developing world), to take responsibility in their own way for the health and wellbeing of their own natural environments and the habitats and living organisms that those habitats support.

One of the ways we seed and build local interest and active engagement in conservation work is through our educational outreach programmes. We contend that human emotions are and must remain at the heart of public engagement efforts, and that the outreach work NGOs undertake must mobilise them... or fail. Further, that nowhere is it more vital to get this right than in the programmes we offer to the young.

This presentation describes how we, at MEDASSET, approach creating memorable content in our outreach work, and take a close look at some of our most popular programmes. We will look at some examples of the engagement tools we use across a range of age groups – from primary school children to pensioners – and highlight the principles that lie behind them and make them successful. We will particularly emphasise the role physicality plays in generating our most prized immediate outcome - an emotional response.

Although the challenge of evaluating long term effectiveness remains, the insights and experience MEDASSET has gained in over 30 years of community engagement and educational outreach will offer ideas that can be adapted by colleagues globally, and support other environmental NGOs working to develop their own public engagement tools.

The current biodiversity crisis demands urgent actions to mitigate the extinction of species worldwide. However, conservation should include scientific evidence and be accompanied by education actions to involve citizens in biodiversity restoration. For this reason, conservation offers unique opportunities to develop educational activities with multiple complementary objectives, including: a) dissemination of scientific approaches, applications and results for conservation; b) education on the biology and threats of target species and; c) information on how citizens can aid their conservation. Here, we present the workshop entitled “Genomics of the colonisation of marine turtles” developed under the umbrella of the project LIFE TURTLENEST (LIFE 21 NAT/IT/101074584) in the context of the ongoing colonisation process of the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) in the western Mediterranean. This region experiences an increasing number of nests of this species, where nesting was absent or very infrequent in past decades. Consequently, citizens in this region are mostly unaware of the presence of turtles on the beaches, the reasons for their current nesting activity, and how they can contribute to their conservation. This workshop invites the public to become sea turtle detectives using genomic tools to understand why sea turtles are laying eggs in new areas and explains how citizens can contribute to their conservation. The workshop has three different phases: a) understanding sea turtles, b) genomics of the colonisation, and c) sea turtle threats and conservation. In the first phase, we use group dynamics to learn about sea turtle biology and conservation, necessary for the development of the workshop. This phase ends by asking if they know that sea turtles are nesting on nearby beaches, and why they think this is happening. In the second phase, we introduce the role of science, particularly genomics, to obtain the answers. The level of detail given will depend on the age of the public, but at least it should contain the idea that DNA has a lot of information related to the parents and the origin of the animals. Participants role-play as scientists, obtaining imaginary blood samples from plush sea turtles and sending them for ‘sequencing’. Then, they are given bracelets with a code of four coloured marbles representing DNA nucleotides and they have to find the matching results sheet with the same code (DNA) to obtain the information. By combining the results of the group, they conclude that the colonisation is originated from distant nesting areas in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and that different nests were laid by the same female. During the last phase, participants engage once again in group dynamics to review the threats turtles face and discuss ways they can help them thrive and establish in these new areas. The workshop concludes with the main message of what to do when they encounter tracks, females or hatchlings on the beach. As a result, the proposed workshop benefits from an ongoing conservation project to deliver key messages on the importance of STEM disciplines, education on biodiversity and public awareness to aid conservation.

In Cameroon and other resource-limited countries, the consumption of marine turtle meat is among the main threats to these species. The scarcity of data, combined with the high cost of dedicated surveys, presents a significant barrier to marine turtle research and conservation. While some monitoring and conservation efforts have been ongoing on the southern coast of Cameroon, nothing had been done on the northern coast until 2016.

Fishers and marine turtles share habitats and resources daily, creating potential for fishers to act as citizen scientists. We established a network of over 80 fishers who regularly report marine mammal sightings using a Smartphone App, SIREN. This user-friendly app, compatible with Android and iOS, allows fishermen to document marine megafauna sightings, capture and upload up to four photographs, and provide additional information such as descriptions. The App automatically associates a location and date with the report, providing data that can be used to design conservation measures.

In 2016, one of the fishers engaged in the network, Papa Mensah, was a renowned sea turtle consumer, collecting eggs from nesting females on the beaches, as well as retaining bycatch alive. Since he has been engaged in the network, he learned the importance of sea turtles and noticed the declining trend from his reports. This effective contribution through reporting sightings completely changed his perspective towards the species. From 2016 to 2023, Papa Mensah reported over 200 sightings of marine turtles, including feedings, swimming individuals, nesting females, tracks, bycatch, and strandings. Species reported by Mensah include Olive ridley, leatherback, hawksbill, and green turtles. Through these years, Mensah has sensitized more than 20 other fishermen in his community, and together, they have rescued 40 marine turtles from bycatch and poaching. Beyond the various reports he made, he helped our scientific team conduct necropsies on two stranded green turtles in 2020 and 2022, which revealed the presence of 22 and 23 pieces of plastic in their bowels, confirming the impact of plastic as a threat to marine turtles in Cameroon. Mensah sadly passed away in 2023, but his son Prince Kuko, who is also a fisherman, is continuing to preserve sea turtles in his father's footsteps. Recently, during the month of October 2024, he led to the documentation and rescue of five marine turtles.

Thanks to fishermen like Mensah, fishers are no longer considered a problem but are part of the solution, as their stories inspire many more fishers and the data collected are being used to develop plans to mitigate bycatch and for school outreach.