Turtles in Trouble: "Top 25" list reissued

The plight of the planet's tortoises and turtles -- creatures that have roamed the Earth for 220 million years -- has never been greater, according to the newly released report "Turtles in Trouble: Top 25+ Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles."

It shows the world's 25 most endangered tortoises and freshwater turtles will become extinct in the next few decades without concerted conservation efforts. Click here to read more and to access a PDF of the full report.

Conservation of Asian Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles Workshop

An impromptu breakout session was held at the workshop to discuss the Rafetus in Hoan Kiem Lake, Vietnam

A pivotal 4-day workshop wraps up today in Singapore that was held to set the agenda for Asian turtle conservation for the next ten years. Just over ten years have passed since the turtle conservation community convened in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and conducted the first comprehensive evaluation of the Asian turtle crisis. Much has happened since 1999 and the time had come to thoroughly evaluate where we have been and how we want to proceed in the future.

Workshop participants have worked to critically assess what has worked - and what has not - with respect to protecting chelonian populations and preventing extinctions. Hosted by Wildlife Reserves Singapore, and organized by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Turtle Survival Alliance, San Diego Zoo Global and the IUCN Tortoise & Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, this workshop has brought together approximately 70 delegates from 19 Asian countries/regions plus Europe, Australia and the U.S.

The agenda for the workshop is available here. Rick Hudson, TSA President has been providing us with updates from the workshop in the TSA blog - read about the first two days of the workshop here:

Day 1                    Day 2

TSA Seed Grants Available

The TSA provides grants for research and conservation action that support specific and selected tortoise and freshwater turtle projects and priority programs. In general, grants are restricted to species ranked either Endangered or Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List, or that have been highlighted for conservation action in Species Recovery Plan workshops or by the TSA Field Conservation Committee. Priority species and regions may change from year to year.

For 2011 we have funding to support a limited number of projects that highlight several priority regions and species.  The priority regions are: Colombia, Indonesia, India and Africa. Proposals that fall outside of these regions will not be considered. Full details and priority species are available on the website. The proposal deadline is May 1. Award determinations will take place by July 1.