Mexican Turtle Center
While many know Mazunte as a coastal getaway, most don’t know about its important role in the preservation of turtles on the Oaxacan coast. Mazunte is also an ecological center.
The Mexican Turtle Center, located on the main road in Mazunte, is dedicated to the preservation and conservation of a variety of turtle species including laud, golfina, prieta, and carey. However, it’s also a center of education and even has its own museum. The center has made great strides. In just over a couple of decades, the area has gone from harvesting turtles to preserving them.
History of the Mexican Turtle Center
This beautiful tourist destination once housed its own slaughterhouse. Rather than protect the species, the turtles were hunted for their meat which was sold inland for a decent price. This wasn’t rare to the area. In fact, in many parts of Mexico turtles were hunted for their meat, and most often their eggs.
Because of this, the turtle population was declining rapidly. In the 1970s the Mexican government placed a ban on consuming and selling turtle eggs, but it was largely ignored. With the turtle population continuing to decline, a new ban was placed on harvesting turtle meat and eggs in 1990. It had harsher restrictions and was implemented with more force than its preceding ban nearly twenty years earlier. The slaughterhouse in Mazunte was shut down and large penalties were placed on those harvesting turtle eggs or meat.
However, the government realized that turtle fishing was the livelihood of many locals. So, in addition to promoting regular tourism in the area, they also promoted conservation tourism. The government encouraged the previous fishermen of turtles, to start tours for visitors to see these creatures swimming in the ocean and enjoying their natural habitat–safe and sound.
The beginnings of The Mexican Turtle Center officially date back to September 1991, initially serving as a Living Museum of the Sea Turtle on the coast of Oaxaca. And in order to be an economical alternative for the locals. Those who benefit directly and indirectly from the tourist activity generated by visitors, interested in supporting the conservation of species.
The Mexican Turtle Center, which since 2005 has been managed by the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (CONANP), plays an important role in the preservation and conservation of sea turtles, not only on the coast of Oaxaca, but throughout Mexico.
The Center’s Offerings
So, what exactly goes on in the National Mexican Turtle Center? Well, it’s certainly multifaceted.
The center has aquariums dedicated to the rehabilitation of turtles. The center is also dedicated to various education and community programs. Their education programs serve to inform and teach people (both visitors and the local community) about the importance of protecting and conserving the turtle species that live in the area. Tours are offered to visitors and local schools regularly and they also focus on the importance of ocean conservation in general.
Additionally, the center also monitors where the turtles lay their eggs,moving them to a safer and better protected area of the beach. The baby turtles’ arrivals are anxiously anticipated by the center and the visitors who come to participate in their release to the ocean. Those who participate are encouraged to donate to the center in order to continue their important work.
The center (also often referred to as a museum) is also an important research facility. Biologists, veterinarians, and research groups study the behavior and diet of the turtles living in the various tanks in the center. Their research is mainly to best learn how to continue the conservation of the species.
The center’s facilities play an important role in rescue and rehabilitation which is why it has so many tanks. Injured, sick, or turtles who get caught in fishing nets are brought to the center for care. The end goal is to liberate them into their natural habitat again once they are healthy.
Plan your visit to the Mexican Turtle Center
If you are in the area, the Center is worth a visit! You will learn more about the history of the area, as well as the species of turtles that inhabit this part of the world.
A visit to the center is pleasantly enriching, it is an activity that fascinates the little ones in the house and that is also enjoyed as an adult.
To plan your visit we suggest you take into account the hours that the center is open to the public. Wednesday to Saturday from 10:00am – 4:30pm and Sundays from 10:00am – 2:30pm.
For additional information or to keep up to date with the center’s activities, visit their Facebook account: CONANP-Centro Mexicano de la Tortuga.
