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A Second Chance for Turtles  |  Field Research  |  Training and Education  |  Rescue and Rebabilitation
Turtle Trade Jounal  |  Trade Alert  |  More Turtle Releases  |  IUCN Red List  |  Acknowledgments

Training and Education
TCEP Workshops for Rangers
Encourage Greater Protection for Turtles

Cat Tien Turtle Ecology and Trade Workshop
A “Turtle Ecology and Trade” workshop was also held in November for Cat Tien National Park rangers, coinciding
with the release of turtles at the park.

     In August, the Thanh Hoa Forest Protection Department rangers participated in a training workshop on “The Ecology of, and Threats to, Vietnam’s Turtles” at Cuc Phuong National Park. The workshops are routinely held for provincial and protected area ranger units as part of an effort to increase front-line enforcement officers’ understanding of the threats to Vietnam’s turtles resulting from loss of habitat and the illegal wildlife trade. About a third of the Thanh Hoa provincial ranger force attended the August workshop, and the remainder of the rangers are expected to attend a second round in late December or early January.
     A second workshop was held for rangers at Cat Tien National Park in November, coinciding with the release of more than 360 Indotestudo elongata at the park.


Cuc Phuong Turtle Ecologist
Internship at the Wetlands Institute

Le Thien Duc with crab trap
Le Thien Duc checks traps for diamondback terrapins during a summer internship at the Wetlands Institute.
     TCEP Turtle Ecologist Le Thien Duc had an opportunity to expand his experience and knowledge about turtle conservation through participation in a special intern program at the Wetlands Institute, located at Stone Harbor in New Jersey, USA. Thanks to the efforts of herpetologist William Espenshade and Wetlands Institute Director Roger Wood, Mr. Duc was able to spend eight weeks working with American scientists and other volunteers on the institute’s Terrapin Conservation Program.
     In addition to working with diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin), Duc worked on avian and fish surveys, as well as sharpening his computer skills. (Duc managed to keep us all informed of his activities with regular e-mail and a collection of scanned photos that took forever to download.)
     Duc’s involvement marks the beginning of an ongoing training program whereby young turtle ecologists in Indochina are provided with similar opportunities to work and gain experience for several weeks with Wetlands Institute staff on a variety of projects aimed at expanding their practical field experience (see box, right).
Opportunity for Turtle Ecologists Abroad

Updated June 2001: A new scholarship program, launched by the New York Turtle and Tortoise Society in fall 2000, will work in conjunction with the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor, New Jersey (USA) to provide opportunities for intern ecologists from the Indochina region. The program, inspired by the experience of TCEP turtle ecologist Le Thien Duc, provides interns with ten weeks of intensive hands-on training in laboratory and fieldwork.
     For the summer of 2001, two interns from Southeast Asia (from Cambodia and Indonesia) are participating in the program.
     Applications for the summer 2002 program will soon be available. For more information, please contact Douglas Hendrie, internship coordinator for Southeast Asia and China: dhendrie@fpt.vn. See also the New York Turtle and Tortoise Society Asian Scholarship Program and the Wetlands Institute Web pages.