Biodiversidad

A Global Action Plan for Conservation of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles
Strategy and Funding Prospectus 2002–2007

PRESENTED BY THE

Turtle Conservation Fund

A PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE OF

CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL / CENTER FOR APPLIED BIODIVERSITY SCIENCE, IUCN/SSC TORTOISE AND FRESHWATER TURTLE SPECIALIST GROUP, AND IUCN/SSC TURTLE SURVIVAL ALLIANCE

IN ALLIANCE WITH WILDLIFECONSERVATION SOCIETY, CHELONIAN RESEARCH FOUNDATION, FORT WORTH ZOO, ISLAND FOUNDATION, NANDO PERETTI FOUNDATION, SAVANNAH RIVER ECOLOGY LABORATORY, DISNEY WILDLIFE CONSERVATION FUND, ROTTERDAM ZOO, COLUMBUS ZOO, CLEVELAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, FRANKEL FAMILY FOUNDATION, DAYTONA REPTILE EXPO, KADOORIE FARM AND BOTANIC GARDEN, AMERICAN ZOO AND AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION/CHELONIAN ADVISORY GROUP, DURRELLWILDLIFE CONSERVATION TRUST, MELBOURNE ZOO, EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF ZOOS AND AQUARIA, EUROPEAN STUDBOOK FOUNDATION, REPTILES MAGAZINE, ZOO ATLANTA, CHELONIAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR CONSERVATION OF TURTLES/MÜNSTER ALLWETTER ZOO, IUCN—THE WORLD CONSERVATION UNION/SPECIES SURVIVAL COMMISSION

Turtle Conservation Fund (TCF) TCF Alliance Partners

Citation: T URTLE C ONSERVATION FUND. 2002. A Global Action Plan for Conservation of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles. Strategy and Funding Prospectus 2002–2007. Washington, DC: Conservation International and Chelonian Research Foundation, 30 pp. Prepared October 2002 by the Turtle Conservation Fund (TCF); text by KURT A. BUHLMANN, RICK HUDSON, and ANDERS G.J. RHODIN. Co-published by Conservation International / Center for AppliedBiodiversity Science, Washington, D.C., USA, and Chelonian Research Foundation, Lunenburg, Massachusetts, USA. Printed by MTC Printing, Inc., Leominster, Massachusetts, USA. Copies of this publication and further information are available from: Kurt A. Buhlmann (Executive Director, TCF), Conservation International / Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, 1919 M Street NW, Suite 600, Washington,DC 20036 USA (803-725-5293; 202-912-1352; k.buhlmann@conservation.org; www.conservation.org) and Anders G.J. Rhodin (Chair, TCF), Chelonian Research Foundation, 168 Goodrich Street, Lunenburg, MA 01462 USA (978-582-9668; RhodinCRF@aol.com; www.chelonian.org). The Turtle Conservation Fund is a partnership initiative between: Conservation International / Center for Applied Biodiversity Science(www.conservation.org; www.biodiversityscience.org), IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (www.iucn.org; www.chelonian.org), and IUCN/SSC Turtle Survival Alliance (www.turtlesurvival.org).

Turtle Conservation Fund—Global Action Plan

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Turtle Conservation Fund (TCF)

MISSION STATEMENT
To ensure that no species of tortoise or freshwater turtle becomes extinct and thatsustainable populations of all species persist in the wild.

STRATEGY STATEMENT
The mission of TCF will be achieved through facilitation and funding of coordinated global turtle conservation initiatives, including strategic partnership alliances and directed conservation action. This will include support for ex-situ captive breeding and management programs both in-range and out-of-range, in-situprotection and management of native populations, field-based conservation biology and applied research, field and trade surveys, threatened status and regulatory needs determinations, protected areas evaluations and development, and capacity building and other conservation endeavors as needed.

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Turtle Conservation Fund—Global Action Plan

Because they are still living, turtles arecommonplace objects to us; were they entirely extinct, their shells—the most remarkable defensive armor ever assumed by a tetrapod—would be a cause for wonder. — Alfred Sherwood Romer

A subadult angonoka tortoise (Geochelone yniphora) in conservation custody. This is the world’s rarest tortoise species, restricted to a small area in the Baly Bay region of northwestern Madagascar. Photo by L.L....