This project enabled the Barbados Sea Turtle Project (BSTP, UWI) (WIDECAST ? Barbados), in partnership with SGP of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), to develop the first sea turtle database software serving the Wider Caribbean Region, to train natural resource professionals from constituent states in the Eastern Caribbean to use the software, and to establish the Caribbean Marine Turtle Tagging Centre (CMTTC), a Regional Centre of Excellence for Sea Turtle Marking Technologies, at the University of the West Indies.

Thirty thousand flipper tags were custom-manufactured (along with sufficient application hardware), standardized relational database software was developed, and training in tagging techniques and data storage using Version 1 of the software was offered to twelve Eastern Caribbean range states. Nine states and territories, along with two Observers, accepted the invitation and attended a training workshop convened at the University of the West Indies from 24-26 October 2001.

In order to receive tags, it was agreed that Projects from the participating States must apply to the newly established Caribbean Marine Turtle Tagging Centre (CMTTC) at UWI, provide proof that an appropriate permit from the local authorities in the country has been obtained, and include a copy of the Workshop Course Completion Certificate. Tags have been requested by Projects from four of the nine States who participated in the Regional Training Workshop. Projects that receive tags must agree to submit an annual report detailing the deployment of tags. This is facilitated by the fact that a component of the regional database software is a facility to transfer information electronically to the CMTTC in the previous year. Data on tag numbers used by Projects in the region and information on deployments, are then maintained in the CMTTC regional database.


Lessons learned:
Although it was more of a need confirmed than a lesson learned, it became very apparent that there really had been no standardized training, database management, or reporting services available in the Wider Caribbean Region for population monitoring of marine turtles up until the launch of this Project. The Project has thus provided significant and important resources to the region at a time when Governments are emphasizing their desire for standardized population monitoring, reporting, and status evaluations.