Guest Editorial - The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the conservation of sea turtles in Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

The primary effect of the various COVID-19 regulations and the curfew under the State of Emergency coupled with limited funding, was to disrupt and reduce the presence of these CBOs on the beaches to conduct their essential service for sea turtle conservation. The knock-on effects include the loss of valuable monitoring data and increased poaching. If it were not for the dedication of the members of these CBOs, who in some cases worked for a reduced wage or in some cases for no wage, the effect may have been even worse.