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Don't trust the Leatherback Trust.
Don't send money to the Leatherback Trust (Dr. Jim Spotila * Dr. Frank Paladino) or to the Fundacion Baulas (Mario Boza * Clara Padilla) to expand or to buy land for the Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas de Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
Those organizations try to raise funds with false arguments and misrepresentation of the reality of Playa Grande, Playa Ventana and Playa Langosta (Cost of the land, distance between nesting area and construction line, reason of the high mortality rates of the leatherback, lighting problem located in Tamarindo not in Playa Grande, Playa Ventana or Playa Langosta).
The cost of an expropriation at the market value (as specified by law 7495 of the Republic of Costa Rica) of all those beaches will approach the sum of $150.000.000, yes more than one hundred fifty millions US dollars!!!
Any money sent to those groups will be used much better to fight against the long liner industry and protect the beaches in Mexico where peoples kill turtles. (In Playa Grande since more than 18 years nobody never found a turtle killed by a member of the local community)
Any money sent will be frozen for years due to the legal fight of the local communities, when there are almost free solutions to protect the turtles working with the local community and landowners.
Why those organizations want to raise those funds? Why they want to manage such amount of money? Where is the clear accounting of the money raised since years by those groups? Why they NEVER tried to negotiate regulation with the local community and the landowners?
We don't understand this expropriating obsession, when the local Community, the Municipality and the Landowners want to regulated the area with the scientific help from one of the most prestigious Costa Rican university to really protect the turtle and the nesting area. Already an agreement exists between the National University and the Municipality of Santa Cruz to work on regulation.
There is a lot of samples where Turtles and Beaches communities life together in the world with simple rules of protection.Don't trust the Leatherback Trust. They are in business.

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click to read the content of the accuser's e-mail

February 19, 2004

Friends,
It has recently come to my attention that an email message has gone out to many people with an address that appears to come from the 2004 Symposium in Costa Rica. This message accuses The Leatherback Trust of being a dishonest organization that is trying to harm the local communities around Las Baulas Park in Costa Rica and sends people to a website called Leatherback info.org.

I am posting a message here to reply to this false claim and to provide information to anyone who is interested about The Leatherback Trust.

The Leatherback Trust is a registered Non-Profit Corporation (Charity) in the State of New Jersey (CH1906700) in the United States and is a federal 501 (c) (3) Corporation EIN 22-3741033.
The purpose of The Leatherback Trust is to save the leatherback turtle and other sea turtles from extinction by supporting a variety of conservation and research activities in the United States and around the world.
The Trust provides an audited financial statement to the State of New Jersey each year. It also makes its required filing with the IRS.
The Trust is in compliance with all local and federal laws in the United States.
The Trust is registered to operate in Costa Rica and complies with all laws in that country.
You can learn more about the activities of the Trust at our web site www.leatherback.org
The Trust is not seeking to expropriate houses and hotels at Playa Grande. Nor is the
Trust seeking to cause poverty in the local community.
The Trust does oppose more development in Parque Marino Nacional Las Baulas.
The Trust does work with and support the work of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy (MINAE) in Costa Rica. Funds that are raised to support MINAE's efforts to consolidate the Park are transferred to The National Park Foundation in Costa Rica for distribution to land owners.
Lights on Playa Grande do shine on the beach and do affect the turtles.
The Attorney General of Costa Rica has recently ruled that the 1995 law expanding the Park is valid and the Park includes 125 meters from the mean high tide line into the land. This provides a 75 m buffer behind the 50 m public zone. No construction can take place in that area.
The estimated cost of the government acquiring open land along that 75 m strip is under 1 million dollars.
To save the leatherback turtle in the Pacific it will be necessary to save and protect the nesting beaches in Costa Rica and elsewhere as well as to protect the turtles in the ocean. Costa Rica and other nations are moving to accomplish both of these goals. The Leatherback Trust is helping Costa Rica to achieve its goals.
The Leatherback Trust, scientists and students from several universities, conservation organizations, MINAE rangers, volunteers and others are working closely with local communities to develop a sustainable local economy and save the turtles. Evidence of this cooperation is seen on Sundays when the Baulas team of local guides, rangers and students/scientists plays football against local teams in Matapalo. The respect between the local community, guides, rangers and biologists at Playa Grande is obvious and visible to all.
The Leatherback Trust defers to MINAE in all matters of policy, permits and consolidation of the Park. The Trust does give advice and help to MINAE when asked.

The Trust does not apologize for its efforts to help to consolidate Las Baulas Park. This is the most important nesting site for leatherbacks in the eastern Pacific. There are other important sites in Mexico and Nicaragua as well. The leatherback turtle has its back against the wall in the Pacific. The future of this turtle is still in doubt. The Leatherback Trust will continue to do all that it can to help this turtle survive and recover its numbers. The struggle now is centered on Las Baulas. The leatherback will survive. We hope that as more resources become available the Trust will be able to help those working on other beaches as well.

Frank Paladino and I have been working at Las Baulas for 15 years and have been the subject of many false accusations and slanderous comments in person and in print. They have all been shown to be false. We are somewhat used to this treatment.

As the government of Costa Rica increases its efforts to consolidate the Park we expect that there will be more spurious attacks against us, our colleagues, students and The Leatherback Trust. We regret that this time these attacks have also slandered Mario Boza, one of the founders of the National Parks of Costa Rica, a former Vice-Minister of MINAE and one of the most honest and hard working people working in conservation in the world. He is a person of the highest integrity.

The Trust has instructed its lawyer in Costa Rica to take appropriate action in this case and will do so in all such instances of false claims against it.

Therefore, the Trust will not make any other public statements about this incident and I will not fill the ethernet with any replies about this situation.

Thank you for your time.

James R. Spotila, Ph.D.
President
The Leatherback Trust

©2003 The Leatherback Trust