The Year of the Turtle was commemorated with different kinds of sport and educational activities in two coastal places of Eritrea, Massawa and Assab, from 28-29 October 2006. Turtle posters and brochures in three languages (Tigrigna, Arabic and English) and banners were displayed and distributed in several areas of the cities. The aim was to increase understanding of and create awareness about sea turtle conservation to the coastal and island communities and relevant governmental and non-governmental organizations. Currently, nesting occurs in more than 120 offshore islands and coastal areas of Eritrea.

The 24 nations in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia Marine Turtle Memorandum of Understanding, including Eritrea, have chosen 2006 as the Year of the Turtle. The Eritrean Coastal, Marine and Island Biodiversity (ECMIB) project and the Coastal and Island Management Division (CIMD) are working with the Global Environmental Facility (GEF/UNDP) to come up with turtle conservation plans to enhance research and reduce threats from human activities.

The activities conducted in Eritrea were as follows:

Seminar & General knowledge (Saturday 28 October 2006, Massawa)

The ECMIB Project Manager Mr. Kaleab Negusse announced a welcoming speech and explained that sound coastal development could be done in parallel with conservation if careful management and integration among stakeholders could be performed. The Conservation Management Specialist, Mr. Yohannes Teclemariam, gave a 30-minute PowerPoint presentation and he answered some questions asked by the audience. The rest of the time was left for the general knowledge competition among three schools of Massawa. The students were in the 8th grade and from the three junior schools (Sun Francesco and Red Sea) and the 9th grade from Semhar Secondary School. The questions included general questions about the marine resources of the Red Sea and specific questions about sea turtles. The prizes given were a mountain bike for the 1st place winner, a tape recorder for the 2nd place winner and a digital radio for the 3rd place winner. From both areas, the first and second place winners were girls and the third place winner a boy. All the contestants and the audiences (participants) were given a Year of the Turtle T-shirt. The numbers of participants reach above 70. Higher officials of the Ministry of Fisheries attended the program and gave prize to the winners.

Cinema Show (Saturday 28 October 2006, Massawa)

The cinema show included a 30 minute seminar and a showing of the film ‘Finding Nemo’ to hundreds of students from schools of Massawa, hundreds of workers from different institutions, hundred of invited guests and others in Cinema Sigalet. In total, 600 people observed the show. The film is an animated film about a missing anemone fish in the sea and his story in finding his way back to his mother along all the hardship he goes through. Before the film two short minute DVD video documentary movies of sea turtles were shown and impressed the viewers.

Bicycle Racing (Sunday 29 October 2006, Massawa)

Cycling race among 4 range groups: Ladies Mountain, Gents Mountain 2nd Division, 1st Division Gents with Professional Bikes were conducted. There were about 500 viewers and some higher official of the city of Massawa, the Ministry of Fisheries and Sport Commissionaires observed the racing and gave prizes to the winners. The contestants and the committee were given T-shirts with the Year of the Turtle logo. The prizes for the teams were a cup for the 1st place winner, a big Targetta for the 2nd place winner and small Targetta for the 3rd place winner. The prizes for individuals were a Golden Turtle Medal for the 1st place winner, a Silver Turtle Medal for the 2nd place winner and a Bronze Turtle Medal for the 3rd place winner. In addition, all the winners were also given money prize.

Football Knockout (Sunday 29 October 2006, Massawa)

Knockout among 5 teams of the 3rd Division of Massawa Football Federation was conducted in addition to the knockout among 5 teams of workers of different industrial and ministerial sectors of Massawa. There were about 600 viewers and some higher officials of the city Administration of Massawa. The Ministry of Fisheries and Sport Commissionaires observed the racing and gave prizes to the winners. The teams were given a Year of the Turtle T-shirt. The prizes were a Cup, 16 Golden Medals, and a football for the 1st place winner, a football and Targetta for the 2nd place winner and a football for the 3rd place winner.



Fun run (Sunday 29 October 2006, Massawa)

The Fun Run involved 60 students (20 from each school: 5 Ladies & 15 Gents) competing in a 2km race wearing the Year of the Turtle T-shirt. Winners were given a Golden Turtle Medal for 1st place, a Silver Turtle Medal for 2nd place and a Bronze Turtle Medal for 3rd place, in addition to the money prize given to the first six winners.

Water Sports (Sunday 29 October 2006, Massawa)

Normal swimming race among 4 ranges: Ladies from the three schools of Massawa, two group of Gents 7th and 8th grades from the 2 Junior schools and 9th grades the Secondary school and also adult Gents from different institutions of Massawa City was conducted. The prizes were a Golden Turtle Medal for the 1st place winner, a Silver Turtle Medal for the 2nd place winner and Bronze Turtle Medal for the 3rd place winner along with the money prize donated by the ECMIB Project. It also included canoe riding among eight boats with great money prizes to all contestants. All the water contestants were given Year of the Turtle T-shirts. More than hundred people watched the competition.

Sheik Seid Island Trip (Sunday 29 October 2006, Massawa)

The participants (students, workers and guests) were given a short introduction about the first proposed protected area Sheik Seid Island and its natural marine resources. The lecture mainly focused on marine turtles and their threats. The participants were shown the nesting sites of the turtles on the beaches of the island and finally the group performed a beach cleaning activity after having a short break. The people were also given a short swimming time to enjoy the trip according to the program. All the participants (around 50) were given turtle T-shirt, a brochure and a guidebook to Sheik Seid and were served with breakfast at Africa Hotel in Massawa. Eritrean focal person to IOSEA, Mr. Said Abrar, Head of the Marine Science College and other officials of the Ministry of Fisheries were among the participants.

The Year of the Turtle 2006 was also commemorated in Assab during Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 October 2006 with similar activities conducted in Massawa such as general knowledge contest, fun run, football and basketball games. Year of the Turtle T-shirts, posters, brochures and banners were also distributed and displayed in different areas of the city. The organizing committee in Assab was lead by the Sea Turtle Team Leader Simon Woldeyohannes. The team also stopped on its way back from Assab in the most critically endangered nesting beach at the Berasole fishing village and gave public awareness to the people by giving them posters, brochures and T-shirts.

All the activities were documented by the ECMIB Project and the Ministry of Information in still and moving digital recorder cameras and were broadcasted in the Eritrean national TV (ERI-TV).

Source of text and Photos:
Yohannes Teclemariam
Conservation Management Unit & the Sea Turtle Team Coordinator
ECMIB Project, Ministry of Fisheries/GEF-UNDP Funded