Regardless of how it is called – tortoise, iaçá or tracajá –, the chelonians of the Amazon have always caught the world's attention due to the high degree of species diversity, with different appearances and behaviors, as well as for the profusion of animals on the region's beaches and rivers. 

The news spread around the world in 1859, when the English naturalist and explorer Henry Bates Miller went on an expedition along the Solimões River and described the subsistence relationship between Amazonians and animals, reporting that every house had, in the backyard, a tank with a stock of chelonians, to be used as food.

It is estimated that around 20,000 adult female turtles were exterminated annually in the region and that 48 million eggs were collected from beaches each year. After 16 decades of Miller's writings, the reality, nowadays, is different: riverside communities are agents of protection for chelonians and conservation of species threatened with extinction.

Professor Paulo Andrade, from the Federal University of Amazonas, has worked for 25 years in the area of  Amazonian fauna conservation, focusing on turtles. He says that protecting them was not easy even in the 19th century. After all, in addition to being one of the few food options at a time when the Amazon was even more isolated than today, there was also the extraction of oil from turtle eggs, used as a type of "kerosene" placed in lamps. 

"It became something important in the region's economy and spawning areas disappeared, in addition to many animals becoming extinct. But, in 1967, the Brazilian government created the fauna protection law, prohibiting the capture and commercialization of animals from the wild. This is when the process of protection and inspection begins and stopped the widespread killing", says Paulo.

FOOD

However, the law does not completely prohibit the illegal trafficking and commercialization of turtles.

 This fact accounts for at least 1.7 million chelonians still being consumed per year in the State of Amazonas, according to an estimate from a study conducted by researchers from universities in the United States and the United Kingdom, in 2021. One of the authors of the research, Willandia Chaves, observed that, by the time of the study's release, poorer families in cities are less likely to include turtles in their diet. 

“Chelonians are becoming a product for those who can afford. It is a very valuable trade because of the price, which is increasing more and more”, she says, remembering that in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas, a single turtle costs up to R$ 1 thousand, which encourages illegal capture and animal trafficking.

Paulo emphasizes that protecting turtles is of fundamental importance for the conservation of the Amazon. This is because hoofed animals are the base of the food chain of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, with most species feeding on eggs and young, rich sources of protein and energy exclusively available in the summer and dry period.

Another role played by chelonians is that of seed disperser, as they feed on fruits and move over long distances. 

“Not to mention the imperative cultural value, which is also related to the fact that they are food for ancestral indigenous populations, riverside dwellers and the human population in general in the floodplain and igapó regions”, he comments.

"Pé-de-pincha" project releases more than nine million specimens into Amazonian waters

Professor Paulo Andrade remembers it as if it were yesterday. In 1999, communities started looking for the Federal University of Amazonas to find out how to protect turtles in the region. It was the beginning of a journey for training environmental agent volunteers, initially aimed at seven communities. Currently, the project entitled "Pé-de-pincha" is present in 122 communities and it has already released more than nine million turtles into Amazonian waters. 

The process consists of identifying chelonian eggs in potentially dangerous areas, where they could be attacked or collected by traffickers. Later, the turtles are transported to a protected environment with a spacing of 50 centimeters between each nest. 

Then, the community registers the area of removal, destination of each nest and number of eggs. The data are sent to Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources.

After these stages, it is time to wait for a period of 60 days for the eggs to hatch. But newborn turtles are not dumped into the water. 

The community takes each of them to the nurseries, where they stay for two months, in order to grow healthy and strong, so they have better chances of surviving in the wild. 

On average, the chance of survival of a baby turtle put into the wild is of 1% in floodplain areas and 5% in igapó areas. 

But those turtles that grow up in nurseries have survival rates of up to 31%. After this process, it is time to say goodbye to the little turtles, that are then released. And the release of turtles is a real event in several Amazonian communities.

VOLUNTEERING

"In the period when we started, the idea of sustainable development was effervescent due to Rio 92 event. Environmental agencies were focused on co-management. That was when the role of the voluntary environmental agent emerged. They teach the community to work on local issues, acting as an environmental educator and inspector. Fishing agreements between communities have also been signed, including effective participation in resource management in each location. Initially, it was difficult, as there are many interests involved, due to the pressure of commercialization, but the communities learned techniques to protect the animals.

“It's common to report illegal capture but get no response”

The support of private initiatives operating in the region is also important. Mineração Rio do Norte company (MRN), for example, is a long-time partner in the "Pé-de-pincha" project. Genilda Cunha is the company's community relations analyst and considers the families' engagement to be inspiring. "It's great to see everyone united to promote improvements in the coexistence between man and nature", says Genilda.

Antônio Joaquim da Costa reiterates it. He coordinates the project in Santa Maria Goreti community, on Lake Aimim, in the municipality of Oriximiná, in western Pará. He is fully dedicated to the preservation of chelonians, but things were not always like that. 

"I was a very dangerous caboclo, who used to invade turtle areas. I used to catch eleven, twelve animals per night. But once we start to learn how to preserve them, we also learn to love the animals. Today, I'm part of the preserving team, and I’m always helping to monitor the turtles. After I learned about the project, I became a volunteer coordinator and that's been 23 years. Now, in 2023, we have already released 63 thousand little turtles into the wild", celebrates Antônio.

The coordinator tells that the community's growing interest in preserving is because so many chelonians have never been seen in the region as they are now. He believes that without the preservation project, more species would have already become extinct in the municipality. Despite the population's engagement, Antônio considers that public authorities' inspection could be more effective.

"It's common to report illegal capture but get no response. It's a shame, because there are threats coming from all sides. But people who live here are already aware of the issue, we don't even need to keep warning them about it anymore. They call us right away, they let us know how many eggs there are. We do what is possible to do, and the company is a great partner. Public authorities' inspection should be more severe. But seeing so many positive results made people believe that it is necessary to defend the project, you know? And protection goes beyond chelonians, as tambaqui and pirarucu fish have more frequently appeared here. Our hope is to believe that the project will go on for future generations", he states.

CURIOSITY 

But what’s the meaning behind the project’s name “Pé-de-pincha”? According to Paulo Andrade, chelonians from that region have ‘toenails’, unlike sea turtles. For that reason, their scientific name starts with podokmenis, derived from the Greek words podo (feet) and knemis (a type of armour for the feet that gained the connotation of ‘nail’ after a while). Adding to that, those animals walk on the tip of their nails, so their footprints greatly resemble the imprints created by a little metal cap on the sand. The point is that in the region, around the border between the states of Amazonas and Pará, these small soda metal caps are called “pinchas”, which then became a popular nickname for the chelonians in the area.

In Acre state, “Quelônios do Juruá” initiative gets support

When Thiago Itacaramby won a grant from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation that involved innovative projects, he knew he wanted to help somehow with the preservation of the Amazonian ecosystem. 

Bearing that in mind, he created the “Amazônia Viva Game”, an educational game that focuses on environmental awareness and will be presented during the biggest Latin-American videogame convention, “Brasil Game Show”, in October. 

“It’s an immersive game situated in a forest. It has sound effects and a 2D art style. The game teaches about Brazilian species. The official release is scheduled for 2024, and soon after an English translated version will follow”, explains Thiago. 

His intent is noble. The idea is to collect resources for the preservation project “Quelônios do Juruá”, headed by the “SOS Amazônia” organization since 2003, involving more than 50 riverside families from the state of Acre, who live at the border between Brazil and Perú.

THREATS

Biologist Luiz Borges, Ph.D. in ecology and assistant for “SOS Amazônia” project, points out that iaçá (Podocnemis sextuberculata) and tracajá (Podocnemis unifilis) species are threatened with extinction and have been classified as vulnerable. Meanwhile, tartaruga-da-Amazônia (Podocnemis expansa) is classified as ‘near endangered’, being in less risk of becoming extinct.

"Chelonians have intrinsic value, which cannot be measured or valued. They are important animals for the balance of aquatic systems, as they eat everything, consuming dead organic matter, such as fish and the remains of other animals, in addition to consume small algae and macrophytes, aquatic plants that float on the water", explains the biologist.

Professor Borges only laments how often people go in pursuit of these animals. “People leave the city and put together caravans of boats to arrive at the spawning. The egg is considered a delicacy, and is used to make a dish like eggnog, with sugar and cassava flour, called ‘arabu’, as well as fried or boiled eggs. At the city, a dozen tracajá eggs can be sold for as much as R$ 60, and the demand for them is high. On the other hand, there are many families engaged in maintaining preservation in the area, contemplating if their children and grandchildren will be able to meet these species themselves, with intense participation from the teachers. This, in turn, spurs the wheel of environmental education to spin in an organic and cyclic manner, pointing towards a future of greater optimism, awareness and preservation”, points out the biologist.