Hello Christina; You point out that some people view turtles as targets or competitors. Personalize turtles. An image of a turtle's face with large eyes. I'm not kidding! Indicate what this species eats. "I'm a threatened species". Good luck with your project. The turtles love you. Jim Des Lauriers

Occasionally we used a kiosk or billboard to help tell a full story. We developed a PowerPoint grouping of slides (pictures with captions). One slide might be a lake overrun by algae without grass carp. Then one with grass carp stating the benefits of the biological benefits of algae and aquatic weed control (No chemicals, etc.). And one or two slides showing grass carp, explaining they are sterile species so they don’t overrun the habit. Then one or two on the native species including turtles. Maybe a few slides on the benefits of lake with aquatic weed control like swimming, fishing, boating, scenery. If on a budget, you can get selected slides of PowerPoint plotted on larger paper, and have that covered in plastic or laminate for display. The display can present your ideas and also help educate on school or family field trips, etc. As suggested pictures or information about turtle also great. Brief handouts with multiple PowerPoint slides and captions per page also possible and fairly inexpensive to tell story.

By discussing the ecological importance of a threatened species and implications of this threatened species on environment and food chain.

Dear Christina Mann

The topic depends on the educational method It should be borne in mind that the unjustified prevention method will not benefit and worsen the problem in the near future.

Community discussion and understanding their needs will ensure that protection is sustainable for longer periods.

Signs that alert visitors and place responsibility on them can be helpful in some cases

Community participation in protection programs will contribute to their sense of the situation

Opening and closing sites based on the spread of the threatened organism in cooperation with the surrounding community will facilitate the sustainability process

Here is a cautionary tale. There is a lake near my home that was polluted with heavy metals that found their way into the fish. The fish are dangerously contaminated. The health department put up warning signs at entrances, fishing locations and at the boat launch. I still see people carrying fish back to their cars. They pay no attention to the signs, the signs are torn down by vandals, the fishers don't understand what "heavy metals" are...etc. The health dept puts up new signs and different signs and the behavior doesn't change. That's the actual history over about 10 years. It's a serious problem! What to do? Christina's question is a very serious one. Best regards, Jim Des Lauriers

To go to the general question here:

Present most important facts about the species - its ecology and its needs.

Its distribution and whats known about it's poulation(s) and distribution.

What is the stress that makes populations to decline.

Suggest solutions based on what facts we might have

I would try to identify what matters to your target audience and how the turtles relate, e.g. maybe turtles help maintain a healthy ecosystem that benefits fish preferred by anglers? Obviously it has to be true, but I'd aim for simple, straightforward, and relatable messages that relate directly to the target audience (easier said than done, of course).

prepare short drama on targeted threatened species in the local language with local players too and play among them in their free time.

From your explanation, I can see that the fishermen constitute a major threat to the populations of turtle in the area especially as they see them as competitors to the fish community. In this case, your major target for the conservation education will be the fishermen. Try to ascertain if there are roles (especially ecological) the turtles play in the ecosystem that benefit the fish community indirectly. If that is established, it could form the basis for educating the fishermen on the need to conserve the populations of the turtle. If they are convinced that the turtles play a vital role in the ecosystem, which benefit the fish community in some way, I am sure that they will begin to see them beyond competitors and realize the need to conserve them. I wish you the best in your proposed conservation campaign.

Dear Christina Mann, First of all, Kudos to your efforts to save a threatened species. The problems you have narrated are universal and exist everywhere throughout the globe. I faced the similar hurdles you mentioned on many occasions while working for the conservation of threatened plant and animal species in my locality. Anyways, I would like to share my ways to overcome such situations. As pointed out by experts above, simply putting signs with great slogans is not successful in educating the people on a threatened species. What I would suggest is to take the people into confidence first by becoming a member of the community. To do this, you need to stay in the locality for some time. Spend time with the people, seat, eat, drink, sing and dance with them so that they accept you as a part of the community. Once you earn their hearts, gradually you can educate them about the significance of threatened species and appeal to participate in saving the species. I believe that at least 50% and above people will join you in this great effort. It is worth mentioning here that not all people will join in your effort as there are some people who are born like that only.

With Best Wishes,

Dr. Gibji Nimasow

Itanagar, India