Vanessa Lizano, CEO of rescuecenter.com, and friend of murdered activist, Jairo Mora, creates a call of action to stop the sale of all turtle eggs across all of Costa Rica. 

There is little doubt Costa Rica’s limited, legal sale of turtle eggs from one Pacific beach, Ostional Beach, offers a loophole for the sale of eggs collected illegally elsewhere. Not only does egg poaching, often carried out by armed gangs, pose a clear danger to the endangered marine turtle species affected, but it’s also putting an increasing number of young people in harm’s way. 

It is time to close this loophole and ban all turtle egg sales in Costa Rica.  

It has been over 6 years since the murder of Jairo Mora Sandoval, a Costa Rican conservationist working near Limon, on the Caribbean coast. 

Mora’s efforts to document and rescue leatherback turtle nests had been ritually impeded by members of the gang long prior to his murder. In April 2012, assailants with automatic weapons attacked the hatchery where Jairo worked, assaulted European volunteers, and stole more than a thousand eggs.  

The following year, after escalating threats, Jairo was beaten and asphyxiated by frustrated egg poachers who were, shockingly, never convicted of his murder. European and American volunteers were also kidnapped in the attack.  

Despite an international outcry over Jairo’s murder and its aftermath, illegal egg sales have continued without interruption. And so has the resulting violence. Attacks on and intimidation of turtle patrols have become commonplace on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast.

Vanessa Lizano, CEO of rescuecenter.com had the following to say, "How many more young people will have to be hurt or killed before turtle egg sales are banned altogether? The government needs to step-up now and change the laws before more lives are lost. My close friend Jairo lost his life and I don't want it have been in vain." 

While a ban may not end poaching, it WILL put an end to a widely abused loophole that allows eggs to be sold. It is common for vendors of illegal eggs to claim they are the legal product, and it can be difficult for law enforcement to determine the provenance of turtle eggs. 

Let’s make it easier for Costa Rica’s police to do their job, and dry up the booming market in illegal egg sales.  

For all interview requests please contact Vanessa direct at info@rescuecenter.com