Abstract: Marine turtles live across the world’s oceans and nest on the beaches of most tropical and sub-tropical nations. They have done that for millions of years. Since the earliest human civilizations, people used turtles for food, medicine, ornaments, stories and art – eventually moving into broader scale commercial use. Gradually over the past 30 years turtles have shifted from commodity to conservation icon and groups and communities strived to protect them. Conservation practitioners have developed complex policy and layers of global and domestic governance to try and manage threats to marine turtles, but what are they trying to achieve? and how will they know if they have won? In an attempt to answer these questions I will use sea turtle tales to understand turtles and what they really are, explore the rules of engagement and try and establish if winning is possible.
Bio: Mark is a researcher and lecturer in his 10th year at JCU. His research focuses on marine turtle biology and behavior. He is the Co-Vice Chair of the IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group and a member of the Science Advise Panel for the United Nations Indian Ocean Marine Turtle MoU. Occasionally he gets to go and see turtles.
