Participatory research towards the conservation of the Endangered-endemic river turtle Podocnemis lewyana in the Upper Magdalena River, Colombia

Mario Vargas-Ramirez

Podocnemis Lewyana, the Magdalena’s river turtle, is a fresh water threatened-endemic turtle species from the so-called Uraba-Magdalena eco-region in Colombia. It is considered endangered species (EN) in the IUCN red list. It has also been put in Appendix II of the CITES convention. Local fishing communities have been consuming its meat and eggs for many years. From a multidisciplinary approach, the project aimed first at opening a participatory scenario for the turtle and its habitat, situation awareness and for the creation of values and attitudes and second at gathering biological and socio-cultural information.