Camp Chivaree Turtle Camp Closes
On Friday July 22 the Mapoon Aboriginal Shire Council announced that it has decided to close down the Camp Chivaree Turtle Camp on Janie Creek due to a Native Title dispute.
Camp Chivaree conducted research with critically endangered turtles – green, olive Ridley, Hawksbill and flat back turtles are all resident along isolated parts of the eastern beaches of the Gulf of Carpentaria.
The camp was extremely popular with both locals and tourists who volunteered in conservation projects including tagging and measuring turtles, counting eggs and data collection.
With nesting populations of sea turtles on western Cape York already threatened with extinction, the closure of this conservation project makes the future protection of these turtles a critical issue for conservation groups.
