The Environmental Conservation Network of Cape Verde – TAOLA+ held its first meeting in April with the aim of exchanging experiences between members and reaching consensus on and holding the first General Assembly. Given the relevance of the topic, a training session on climate action was included, in order to strengthen Taola+ members’ knowledge of the climate and its relationship to their activities and increasingly have civil society present in the development and implementation of climate policy.

Between April 15 and 19, 2024, the Environmental Conservation Network of Cape Verde – TAOLA+, promoted the first annual meeting of the Network, which took place in Porto Novo, on the island of Santo Antão, with the aim of achieving various objectives at a national level, such as standardizing data collection, awareness campaigns, social research, training various groups and holding the first general assembly of the TAOLA+ network.

This event was attended by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all the Cape Verdean islands, state institutions and international partners/funders. All of them dedicated to the preservation of the environment and biodiversity, providing a unique opportunity for the presentation of national results, meaningful connections and knowledge sharing.

The program included a series of activities relevant to environmental conservation in the country, such as the presentation of national results on the 2023 sea turtle protection campaign by the National Directorate for the Environment (DNA) and NGOs, a workshop to identify gaps in capacity building, the presentation of the article “on the abundance of turtle nests in Cape Verde” and the result of the Study “Improving national knowledge and capacity to combat the illegal trade in sea turtle meat”. The agenda also covered the illegal hunting of Sea Turtles, the involvement of local communities and the holding of the first general assembly of the TAOLA+ Network.

Climate Action Training

Within the agenda, there was room for a training session aimed at providing participants with information and strategies related to climate action, our capacity for resilience and highlighting the importance of us all being united in the conservation of sea turtles in the context of climate change.

During this very dynamic session, participants were able to deepen their knowledge of the topic and discuss practical ways to incorporate climate action into their sea turtle conservation projects.

Author

Samir Martins
Presidente Taola+