On Panama’s remote Pearl Islands, marine biologist Callie Veelenturf is using her research on endangered sea turtles to help the country enshrine the rights of nature into law—and help the communities living there protect their own environment and livelihood.
Saboga Island in particular is an “anchor point” for leatherback and hawksbill turtles, both of which are endangered. But it is also facing an unprecedented wave of illegal fishing—recently, officials discovered that 40% more fish have been removed from the waters than initially reported in recent years, which puts all local marine life (including turtles) in jeopardy. Even though the residents of Saboga have long known their island is a critical habitat for marine life, that’s a difficult claim to prove to government officials. When Callie Veelenturf partnered with them to launch a satellite tagging project, the effort was able to reveal where the turtles live—and set up the grounds for their future protection.
Soon after, Callie met with Panama’s First Lady to talk about the rights of nature: a legal theory that says humans aren’t the only creatures with rights under constitutional or state law. Two years later, the country passed such protections into law, becoming only the third nation in the world to do so. That victory cleared the way for another law that granted all sea turtles legal rights—a big win for both the turtles and the people of Saboga Island.