Conservation Corporation is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) membership organization based in Gainesville, Florida. CCC was founded in 1959 by Mr. Joshua B. Powers in response to renowned ecologist Dr. Archie Carr's award-winning book, The Windward Road, which first alerted the world to the plight of sea turtles. Dr. Carr served as Scientific Director of CCC from 1959 until his death in 1987. Since its founding, CCC's research and conservation initiatives have been instrumental in saving the Caribbean green turtle from immediate extinction, as well as raising awareness and protection for sea turtles across the globe with nearly 50 years of experience in national and international sea turtle conservation, research and educational endeavors. The organization began its work in Costa Rica, but has expanded its research and conservation efforts throughout Central America and the Wider Caribbean.

Habitat Preservation & Advocacy

CCC works to enact protective laws and establish refuges for the preservation of sea turtle habitats and coastal environments. The organization was instrumental in creating the Tortuguero National Park in Costa Rica. In the United States, CCC worked with other groups and agencies to establish the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge in Melbourne, Florida and continues to lobby Congress and government agencies to purchase the lands necessary to complete the refuge. CCC's international efforts include advocating for sea turtles at the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and protecting one of the most important sea turtle nesting beaches in the world by helping prevent off-shore oil-drilling in Costa Rica.

Sea Turtle Survival League
In 1993, CCC began the Sea Turtle Survival League (STSL) as a public education and advocacy program to begin addressing the threats that face U.S. sea turtle populations. Drawing on CCC's four decades of international sea turtle conservation experience, the STSL is improving the survival outlook for marine turtles in the United States, especially in Florida, by (1) raising national awareness, (2) advocating for protection of sea turtles and their habitat and (3) empowering small, local sea turtle groups. Representatives from STSL regularly provide testimony to Congress, federal agencies and state officials on issues affecting sea turtles and their habitat. STSL closely monitors all issues related to the survival of sea turtles and informs conservationists, the media and STSL members about steps that should be taken to ensure sea turtle survival. The STSL also engages in direct advocacy designed to influence legislation or other policy decisions that will affect sea turtles.
Research

Turtle Studies in Tortuguero, Costa Rica
CCC continues the work of Dr. Archie Carr every year on the 35 km black sand beach of Tortuguero, Costa Rica, the nesting site of more endangered green turtles than anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere. For more than 40 years, this monitoring program has provided much information on the reproductive ecology and migratory habits of sea turtles. Researchers, who are based at CCC's John H. Phipps Biological Field Station, continue to monitor nesting trends, growth rates and reproductive success.
Turtle Studies in Chiriquí Beach, Panama
In 2003, CCC began working to protect and restore the once globally significant hawksbill sea turtle nesting population at Chiriquí Beach, Panama. The program consists of intensive monitoring of hawksbill and leatherback sea turtle nesting activity, protection of nesting females and their nests, and public education in the region.

Other Research
CCC has supported hundreds of research projects on the biology and conservation of sea turtles around the world. Recent studies have focused on impacts of tourism on nesting beaches, the levels of turtle harvesting at feeding grounds, satellite tracking of turtles, and monitoring of juvenile turtles around Bermuda.

Birds of Tortuguero
CCC also supports a bird banding and monitoring project that was begun in Tortuguero in 1991 as part of the "Partners in Flight" program, in association with Costa Rican and North American ornithologists. Resident and neotropical migrant bird species are surveyed in natural and disturbed habitats of the area and vital statistics are collected. The project also seeks to train Latin American wildlife biologists in ornithological field techniques.
Education and Training

Environmental Education

CCC works with coastal residents, businesses, conservationists and governments to increase awareness of the threats facing sea turtles, including coastal development, pollution, poaching and accidental capture in nets. STSL developed an educational program that uses the internet to allow school children and others around the world to learn about sea turtles as they follow the movements of turtles being tracked by satellite. More than 300,000 children around the world have been reached by this program already.

In Tortuguero, Costa Rica, CCC operates the H. Clay Frick Natural History Visitor Center to inform the more than 40,000 people who visit every year about the importance of the region's habitats to the survival of sea turtles, manatees and other tropical wildlife.

The CCC is also a partner in a new environmental education center at the heart of Eastern Florida's Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge.

Training
CCC provides training in the management and stewardship of sea turtles and coastal ecosystems. Graduates of previous training programs now lead conservation efforts in over 25 countries around the world.

Publications
STSL members receive the newsletter, Velador, which keeps readers up to date on CCC programs, education, research and advocacy efforts directed at sea turtle issues. In addition to the Velador, CCC publishes research reports, action alerts and other educational materials. In particular, CCC widely distributes a 40-page Educator's Guide that helps teachers incorporate sea turtle awareness programs into their classroom curriculum.