Today is World Turtle Day sponsored by the American Tortoise Rescue. In celebration of Turtle Day, here is information about our partner the Sea Turtle Conservancy's work in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica.

The Sea Turtle Conservancy, located in Gainesville, Fla., is the world's oldest sea turtle research and conservation group. Over the past 50 years, it had had the most successful sea turtle protection and recovery programs.

The Sea Turtle Conservancy established Tortuguero National Park with the help of the Costa Rican government in 1970, a time when the green turtle was dangerously close to extinction. It is believed that in 1960 almost every female green turtle that came to Tortuguero was caught and sold for turtle soup.

The park is now 46,900 acres and protects 22 miles of nesting beach and is the largest turtle rookery in the Western Hemisphere. In addition to protecting the green turtle, it also hosts nests to leatherback and hawksbill turtles.

You can help the volunteers who have joined in on the fight to protect turtles at Tortuguero National Park. To get involved with programs in Costa Rica through Holbrook Travel, see the links below. Programs include:

Leatherback Turtle Ecovolunteer Adventure

Leatherback Turtles and Spring Birds in Tortuguero

Green Sea Turtle Ecovolunteer Adventure

Green Sea Turtles and Fall Birds in Tortuguero

You can also adopt a turtle through the Sea Turtle Conservancy. Click the link to see how to start: Adopt a Sea Turtle