{"id":9539,"date":"2025-10-03T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/?p=9539"},"modified":"2025-10-13T15:33:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T19:33:53","slug":"new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/","title":{"rendered":"New Project Announcement: Preserving Biodiversity in Burkina Faso and Togo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>On the border between Burkina Faso and Togo, there is a swath of relatively untouched habitats, ripe with biodiversity, and understudied by conservationists. This area spells hope for many turtle species that are critically endangered, or even presumed locally extinct due to lack of data. With this new conservation initiative, we aim to study the distribution and community ecology of freshwater and terrestrial turtles in this area to discover what turtle habitats and populations still exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to a grant through the Fonseca Species Conservation Fund, we support PhD Student Am\u00e9t\u00e9p\u00e9 Hounmavo to perform these studies which include field transects, trapping, face-to-face interviews, and bushmeat market surveys\u2013all of which have proven effective in this region for other studies. Gathering data on the distribution, habitat preferences, and local status of turtle populations will give us a greater understanding of what conservation action is needed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" src=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/African-Softshell-Turtle-Trionyx-triunguis-1024x819.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9540\" srcset=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/African-Softshell-Turtle-Trionyx-triunguis-1024x819.png 1024w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/African-Softshell-Turtle-Trionyx-triunguis-300x240.png 300w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/African-Softshell-Turtle-Trionyx-triunguis-768x614.png 768w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/African-Softshell-Turtle-Trionyx-triunguis.png 1350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>An African Softshell Turtle (Trionyx triunguis). Photo by Pearson McGovern<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Species featured in this study include the Senegal Flapshell Turtle (<em>Cyclanorbis senegalensis<\/em>), the African Softshell Turtle (<em>Trionyx triunguis<\/em>), the West African Mud Turtle (<em>Pelusios castaneus<\/em>), the African Helmuted Turtle (<em>Pelomedusa olivacea<\/em>), the Western Hinge-back Tortoise (<em>Kinixys nogueyi<\/em>), the African Spurred Tortoise (<em>Centrochelys sulcata<\/em>), and Africa\u2019s rarest turtle species: the Nubian Flapshell Turtle (<em>Cyclanorbis elegans<\/em>). However, the presence of this latter species has never been confirmed so far in the study area, but it is plausible based on historical records from the Volta region in Ghana and the northern Mono river in Togo. In fact, this area was once inhabited by this species, but we are unsure what populations, if any, remain today, and previous studies in the area were unsuccessful. This study will illuminate the present populations of these highly endangered species, as well as the other turtles that live amongst them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" src=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/West-African-Mud-Turtle-Pelusios-castaneus-1024x819.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9541\" srcset=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/West-African-Mud-Turtle-Pelusios-castaneus-1024x819.png 1024w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/West-African-Mud-Turtle-Pelusios-castaneus-300x240.png 300w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/West-African-Mud-Turtle-Pelusios-castaneus-768x614.png 768w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/West-African-Mud-Turtle-Pelusios-castaneus.png 1350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>An West African Mud Turtle (Pelusios castaneus). Photo by Pearson McGovern<br><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Turtle Survival Alliance has supported Luca Luiselli, the leading scientist of the Nubian Flapshell Turtle, in east Africa for years. He will lend his expertise and aid in the project\u2019s success. With enough data, we can guide major conservation efforts for the species living at this critical boundary of Burkina Faso and Togo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" src=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Nubian-Flapshell-Turtle-Cyclanorbis-elegans-1024x819.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9542\" srcset=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Nubian-Flapshell-Turtle-Cyclanorbis-elegans-1024x819.png 1024w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Nubian-Flapshell-Turtle-Cyclanorbis-elegans-300x240.png 300w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Nubian-Flapshell-Turtle-Cyclanorbis-elegans-768x614.png 768w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Nubian-Flapshell-Turtle-Cyclanorbis-elegans.png 1350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Nubian Flapshell Turtle (<em>Cyclanorbis elegans<\/em>). Photo by Luca Luiselli<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Nubian Flapshell Turtle is highlighted in the latest <em><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/turtles-in-trouble\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Turtles in Trouble<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/em> report, published in July of this year. This report outlines the top 66 most endangered turtle species on the planet. This species is one of 43 from the report that Turtle Survival Alliance is actively working to understand its true remaining distribution and protect it from the numerous threats it faces. Without our conservation efforts, these turtles would surely be extinct. This project is one step towards understanding the turtles in sub-Saharan west Africa, which is one step towards their protection and conservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Acknowledgments:&nbsp;Fonseca Species Conservation Fund, Global Environment Facility (GEF), Re:Wild<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Header image: A Senegal Flapshell Turtle (<em>Cyclanorbis senegalensis<\/em>). Photo by Pearson McGovern<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On the border between Burkina Faso and Togo, there is a swath of relatively untouched habitats, ripe with biodiversity, and understudied by conservationists. This area spells hope for many turtle species that are critically endangered, or even presumed locally extinct due to lack of data. With this new conservation initiative, we aim to study the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-field","category-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>New Project Announcement: Preserving Biodiversity in Burkina Faso and Togo - Turtle Survival Alliance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Project Announcement: Preserving Biodiversity in Burkina Faso and Togo - Turtle Survival Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On the border between Burkina Faso and Togo, there is a swath of relatively untouched habitats, ripe with biodiversity, and understudied by conservationists. This area spells hope for many turtle species that are critically endangered, or even presumed locally extinct due to lack of data. With this new conservation initiative, we aim to study the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Turtle Survival Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-03T13:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-13T19:33:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Senegal-Flapshell-Turtle-Cyclanorbis-senegalensis-1024x819.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"819\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elena Duran\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elena Duran\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/\",\"name\":\"New Project Announcement: Preserving Biodiversity in Burkina Faso and Togo - Turtle Survival Alliance\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Senegal-Flapshell-Turtle-Cyclanorbis-senegalensis.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-03T13:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-13T19:33:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9675e2a42afc358292addd545f8c4df2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Senegal-Flapshell-Turtle-Cyclanorbis-senegalensis.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Senegal-Flapshell-Turtle-Cyclanorbis-senegalensis.png\",\"width\":1350,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New Project Announcement: Preserving Biodiversity in Burkina Faso and Togo\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/\",\"name\":\"Turtle Survival Alliance\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9675e2a42afc358292addd545f8c4df2\",\"name\":\"Elena Duran\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e1375a9fdfa943f144566db0a36b224a6f5c90d6baf902eb8d552ad1dcd9fa3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e1375a9fdfa943f144566db0a36b224a6f5c90d6baf902eb8d552ad1dcd9fa3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elena Duran\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New Project Announcement: Preserving Biodiversity in Burkina Faso and Togo - Turtle Survival Alliance","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New Project Announcement: Preserving Biodiversity in Burkina Faso and Togo - Turtle Survival Alliance","og_description":"On the border between Burkina Faso and Togo, there is a swath of relatively untouched habitats, ripe with biodiversity, and understudied by conservationists. This area spells hope for many turtle species that are critically endangered, or even presumed locally extinct due to lack of data. With this new conservation initiative, we aim to study the [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/","og_site_name":"Turtle Survival Alliance","article_published_time":"2025-10-03T13:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-13T19:33:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":819,"url":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Senegal-Flapshell-Turtle-Cyclanorbis-senegalensis-1024x819.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Elena Duran","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elena Duran","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/","url":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/","name":"New Project Announcement: Preserving Biodiversity in Burkina Faso and Togo - Turtle Survival Alliance","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Senegal-Flapshell-Turtle-Cyclanorbis-senegalensis.png","datePublished":"2025-10-03T13:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-13T19:33:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9675e2a42afc358292addd545f8c4df2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Senegal-Flapshell-Turtle-Cyclanorbis-senegalensis.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Senegal-Flapshell-Turtle-Cyclanorbis-senegalensis.png","width":1350,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/new-project-announcement-preserving-biodiversity-in-burkina-faso-and-togo\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New Project Announcement: Preserving Biodiversity in Burkina Faso and Togo"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/","name":"Turtle Survival Alliance","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9675e2a42afc358292addd545f8c4df2","name":"Elena Duran","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e1375a9fdfa943f144566db0a36b224a6f5c90d6baf902eb8d552ad1dcd9fa3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e1375a9fdfa943f144566db0a36b224a6f5c90d6baf902eb8d552ad1dcd9fa3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elena Duran"}}]}},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}