Wetlands Institute Awarded Grant To Protect Terrapins

Posted February 1st 2022

Furthering its efforts to protect Northern diamondback terrapins, The Wetlands Institute has been awarded a $49,800, two-year grant by the Disney Conservation Fund (DCF).

The grant will be used to continue the institute’s work with its Terrapin Conservation Project. The program includes “road patrols during the nesting season, head starting hatchlings, storm drain rescues, terrapin barrier fence installation, and maintenance and reduction of crab trap impacts through bycatch reduction device distribution,” says Devin Griffiths, the institute’s marketing and communications specialist.

The grant for DCF provides funds for The Wetlands Institute to continue these efforts and keep educating the public on the importance of diamondback terrapins to salt marsh ecosystems. DCF has been supporting The Wetlands Institute in these efforts since first awarding a grant in 2012.

“DCF grant recipients are selected based on their efforts to implement comprehensive community wildlife conservation programs, stabilize and increase populations of at-risk animals, and engage communities in conservation in critical ecosystems around the world,” Griffiths says.

The Wetlands Institute is a nonprofit organization helping teach an understanding of coastal and wetlands communities through programs in research and conservation. It works to restore, preserve, and protect these ecosystems for people and wildlife, focusing research and conservation efforts on issues that are affecting wetlands and all species that depend on them. It engages thousands of children and families each year in discovering the wonders of the environment, connecting visitors to nature and inspiring them to want to take care of the world around them.

To experience and help support the work of The Wetlands Institute, be sure to check out its spring and summer programming like the Spring Shorebird and Horseshoe Crab Festival scheduled for May 21. This festival celebrates the largest concentration of spawning horseshoe crabs in the world and the 10,000-mile journey shorebirds make to their breeding grounds in the Arctic tundra.

For more information about The Wetlands Institute, visit wetlandsinstitute.org.

Photo caption: Amanda Lyons, research assistant at The Wetlands Institute, with an adult Diamondback Terrapin.