NGOs begin drive to protect turtles along Konkan belt
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, APRIL 28
Increasing poaching of turtles along Konkan belt has prompted NGOs to initiate conservation activities along 30 villages of Maharashtra.
Sahyadri Nisarg Mitra (SNM), a Maharashtra-based NGO, has begun awareness campaign of Olive Ridley turtles through hatchery management programmes across these villages yielding magical results.
SNM founder Bhau Katdare said that during 2002-2010, the organisation has protected 604 nests and released more than 26,900 hatchlings into sea water of Maharashtra.
“As we are aware that marine turtles are included in the Red List of IUCN, a special attention need to be provided to turtle conservation in the country,” Katdare told Herald.
He informed that in the past 15 years, various groups of researchers, state Forest Department officials and non-governmental organizations have been involved in the conservation and monitoring of turtle populations in Maharashtra. “The drastic decline in their population over the last 10-15 years especially due to poaching for eggs and meat has made it necessary for conservation efforts to be taken,” the activist said.
He added saying that at most of the sites, local people estimate that there were 15 to 20 nests each year, but now the number has reduced to less than ten.
“The Olive Ridley turtles are poached for meat and eggs. At village called Velas, one egg is been sold for Rs three. You will hardly find anyone consuming meat but they are been killed for exporting to other parts of the state,” Katdare lamented.
“The poaching takes place only at night time. Though our organisation was working since 1990, we were not aware about any such instances. However we came to know only in 2002 and we started a Marine Turtle Conservation Project for the first time in Maharashtra, protecting 50 nests and releasing 2,734 hatchlings,” he explained.
Continuing further he maintained that poaching still exists but it has ceased at the places where there is awareness programme. “Poaching is throughout Maharashtra and it can be stopped only after increasing efforts in conservation,” he added.
Though Katdare on their website www.snmcpn.org has said that poaching even takes place at non-protected areas of Goa, he is happy the way Goa forest department has taken initiative in protecting turtle nesting sites.
“In Goa, efforts are focused better because there is a participation of forest department,” he said.
Katdare said that apart from poaching, developmental activities like the construction of new buildings and coastal illumination, increasing high tide length and trolling are yet another major threat to sea turtles there.
As a part of turtle conservation, the organisation has completed the survey of the entire 720 kms coastline of Maharashtra and they feel that turtle probability of survival will be more if we link conservation with livelihood.
