Team Herald
PANJIM: Business or conservation? For years it appeared to be a Catch-22 situation for shack owners at Ashwem, Morjim, Galgibag and Talpona as Olive Ridley turtles would arrive at the beaches to lay eggs disrupting their business. However, enthusiasm from the Centre for Environment Education’s Sujitkumar Dongre found a solution.
For the shack owners the priority was business rather than the conservation of turtles. Government authorities were reluctant to grant permission to shack owners to set up shacks, as there was apprehension it would disturb the egg-laying process.
Dongre approached the shack owners and after several rounds of dialogue convinced them that turtles were not their enemies. He managed to encourage shack owners to move their shacks away from the water up to the sand dunes.
For the smooth movement of turtles on the beach, he also persuaded shack owners to build their shacks on pillars at a height of one metre above the ground. Though in demand, deck beds were set up right in front of the shacks, and a 20-metre distance was maintained between two shacks. This setup ensured that the owners easily got permissions and turtles along with the formers became joint owners of the beach.
The business of the shack owners not only flourished, as tourists thronged the beaches to see hundreds of little hatchlings taking the sea route, the businessmen also managed to erase the ‘bad guy’ image that had got tagged to them on account of turtles laying eggs near their shacks.
Dongre’s idea not only created a win-win situation for shack owners and for the turtles, it also created a friendly environment between government authorities and shack owners.
Today, neither hinders the other’s activity, instead they complement each other. Tourists visiting the beaches value the ecological member, but also add economic value to the tourism-dependant State.
