Orissa: In March this year, two years since it last witnessed ‘arribada’, the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary in Orissa has seen the spectacular mass-nesting of olive ridley sea turtles. While there has been much excitement and relief to have the nesting turtles back in Gahirmatha; the sporadic nesting, which had begun two months earlier in unprotected adjacent beaches, went almost unnoticed.

In recent years regular ‘arribada’ beaches have fortunately received a lot of attention and protection, however the sporadic nesting sites are often overlooked leaving the eggs and hatchlings susceptible to many dangers. To avert such casualties this year, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) implemented two independent Rapid Action Projects (RAPs) to protect nesting turtles in the unprotected beaches of Orissa. To facilitate this, WTI joined hands with two local NGOs – Action for Protection of Wild Animals (APOWA) and Green Life Rural Association (GLRA) to carry out identical interventions in their respective areas along the buffer zone of Gahirmatha and around Devi Rookery. The two RAPs were funded by WTI through its Executive Director’s Discretionary Grant (EDDG), Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and a few samaritans dedicated to turtle conservation.

The olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) is one of the five species of sea turtles found along Indian coast. In addition to natural threats, this Schedule I species also faces danger from humans, especially during their nesting congregations.

“The nesting phase is wrought with numerous risks for individual turtles as they head ashore to specific beaches to lay eggs. In the sea, many get killed in accidents with trawlers or get trapped in fishing nets. On land, feral or wild animals further decrease their numbers. These threats necessitate protection in nesting areas, for the survival of this threatened species. Generally, mass-nesting sites like Gahirmatha are protected by the government. However, protection of few mass-nesting areas does not correspond to the safety of all nesting turtles. Sporadic nesting, which also contributes to the survival of the species, occurs in many beaches which are largely unprotected,” said Radhika Bhagat of WTI, explaining the purpose of the RAPs.

“A combination of high mortality among nesting adults and low survival rate of young hatchlings, adds to the conservation hurdle facing these turtles. The RAPs attempt to address these two basic issues through a multi-pronged approach which includes immediate interventions and sensitisation aimed at long-term conservation of sea turtles.” she added.

In both RAP areas, volunteers were deployed to provide physical security to the nesting turtles and their eggs. Once the turtles returned to the sea, eggs were either collected for government-run hatcheries or were protected in the natural environment.

“The turtles and their nests face threats from from feral dogs, jackals and other wild or domestic animals, in the nesting habitats. We have been providing round-the-clock security along 48 km stretch of coastline in Pentha, Dobandi, Hukitola and Batighar-Paradeep beaches in the buffer zone of Gahirmatha. Since the initiation of the project in mid-February, at least 753 individual turtles have visited these beaches to lay eggs,” said Bijaya Kumar Kabi, Director, APOWA.

Meanwhile, Sovakar Behera, General Secretary, GLRA, reported that about 1,743 turtles had nested in the 37 km stretch of coastline including Devi rookery, Gangadevi, Kadua and Chandrabhaga beaches since January. “Till date, about 13,882 hatchlings that emerged in hatcheries and 29,219 hatchlings that emerged in the beaches, have been released back into the sea,” he said.

As part of the project, the beaches were cleaned to increase the expanse of suitable nesting areas. School students as well as volunteers participated in these activities helping eco-sensitise general public and visitors.

Awareness programmes were held for fishing communities. They were advised against fishing in restricted areas and encouraged to use TEDs (Turtle Excluder Device) in trawlers. The fisherfolk were also advised against use of gill nets, which is one of the causes of sea turtle deaths.

“The RAPs will be continued till the last hatchlings have emerged from nests in these areas. However, our aim was to not only protect the turtles during this nesting season but also to inculcate a sense of responsibility among the local people through awareness. We hope that protection of nesting sea turtles becomes a sustainable practice, with the initiatives of local NGOs like APOWA and GLRA and active participation of coastal communities,” Radhika said.