Olive Ridley conservation efforts pay off in Nellore

Efforts by the Forest Department to nurture the Olive Ridley turtle — the ocean’s most endangered species — are paying wealthy dividends in Vaakudu mandal of Nellore district.

Officials are roping in the fishing neighborhood in the area to assist in the conservation efforts.

“We constantly monitor the turtle tracks on the sand at night as thousands of females visit the beach periodically to lay eggs,” mentioned a fisherman referred to as Jallel from Nawabpeta village alongside together with his spouse Zeenat Begum.

Showing a pocket book maintained by him with an inventory of hatchlings saved, he says with a way of pleasure that they had been capable of hatch 7,000 hatchlings throughout this season and push them again into the ocean with out being attacked by predators. The turtles dwell with them for over 5 months yearly, they mentioned, gearing up for World Turtle Day on May 23 in their very own method by letting into the ocean a clutch of hatchlings.

This is not any imply achievement, as just one in 1,000 turtle hatchlings survive as a lot of them fall prey to predators and die after getting caught in trawler nets.

“I hope that one day our beach will also be a mass nesting place for Olive Ridleys like Gahirmatha in Odisha,” Mr. Jallel mentioned.

Like him, fellow fishermen from different villages in Vaakadu mandal have additionally chipped in with their contributions for the trigger.

Olive Ridley turtles do synchronised nesting in giant numbers in ‘arribadas’, coming to the shore between November and January. They lay their eggs in conical nests about 1.5 ft deep. After 45 to 50 days, the hatchlings return to the ocean.

“The persistent efforts of the Forest Department in collaboration with TREE Foundation, Chennai by roping in the local fishing community has paid dividends. They had been holding a series of meetings with the community members for over a decade improvement on socio-economic benefits for the local community including fish yields and selected a band of warriors for the cause. This has yielded results,” mentioned Wildlife Divisional Forest Officer in Sullurpet D. Ravinder Reddy.

Since 2013, the division has facilitated saving of 45,000 turtle hatchlings earlier than letting them into the ocean, added Forest Session Officer G. Srinivas. During this yr alone, 16,500 eggs had been hatched in the wildlife division and launched into the ocean, he mentioned.