KARACHI: Project for conservation of turtles in jeopardy
KARACHI, Sept 22: Due to limited resources and the lack of official and public support, the future of the turtle conservation project is in turmoil, as only 5,000 marines turtles have been tagged during the past 20 years, while with the increasing coastal population and development work, more difficult times for the conservation project lie ahead.
In Pakistan, the only two main nesting sites for these turtles are Sonmiani in Balochistan and at Sandspit. The WWF has its observation and awareness projects at both these places, while the Sindh Wildlife Department has been operating a green turtle conservation project for the last 20 years at Sandspit.
Karachi is one of only 11 places in the world where green turtles make their nests during September to mid December. The Sindh wildlife department has been keeping a record of all turtles nesting at beaches, tagging them, shifting the eggs to safe places and releasing the hatchlings into the sea.
The population of marine turtles has been seriously reduced the world over due to numerous factors, but human influences have had the worst effect. These include over-developed coastal areas which reduce their natural nesting habitats and the capture of adult turtles for eggs, meat, leather, and tortoise shells, decreasing the breeding populations. The entangling of adults in fishing nets and shrimp trawls has brought one species — the Ridley turtle — right to the brink of extinction.
Though green turtles and olive turtles — which lay eggs on the coasts of Pakistan — are not hunted on a large scale for their meat or leather, the absence of protective measures and limited work by the departments in conservation of their habitat is causing constant decline in the population of marine turtles.
Mrs Fehmida Firdous, in-charge SWD, has been attached with the project since its initiation. According to her, if undisturbed, the females leave the water and crawl up the beach to a point well above the high tide line. There, using her rear flippers, the female digs an egg chamber cavity about 8 inches in diameter and about 18 inches deep.
After resting briefly, she lays about 100 eggs (sometimes more) measuring about 2 inches in diameter. She then gently covers the eggs with sand, and spreads sand over a wide area with her front flippers to obscure the exact location of the chamber. The female then leaves the nest site and reenters the water.
It is worth noting that male sea turtles never leave the ocean, and their carcass or full body is washed ashore after their death.
Due to the limited study of marine turtles, experts are quite unsure of their age, but some international studies conducted on green turtles proves that they live beyond fifty years.
The SWD has three plots of about 200 sq yards which have been earmarked as SWD turtle hatcheries — two falling in Manora Cantonment and one falling in the city government’s jurisdiction.
While a turtle conservation laboratory of the SWD is under construction at Sandspit, the WWF has an office opposite the beach, called the ‘Wetland Centre’ — the focal point of all its turtle and bird watching tours and awareness programmes.
According to experts, turtles eat sea weed and certain types of jelly fish, though no research has been done in this regard. But apprehensions are that without these turtles, there might be an uncontrolled growth of weeds and jelly fish, which might eventually threaten larger marine life in shallow waters.
Though the SWD is working hard to protect sea turtles, as they form an important part of the marine ecosystem, no other department or agency is contributing to save the creatures.
Without the support of the general public, the survival of sea turtles is doubtful. More public support and funding is needed to improve the working of this project.
It is mainly due to these reasons that only 5,000 turtles have been tagged during the past 20 years of the project, and scores of nests go unnoticed every year.
As a result, stray dogs eat many eggs, some get disturbed due to the movement of humans and fail to mature, whereas hundreds of hatchlings die every year after being crushed under the wheels of moving vehicles, since it is their natural instinct to move towards light, and in natural conditions, the sea is the brightest object at night.—PPI
