KARACHI, Sept 16: Speakers at a workshop on Friday suggested that the Hawkesbay and Sandspit beaches be declared a protected area so that the nesting habitat of the marine turtles could be saved from further degradation.

They were speaking at the final consultative workshop on “Helping the turtle survive” project funded by the UNDP’s Global Environmental Facility / Small Grants Programme. The 24-month and $50,000 project was implemented by a non-governmental organization, Shehri.

Shehri’s Amber Alibhai, Farhan Anwar, Naila Ahmad on the occasion said that though the marine turtles were facing the threat of extinction and had been declared protected, the sandy beaches of the city where they came to lay eggs were being degraded as there was no legal cover so it was exposed to all kinds of interference.

They said that huts, overwhelming majority of which were owned by influential people, on the beach were a major concern as a large number of hut owners had encroached over the surrounding land, which was a public utility land.

They said that first the land was encroached and huts were constructed then these were regularized after paying penalty.

They were of the view that the huts were constructed on dry sand at slightly higher altitude, which exactly was the place where the marine turtles came to lay their eggs and due to these encroachments such dry sandy area was decreasing hence the nesting area for these turtles was shrinking.

They suggested that awareness be created among the hut users that they should not use search lights and high volume music during nights throughout the year in general and particularly between August and December, which were pack nesting season months for turtles, so that the disturbance to the turtles coming to lay eggs could be minimized.

They said that they had carried out trainings for the hut watchmen creating awareness among them regarding the importance of marine turtles in the environment.

They also urged the beachgoers that if they came across turtle eggs they should not spoil these but bury them back in the sand and if they came across hatchlings, they should not kill them or not to take them to home, but they should pick such hatchlings up and release them into the sea.

They said that the survival rate among the turtles was very low and out of every 1,000 eggs being laid only one of these would grew to become an adult. They said that two species of marine turtles – Green Turtles and Olive Ridley turtles — were found off the Karachi beaches, but the number of Olive Ridley was going down.

They also suggested that beach cleaning be carried out regularly so that the garbage and rubbish created by the beachgoers be removed and the beach remained cleaned for the turtles.

Winners of a painting contest, held between students, highlighting the threats being faced by the marine turtles were also given certificates. The winning paintings were on display at the function. Sindh Environment Secretary Shamsul Haq Memon gave certificates to the winners — Jibran Chaudry, Okasha Abdullah, Razih Mujtaba and Mujtaba Omar.

Mr Memon, WWF’s Dr Ejaz Ahmad, IUCN’s Abdul Latif Rao and UNDP’s Nadeem Bukhari and others also spoke.