Tamil Nadu sets up first center to conserve, rehabilitate turtles

With its long coastline hosting five species of marine turtles, Tamil Nadu’s first Turtle Conservation and Rehabilitation Centre will be set up very soon in Chennai with integrated facilities to rescue injured turtles and rehabilitate them back to the sea after recovery and a special strategy to involve fishing community members as their guards.

To be set up at a cost of Rs 6.30 crores, the centre will have state-of-the-art facilities for promoting conservation efforts alongside promoting research, data collection and creating awareness among other activities. Though five species of marine turtles are found in Tamil Nadu’s long coastline, it is the Olive Ridley species that mostly nests along the coasts.

Officials said a well-planned strategy needs to be in place for long-term and sustainable conservation of turtles as they face severe threats due to increasing biotic pressure, habitat loss, and adverse impact of climate change. Marine pollution including microplastics also causes serious damage to turtle populations worldwide, they said.

The Turtle Conservation and Rehabilitation Centre will have a rescue and treatment centre for injured turtles with the aim to rehabilitate them back to sea after recovery and will ensure an effective intelligence network to collect information on turtle trade with an aim to effectively curb turtle poaching.

The centre will also identify turtles nesting areas on the Tamil Nadu coast. Study migratory turtle routes using conventional flipper tagging, molecular genetics, and satellite telemetry, and monitor the status of the sea turtles population at important nesting and foraging sites along the coast.

The order signed by Additional Chief Secretary of Environment & Forests Supriya Sahu said the project will also device a special strategy to involve fishing community members as turtle guards to monitor sea turtle nesting, curb poaching, gather data, and work with them to reduce turtle mortality which happens due to fishing operations.

“We will also conduct scientific research in partnership with national and international agencies to gather information about turtles and their habitat. The research findings shall be used to further strengthen the conservation efforts,” Sahu added.