The government of India will soon come up with a separate policy for the protection and conservation of marine turtles.
"We will soon come up with a Marine Turtle Policy for preservation of the five species that are found in India. Some concerns have been raised that India should do more for marine conservation. The new policy will be a step in this direction," said Soumitra Dasgupta, additional director general of forests (wildlife), ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) in an interaction with TOI.
Dasgupta was speaking on the sidelines of the United Nation's Convention for Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) at Gandhinagar on Saturday. The new policy will be implemented through a one-decade programme with various state governments as partners. The project will need central assistance of Rs 100 crore, he added.
The five species found in India are the olive ridley Turtle, green turtle, hawksbill turtle, loggerhead turtle and the leatherback sea turtle. Apart from the olive ridley, all the other species are either 'endangered' or 'critically endangered'.
"Although the loggerhead sea turtle is said to be present in India, for the last couple of decades there has been no record from Indian waters," said Sajan John, chief of the marine division at the Wildlife Trust of India.
All these marine turtles have nesting sites along the Indian coast. Odisha on the eastern coast has one of the largest mass nesting sites in the world for olive ridleys.
The new proposed policy will chalk out a habitat recovery programme involving stakeholders including fisherfolk. "The new plan will also track the movement of ships and their impact on sea turtles. Marine pollution is another area that the new policy will cover. We will also seek the support of the Indian Navy in the conservation of turtles," said Dasgupta.
Studies suggest that predation of nests by animals and people is a common threat to sea turtles along the Gujarat coast.
Source By : TOI
