The Hindu : National : Protect Olive Ridleys, Greenpeace urges Patnaik

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 26, 2006

National

National

Protect Olive Ridleys, Greenpeace urges Patnaik

Staff Reporter

Orissa beaches transformed into mass graveyards of sea turtles

BHUBANESWAR: International voluntary organisation Greenpeace has urged Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to protect the endangered Olive Ridley turtles that come to nest on the State's coast every year.

The organisation has demanded that Mr. Patnaik should provide the State Forest Department with the resources required to protect the species, demarcate the no-fishing zones and re-examine the proposed the Dhamra Port project.

To bring the facts about the crisis surrounding the conservation of Olive Ridleys closer to the people, Greenpeace kicked off a public outreach initiative here on Friday by beaming facts and evidence gathered on a large billboard.

Mass graveyards

The beaches near Devi river mouth, which is one of the three nesting sites for the turtles in Orissa, has missed mass nesting for the last four years due to large scale illegal trawling and grill netting along the coast.

Over the last decade, the beaches of Orissa have been transformed into mass graveyards of the sea turtles, with over 100,000 dead turtles being washed ashore.

The public outreach initiative, which is also scheduled to be undertaken in other cities across the country, is aimed at telling people about the sorry state of affairs and generate public opinion for more pro-active conservation measures while not sacrificing the traditional fishermen's right to livelihood from the ocean.

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