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Sunday, Feb 17, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

A walk down the beach changed her

“I wish a system similar to the one in Mexico could be followed to protect Orissa’s Irrawaddy dolphins”

— Photo: M. Karunakaran

Dr. Supraja Dharini

Artist-turned-conservationist Supraja Dharini talks to P. Oppili on how the sea turtle conservation campaign has helped her learn more about marine mammals, and about her recent visit to Mexico to attend a symposium on sea turtles.

Eight years ago, when Dr. Supraja Dharini took a walk on the beach in Periya Neelankarai on the city’s outskirts, she was rattled to find a large number of dead turtles. It prompted her to take initiatives for the conservation of Olive Ridley turtles, which laid eggs on the Chennai coastline between January and April.

Sometime later, she watched primatologist, ethologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall’s programme on the National Geographic Channel, in which the great lady concluded her programme saying, “Every individual can make a difference.” This ignited the spark in Dr. Dharini. “That was when I decided to take up sea turtle conservation,” she recalls.

First step

As a first step, she got in touch with the youth of the fishing hamlet in Periya Neelankarai. To educate them on conservation, Dr. Dharini took them to Madras Crocodile Bank on East Coast Road. The youths attended a day-long environment education programme.

After some time, the youths from the fishing hamlet agreed to protect the sea turtle, which led to the formation of the Kadal Aamai Paadhukaavalargal Sangam (KAPS). Slowly other fishing hamlets too came to know of the initiative. The residents of Injambakkam, Panaiyur, Nainarkuppam and Reddikuppam Kanathur fishing villages expressed their willingness to volunteer with KAPS. She now has a total of more than 200 volunteers in these villages.

For the first three years, the KAPS volunteers did not relocate the eggs from the nests. Instead, they provided protection and ensured that the eggs were hatched without human disturbance or from dogs.

Hatcheries set up

The group then got in touch with Chief Wildlife Warden C.K. Sreedharan, who gave his consent to set up hatcheries in four villages. Wildlife officials also participated in a walk organised by Dr. Dharini. During the walk the officials interacted with the fishing community.

Turtle guards appointed

Then the Forest Department agreed to appoint turtle guards for four months from January. Under this programme, it provided stipend to the guards. “Such a move helped the youths to get involved seriously in the turtle conservation work, which is continued till today,” she said.

Earlier this year, Dr. Dharini landed an opportunity to visit Mexico to attend the annual symposium on sea turtles. As part of the programme, she visited one of the lagoons in El Vizcaina Biosphere Reserve, a grey whale sanctuary. The locals in the area had handed over their land holding back to the government. The locals organise a whale watching programme during the calving season. The money generated from this is being ploughed back for developmental activities of the society, she said.

“In my observation, nowhere in the world such a system is in place. I wish a similar system could be followed in Chilka Lake in Orissa to protect the Irrawaddy dolphins and whale sharks in Kutch in Gujarat,” she said.

Another interesting aspect that she noticed among the people working in Mexico was that everyone brings their own cup clay, steel or other materials. No one is seen using plastic cups, said Dr. Dharini. The non-biodegradable plastic materials get dumped in water bodies and end up in seas and oceans. This would directly affect the marine eco-system.

Corporate houses and IT companies functioning along the East Coast Road and Rajiv Gandhi Salai can adopt this model, which will help protect the environment, she suggested.

Call for volunteers

With the sea turtle protection work expanding day-by-day Dr. Dharini is in need of more volunteers. She says youths and college students interested in the work can call her on 94440-52242 to join KAPS as volunteers.

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