CHENNAI: In the aftermath of the mass Olive Ridley turtle deaths at the beginning of this year’s nesting season, the meeting of standing committee of the State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) will be convened on February 14 to deliberate on reasons for deaths, actions taken so far and future conservation strategy for the turtles.
The meeting, chaired by Forest Minister K Ponmudy, will be attended by Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, who has returned to the department after serving as health secretary for a few months. Top forest officials, SBWL members and experts in the field of turtle conservation will also take part.
Supriya Sahu told TNIE, “The meeting is to take stock of the situation since the nesting has just begun. The mitigation efforts taken so far, after the mass turtle deaths, seem to be yielding results. The nesting has improved. We will continue to improve our efforts, seeking more inputs from experts.”
The meeting comes in the wake of the death of hundreds of endangered Olive Ridley turtles on Chennai beaches. Close to 1,200 turtles washed ashore dead in Chennai and Chengalpattu.
In response, the state intensified its efforts. The NGT had sought a detailed action report following the mass deaths, questioning the delay in enforcing mandatory turtle excluder devices (TEDs) in trawl nets.
However, the nesting activities have seen an uptick now, with the Besant Nagar hatchery recording 74 nests with 8,500 eggs as of February 10. Neelankarai hatchery has 7 nests, according to Chennai Wildlife Warden Manish Meena.