RAMANATHAPURAM: The forest department along with volunteers carried out a beach clean-up and created awareness among people about the importance of saving Olive Ridley turtles, which have started arriving on the shores for hatching season at Dhanushkodi in Ramanathapuram.
Forest department sources said a series of activities, including beach-cleaning activity and the launch of sustainability heroes, are being planned at the campaign location. The initiatives by the Department of Environment and Climate Change and Forest (DoECCF), Tamil Nadu are being implemented by GIZ India under the Indo-German project "Circular Economy Solutions Preventing Marine Litter in Ecosystems (CES)".
The CES project aims at demonstrating technological solutions in riverine and marine ecosystems to close the material cycles of marine litter. It supports the effective management of marine litter in selected hotspots within an ecosystem and in particular supports the implementation of a framework for the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in selected locations in a city replicable at State and National levels. GIZ India has partnered with Vidhai Recycling for this coastal clean-up campaign in Ramanathapuram.
The Indo-German bilateral technical cooperation project has been initiated by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV), in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India. The project, which is being piloted in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh, is aimed at creating awareness among public and private sectors about marine litter and supporting the ban on Single-use Plastic (SUP) in India. The coastal clean-up activities are also focused on encouraging the public to be aware and assume a more proactive role in protecting marine life.
Various volunteers are participating in the event that sheds light on the importance of turtle conservation, especially during the hatching season. As an integral part of the coastal clean-up campaign, a waste characterisation and reflecting session will also be conducted at the beach that will emphasise the need for better and more efficient waste management practices among people and observe existing practices. Volunteers will educate the public on marine litter, climate change, and waste segregation and encourage them to take a pledge on preventing marine litter and avoid using SUPs.