G.S.Unnikrishnan
Nair
Near
Nileshwaram in Kasaragod district of Kerala, the Thaikadappuram beach is famous
for the rare Olive Ridley Turtles that visit during the rainy season to lay
eggs. The coastal community considered turtle eggs and meat as their food .This
resulted in slaughter of these poor creatures and destruction of their eggs.
About one and a half decade back, a group of youngsters formed an NGO,
“Neythal”; committed to the conservation of environment and biodiversity took
protection of these turtles as a challenge. Thanks to their sincere efforts,
now this beach spread over 15 km is a safe haven of turtles.
Animal
slaughter and sacrifice was an integral part of the life and rituals here.
Hence it was very difficult to create awareness against such activities. During
“Kulavan Theyyam”,a ritual for local deity in some parts of Kasargod, certain ‘Kavus’(Sacred
groves) between Kanhangad and Manjeswaram area encouraged the sacrifice of animals like wild boar, barking deer, monkey,
porcupine, civet and Malabar giant squirrel. Some of these animals are entitled
to absolute protection under Schedule I and II of the Wildlife Protection Act.
But no action was taken against the rituals. Neythal filed a public interest
petition against this, which resulted in Kerala High court banning animal during
Kulavan Theyyam.
“This High court verdict gave confidence to us
to take up the other major issue, Turtle slaughter” says Praveenkumar, Convener
of Neythal.
It
was in October 2002 that the group started its delicate but dedicated task of
collecting and protecting the eggs of the Olive Ridleys. The oval-shaped Olive
Ridely turtle (Lepidochely's olivacea) is considered the smallest of
marine turtles and is an endangered species (IUCN Status-Vulnerable). They visit Thaikadappuram during September to March.
Neythal began large scale awareness programmes among the local communities
beginning 2002.Public meetings, student’s awareness camps, house visits and
awareness creation though media were undertaken. Thus the NGO successfully
spread awareness regarding the importance of protecting turtle eggs lain on
Kasargod’s beaches. The local residents, who used to dig up the eggs and caught
turtles to eat them, became conservationists, as they understood how special
the turtles were.
Now
the coastal area spread over 15 km in Kanjangad, Neeleswaram municipalities and
Padanna, Ajanoor panchayats has become the Turtle observation cum protection beach
of Neythal. The sand dune eco system on these beaches was the original hatching
grounds of turtles. Study by Neythal during 2010 revealed that this ecosystem
has been degraded completely due to unscientific construction of coastal walls.
This has forced the turtles to lay eggs on temporary sand bars. The eggs are
laid during night. Neythal volunteers
collect these eggs and allow them to hatch in the sand pits of Neythal
hatchery, which is protected from any type of interference and damage. The
members of `Neythal' keep vigil, round-the-clock, to ensure the safety of the
hatchlings. Beginning 2002 this NGO has collected about 19000 eggs of which
about 14000 has hatched and turtle hatchlings released into the sea.
“The other major problem faced is the development
activities in the tourism sector at Thay beach. The indiscriminate development
activity in the area which was a pristine beach earlier is raising threat to the
breeding centre. Resorts are coming up in the area and many of the construction
activities did not consider the aspect of preservation of Olive Ridley.Even the
high intensity light emitted by sodium vapour lamps which are being installed
in the area are discouraging Olive Ridley from coming to shores. Neythal will
continue to organise protests and campaigns against these illegal construction
activities”-says Krishnan, an active member of Neythal.
Protecting and saving of injured turtles, seabirds
and other creatures is another mission undertaken by Neythal. Owing to the
awareness creation, the local inhabitants will report the sighting of injured turtles
to Neythal. Volunteers will collect these and protect them in the “Turtles and
Seabirds Rescue Centre”. Here turtles are put in tanks filled with salt water
and treated with the help of Veterinarians. Once recovered, they are released
into the sea.
In
order to attract more youngsters and children into conservation activities,
Neythal has constituted a group exclusively for kids - the `Neythal Kids.' Considering
these efforts Neythal was given the P.V. Thampi Endowment Award for the best
environmental activity in the State and the group has also won them the Central
Government's National Accreditation under the National Turtle Conservation
Programme. As Charles Darwin said-“Each species is a
masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius, The love for
all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man." Neythal has
succeeded in spreading this message in a community which once considered these
rare turtles as a mere source of food.
___________________________________________________________________
