Save the Marine Turtle Project

 

Marine turtle facts

Marine turtles are a rare and important part of our ecology. They help maintain the balance of life in the ocean, protect coral reefs, and even impact the sustainability of fisheries.

But turtles the world over are now in danger of extinction. According to the WWF, all 7 marine turtle species in the world are considered engandered.

About the 'Save the Turtle' project

To help protect them we support WWF’s Save the Turtle Project, carried out in collaboration with the City District Government of Karachi. As part of this project we organize beach-cleaning events at Karachi’s turtle nesting beaches, Sandspit and Hawksbay. The beach cleaning process is vital to ensuring that turtles have a safe and healthy environment in which to nest and lay their eggs when they come ashore during nesting season. Turtles can be injured or killed if they ingest garbage such as plastic bags and other refuse, and hatchlings can also be killed or seriously harmed by litter on the beach.

These activities are mostly aimed at schools, and students, teachers, local community members and representatives of ICI Pakistan, Sindh Wildlife Dept and WWF Pakistan all get involved in the cleaning activity along the 5 km stretch of Sandspit turtle beach.

Recently, we had our Karachi-based employees and their families joining in with the beach cleaning. Specially made cloth garbage bags and gloves were provided for this exercise.

Hatchling release

We're happy to report that in the past 5 years of our involvement with the program, there has been a significant rise in the number of hatchlings safely released into the sea annually.

This means that in five years we have helped contribute to the safe release of 173,425 turtle hatchlings.

More information 

If you would like more information on marine turtles, read the WWF report on Marine Turtle Conservation in the Asia Pacific Region or visit http://www.wwfpak.org/